Fabricio Werdum’s PFL debut did not go according to plan last night after he was controversially KO’d by Renan Ferreira despite appearing to have tapped him out just moments earlier.
Ferreira held a 6-2 record heading into the fight, but was a significant underdog against the former UFC heavyweight champion.
However, Ferreira managed to work his way on top of Werdum in the opening round, only to then find himself caught in a triangle choke submission.
Mid-way through the round Ferreira appeared to tap twice on Werdum’s shoulder, but the referee was situated on the other side of them and didn’t see it, so Ferreira instead started to throw ground-and-pound blows which rendered the veteran star unconscious for the KO finish.
“I don’t want to say nothing to him. But he knows in his mind that he tapped, and it’s not fair,” Werdum said afterwards, claiming that he’d loosened his grip on the submission after feeling the tapout.
Meanwhile, in the co-main event, female star Kayla Harrison made another big statement with an early ground-and-pound TKO stoppage against Mariana Morais.
Check out all the PFL 3 results below.
Renan Ferreira def. Fabricio Werdum by 1st round KO (2:32)
Kayla Harrison def. Mariana Morais by 1st round TKO (1:23)
Brandon Sayles def. Mohammed Usman by 2nd round technical submission (rear naked choke – 3:42)
Larissa Pacheco def. Julija Pajic by 1st round TKO (0:51)
Bruno Cappelozza def. Ante Delija by 1st round KO (0:46)
Kaitlin young def. Cindy Dandois by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Genah Fabian def. Laura Sanchez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Denis Goltsov def. Muhammed DeReese by 1st round knockout (4:21)
Taylor Guardado def. Olena Kolesnyk by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 29-27, 30-26)
Magomed Umalatov def. Kyron Bowen by 2nd round TKO (0:07) in a PFL Welterweight Showcase Bout
