PFL 6 results: Jared Rosholt sneaks into playoffs with close win; Denis Goltsov, Emiliano Sordi punch No. 1 seeds

Mark Lelinwalla

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PFL 6 results: Jared Rosholt sneaks into playoffs with close win; Denis Goltsov, Emiliano Sordi punch No. 1 seeds image

Jared Rosholt fully understood what he was facing entering the cage at the Professional Fighters League 6 main event Thursday night — win or fail to make the playoff cut.

Rosholt made sure of the former, doing just enough to land a close unanimous decision over Satoshi Ishii in the main event of PFL 6 at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., and live on ESPN+. Judges saw it 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Rosholt, who snagged three points and managed to just clinch the seventh overall seed in the heavyweight playoffs.

After both fighters played it relatively low-risk over the first two rounds, they each tried to open up their offense in the third, with Rosholt throwing a flurry of punches, including a stiff right hand during the waning seconds of the bout, which left both fighters breathing out of their mouths absolutely spent.

Fight stats proved that Rosholt was the aggressor, as he threw and landed more strikes and came up with four takedowns to none from Ishii. Still, Rosholt was complimentary of Ishii following the bout.

“There’s a reason why he has that Olympic Gold medal,” Rosholt said in the cage of Ishii, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in judo, who slipped to the eighth and final seed of the heavyweight playoffs. “I haven’t had a fight this tough in a long time. Ishii is tough as nails.”

With the win, Rosholt will advance to face the second-seeded Muhammed DeReese when the heavyweight postseason begins Oct. 31 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The winner of each PFL weight class will win a $1 million. Here's how the rest of the heavyweight playoff bracket looks:

#1 Denis Goltsov vs. #8 Satoshi Ishii

#4 Kelvin Tiller vs. #5 Ali Isaev

#2 Muhammed DeReese vs. #7 Jared Rosholt

#3 Alex Nicholson vs. #6 Francimar Barroso

Denis Goltsov flattens Kelvin Tiller by second-round submission (Ezekiel choke) to earn five points and clinch No. 1 seed in the heavyweight playoffs

It could happen just like that and Goltsov proved it. He swiftly turned a mount position sequence during the second round into an Ezekiel choke submission to collect five points and sew up the top overall playoff seed amongst heavyweights.

Goltsov was pleased with his victory, although it didn’t come easy.

“Overall the fight was great,” he said in the cage following his win. “He was a tough opponent. I’m sad about a punch I took that resulted in my injured nose, but that kind of stuff happens. I’m looking forward to the playoffs.”

Despite the tough loss, Tiller vowed that he’ll be back stronger in the postseason.

Emiliano Sordi blasts Bozigit Ataev via first-round KO (punches) to haul in six points and clinch No. 1 seed in light heavyweight playoffs

Getting eliminated from the 2018 PFL playoff quarterfinals by Ataev via a first-round TKO was something that Sordi didn’t forget and he had nearly a year to stew about the stinging loss.

That was evident Thursday night, when he exacted revenge with a pulverizing first-round KO of his own to snatch six points and clinch the No. 1 seed in the 2019 PFL light heavyweight playoffs. Sordi dazed and dropped Ataev with a sneaky right hand, before adding a couple of heavy hammer fists to get the savage win.

“I thought this was going the distance,” Sordi said in the cage following his victory. “But I saw Bozigit advancing and my corner told me to go in and surprise him with my hands. Here we are, I finally get my revenge.”

The light heavyweight playoffs will also kick off Oct. 31 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. That postseason bracket looks like this:

#1 Emiliano Sordi vs. #8 Sigi Pesaleli

#4 Bozigit Ataev vs. #5 Viktor Nemkov

#2 Maxim Grishin vs. #7 Jordan Johnson

#3 Vinny Magalhaes vs. #6 Rashid Yusupov

Other results from PFL 6

-Vinny Magalhaes def. Rakim Cleveland via first-round submission (armbar) to pile up six points and clinch playoff spot; lightweights

-Viktor Nemkov def. Rashid Yusupov by split decision (29-28 Nemkov, 29-28 Yusupov, 29-28 Nemkov) to claim playoff spot; light heavyweights

-Ali Isaev def. Carl Seumanutafa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) to gather three points and clinch playoff spot; heavyweights

-Maxim Grishin def. Mikhail Mokhnatkin by first-round KO (punches) to rake in six points and secure playoff spot; light heavyweights

-Muhammed DeReese def. Valdrin Istrefi via first-round KO (punches) to garner six points and clinch playoff spot; heavyweights

-Umar Nurmagomedov def. Sidemar Honorio by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27); bantamweights

-Francimar Barroso def. Ben Edwards by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to earn six points and clinch playoff spot; heavyweights

-Alex Nicholson def. Zeke Tuinei-Wily via first-round KO (punches) to snatch six points and secure playoff spot; heavyweights

Jordan Johnson def. Sigi Pesaleli by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) to earn three points and clinch playoff spot; light heavyweights

Mark Lelinwalla

Mark Lelinwalla Photo

Mark Lelinwalla is a contributing writer and editor for DAZN News. He has written for the likes of the New York Daily News, Men's Health, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Complex, XXL and Vibe Magazine.