Once someone who appeared to be a rising name in the UFC’s heavyweight division, Alexandr Romanov now appears to be someone to watch for in the PFL’s World Tournament at heavyweight.
Romanov made a statement by scoring a quick submission of veteran and former Bellator interim heavyweight title challenger Tim Johnson. The two headlined the early card portion of the PFL World Tournament action on May 1.
After a battle for pressure and control in the early going, the fight had a brief pause when Romanov was hit low. It didn’t take long after the fight’s resumption for Romanov to lock up Johnson in a standing guillotine choke. Johnson was lifted and forced to tap, appearing to also injure a rib in the process.
Alexandr Romanov Submits Tim Johnson In PFL World Tournament First-Round Matchup
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This fight marked Romanov’s PFL debut after a stint in the UFC between 2020 and 2024. Romanov went 7-3 with the promotion, with his losses coming against Marcin Tybura, Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida. Romanov last fought at UFC Edmonton in November, defeating another name who made his way over from the UFC to the PFL with a win tonight — Rodrigo Nascimento.
Johnson has now lost three in a row and is 1-3 in the PFL.
