In one of the most surreal finishes in PFL history, Valentin Moldavsky vs. Alexandr Romanov ends in a no contest after a knee to the groin left Romanov unable to continue with 34 seconds left in the first round.
Romanov was reportedly unable to stretch out his legs and had to be stretchered out of the cage.
Romanov, however, was selected by the judges as the winner of the round and will now face Oleg Popov in the finals of the PFL World Tournament at heavyweight in August.
Romanov used his wrestling to great success early, landing a belly-to-belly suplex and displaying top control, including a pair of submission attempts. Moldavsky landed a shot that wobbled Romanov late, with the pair swinging wildly until a clinch battle against the cage.
And it was there where Moldavsky landed a knee to the groin, causing an accidental foul. Romanov was in significant pain, and the fight was called off by the referee, resulting in the no contest.
Alexandr Romanov Advances To PFL World Tournament Finals After No Contest Vs. Valentin Moldavsky
Moldavsky, the former Bellator interim heavyweight champion, competed in the 2024 heavyweight season, defeating Ante Delija before losing to Linton Vassell. Moldavsky earned a spot in tonight's semifinal after defeating Sergey Bilostenniy in May.
Romanov, who joined the PFL after parting with the UFC at the end of last year, made his PFL debut with a sub-two-minute submission of former interim Bellator heavyweight title challenger Tim Johnson in their first-round heavyweight tournament battle in May.