Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his PFL Lightweight Championship against undefeated contender Archie Colgan in the July 31 main event at UBS Arena in Long Island, with Dakota Ditcheva also returning in the co-main event against Denise Kielholtz.
PFL officials announced the bookings to the New York Post.
Nurmagomedov, 21-0, defended his title by submitting Alfie Davis at PFL Dubai in February. Colgan, 13-0, defeated Jay Jay Wilson by unanimous decision on the same card. The two-time NCAA Championship qualifier in wrestling holds wins over Mansour Barnaoui and Emmanuel Sanchez among others.
Ditcheva, 15-0, returns from a year-long absence due to a hand injury. The 2024 PFL flyweight tournament winner had previously been booked to face Kielholtz at PFL Dubai before withdrawing. Kielholtz enters on a three-fight winning streak.
Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 had many discussing the judging and refereeing aspects of the contest in the aftermath, with a standout performer from that same PFL Dubai card weighing in.
Archie Colgan is the referenced mixed martial artist here, and Colgan defeated Jay Jay Wilson by way of a unanimous decision at PFL Dubai on October 3rd in a lightweight bout.
When touching on the Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 fight, and how it seemed like there was a certain level of controversy surrounding the judges’ scorecards. When asked if he has any thoughts on the Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 scorecards at all, Colgan said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Not really. I think that, you know, there was a scorecard that said 50-45, meaning that Paul Hughes didn’t win any round.”
“I don’t see that one. I think he won. In my head, fresh when I was watching the fight right there in front of me, I thought it was like 4-1.”
“Maybe you could do a 3-2. But I thought Usman won the fight. So yeah, but you know I think the controversy was in somebody saying it was 50-45, that he won no rounds.”
“Yeah, I disagree with that as well. But I definitely don’t agree with some of the people saying like it was a robbery.”
“As in you know Usman should have lost. I was like ah no, I thought it was pretty decisive who was winning the fight. But how many rounds you give, like I don’t know.”
When touching on the instance in the championship clash, where it looked like Usman connected with a headbutt of sorts when a round had ended. Giving his thoughts on that sequence in the bout and commenting on his own curious situation with his appointed referee at PFL Dubai, Colgan stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, I forgot about that. I forgot about that. That was; especially for to [have] no referee intervention between that and being like hey, you know, that was kind of a weird moment.”
“But I mean that kind of happened all night too. Even in my fight, like me and my opponent kind of got like, in between rounds, second and third round, I think.”
“Like staring at each other, and the ref shoved me. Like I stumbled backwards.”
“I was like, “Hey, chill out, man.” So, like, you know, he was on the other spectrum of that where he was doing too much, the other ref didn’t do enough [laughs].”
“It was just a cluster of emotion” with Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2, says Colgan
When touching on the different dynamics with assigned referees that can inform how differently his Wilson fight was handled versus how the other assigned ref handled Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2, Colgan quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I mean, that was a weird situation. I don’t know if it was like; again, I’d have to watch it back and see it.”
“Because especially if you’re watching it live. It looked more of like a head-to-head. Like you guys are talking s**t to each other, and then like an extra push.”
“But you know, I assume it was probably more of that than, like just a straight-up headbutt. But I don’t know.”
“I’d have to see that like on camera because even in person, it looked like it was just a cluster of emotion, really.”
Archie Colgan remained undefeated with a gritty decision victory over Mansour Barnaoui in a lightweight showcase bout during the PFL Wichita card as part of the PFL World Tournament.
Barnaoui started strong with range strikes and clinch knees during the opening frame, but Colgan controlled the exchanges with consistent, sharp right hands. Colgan also scored a key takedown in the round, where he also busted Barnaoui’s nose up.
Barnaoui appeared to clip Colgan early in the second round, but Colgan’s wrestling was relentless, landing multiple takedowns and threatening an arm-triangle choke. He also shook off submission attempts from Barnaoui from the bottom.
Colgan then put a battering on Barnaoui in the third round after an early scare, landing plenty of damaging strikes.
Barnaoui entered tonight with 10 wins in his last 12. He had most recently defeated Alfie Davis at the PFL World Championships card this past November.
Colgan entered tonight undefeated in MMA. He had most recently fought at the Bellator event in London this past September, scoring a decision win over Manoel Sousa.
And headlining inside the OVO Arena Wembley in London on September 14 was nine-fight Bellator veteran Leah McCourt. After the cancellation of a championship rematch between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards, her clash with Australia’s Sara Collins was promoted to main event status.
The Melbourne native remained undefeated, submitting McCourt inside the opening round to secure top contender status for Cris Cyborg’s Bellator women’s featherweight title.
IT'S ALL OVER! 😳
Sara Collins stops Leah McCourt in the first via RNC!
Also of note was the return of England’s own Simeon Powell, who overcame two knockdowns in the opening round to fall on the right side of a split decision against Rafael Xavier in the co-headliner. Beforehand, former UFC athlete Marc Diakiese made a successful debut and unbeaten American prospect Archie Colgan continued his winning ways.
With that said, see below for the full results, followed by all the highlights.
Bellator Champions Series: McCourt vs. Collins Results & Highlights
Full Card:
Women’s Featherweight: Sara Collins def. Leah McCourt via submission (rear-naked choke): R1, 2:25
Light Heavyweight: Simeon Powell def. Rafael Xavier via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Light Heavyweight: Luke Trainer def. Laurynas Urbonavicius via submission (rear-naked choke): R1, 4:15
Lightweight: Marc Diakiese def. Tim Wilde via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
