PFL Washington DC went down on July 25 at the FirstCare Arena in Washington, D.C., featuring a PFL welterweight championship main event between Thad Jean and Ernesto Rodriguez. Jean defeated Rodriguez via third-round TKO to become the champion.
Jean survived a second-round rally from Rodriguez, who nearly pulled off the upset taking this fight on just two days’ notice, by landing some vicious ground-and-pound in the third to capture the title.
Jean vs. Rodriguez result
Welterweight Championship: Thad Jean def. Ernesto Rodriguez via TKO (Rd. 3, 2:44) — Jean briefly floored Rodriguez with a leg kick before applying pressure around the fence with his striking. Jean’s attacks found their mark, especially with body work, but Rodriguez landed a pair of solid right hands in the middle of round one. Jean rocked him in return, however, and brought the fight to the ground, where he attempted multiple submissions.
Rodriguez then came back and had a dominating second round. Rodriguez clipped Jean on multiple occasions, and he nearly scored on a couple of submission attempts during the round, troubling and nearly finishing the unbeaten tournament champion.
But Jean was just on another level. Despite the fight going back to the ground, Jean had more in the tank. After a failed scramble by Rodriguez, Jean got on top. He eventually overwhelmed Rodriguez with ground-and-pound until referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the bout.
Co-main and main card results
Light Heavyweight: Tyson Pedro def. Rafael Xavier via TKO (Rd. 1, 4:59) — A leg kick battle between the two resulted in Pedro being chopped down. Then, late in the first round, a couple of high kicks rocked Pedro. Xavier got inside and landed clubbing elbows, dropping Pedro and continuing the attack until referee Dan Miragliotta was forced to wave the fight off with just one second remaining in the round.
Light Heavyweight: Rasul Magomedov def. Sullivan Cauley via unanimous decision (29-28 x3) — Magomedov looked to use his takedowns in the opening round, dominating with his grappling. The two then did plenty of inside fighting in the second round, with Cauley stealing the round by scoring a knockdown in the closing seconds. Both men were bloodied and rocked one another in the third round, but Magomedov’s powerful pushback and grappling edge gave him the decision.
Welterweight: Eliezer Kubanza def. Chris Mixan via submission (D’Arce choke) (Rd. 2, 2:34) — After a battle for control, with Kubanza taking the advantage, Kubanza landed strong punches to do damage. A tired Mixan looked for a takedown in round two, but Kubanza countered it into a choke, scoring the submission.
Prelim results
Catchweight (140 lbs.): Bryce Meridth def. Michael Cyr via unanimous decision (30-27 x3) — Meredith’s wrestling and grappling led to a one-sided, dominating performance where he swept the scorecards.
Catchweight (140 lbs.): Nkosi Ndebele def. Brandon Davis via unanimous decision (30-26 x3) — It was an all-around dominating performance from Nkosi Ndebele. The former PFL Africa champion ran through Davis with solid kicks, as well as takedowns and ground-and-pound, nearly finishing the fight.
Light Heavyweight: Coby Bradford def. Chad Yard via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 2, 1:57) — Yard looked to get control from the get-go with his strikes; however, Bradford’s grappling proved to be too much, getting to Yard’s back and scoring the choke submission win in the second round.
Featherweight: Noah Hermosillo def. Jacob Pais via unanimous decision (30-27 x3) — Hermosillo’s wrestling was on full display, dominating this fight on the ground to score the decision victory.
What’s next
During an interview with PFL CEO John Martin on the broadcast, Martin said Jean was already flirting with the idea of becoming a two-division champion in the PFL.
In his post-fight interview, Jean added he’d welcome a rescheduling of his bout with Shamil Musaev. Musaev withdrew from this bout two days ago due to weight-cutting complications.
The PFL Summer Series continues next week with PFL New York on Long Island, NY, on July 31. That card is headlined by Usman Nurmagomedov defending the PFL lightweight title against Archie Colgan and Dakota Ditcheva taking on Denise Kielholtz.
