If a recent MMA card best encapsulated the optimistic phrase “The show must go on,” it would be Friday’s PFL “World Tournament” event from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, USA.
Single-elimination quarter-final tournament action in the men’s bantamweight and women’s flyweight divisions were essentially gutted in the weeks and even days leading up to the event, with more than half a dozen fighters getting pulled from matchups and replaced by others.
After the card took many hard hits—losing Taila Santos, Magomed Magomedov, Ciaran Clarke, Ali Taleb and many others—PFL still put forward a full eight-fighter bracket that played out on Friday, giving each tournament an official start.
On the bantamweight side of things, Marcirley Alves, Mando Gutierrez, Justin Wetzell, and Jake Hadley walked away with wins following the action in Orlando.
The women’s flyweight tournament still includes Liz Carmouche, Ekaterina Shakalova, Jena Bishop and Elora Dana after Friday night.
Here’s a recap of everything that went down.
Short-Notice Bantamweight Addition Alves Wins In Main Event
Marcirley Alves, who as of Thursday morning wasn’t even expected to compete in the bantamweight bracket, punched his ticket to the semi-finals after a tough three-round battle against Bellator vet Leandro Higo in the main event of the night.
Alves got ahead early against Higo with his aggressive striking, knocking him down in the opening round with a left hook. While Alves did a stellar job at stopping takedown attempts, Higo was able to claw back into the fight with striking of his own later on in the matchup to make it a close bout. However, it wasn’t enough to give him a scorecard win.
Alves was slotted into this weekend’s tournament after both of Higo’s past opponents—Magomed Magomedov and Josh Rettinghouse—weren’t able to appear. Rettinghouse wasn’t medically cleared to compete on Thursday, causing him to get replaced in the fight.
25-year-old Alves was coming back for the first time since he suffered a 2024 loss to undefeated prospect Sarvarjon Khamidov. While the former Jungle Fight champ likely wasn’t expecting to commit to a multi-fight tournament this year, he’s now one-third of the way to winning a $500,000 grand prize.
His next stop will come at PFL’s June 20th show against ex-UFC fighter Jake Hadley, who made a splash in his promotional debut this weekend.
Hadley closed out a competitive battle against Matheus Mattos with an incredibly rare submission earlier in the night. The scramble-heavy grappling style of Mattos came back to bite him in the third round of their battle, as a reversal into a top position during an exchange on the mat caused him to be caught in a modified version of the twister, the “Scottish Twister” to be exact.
The sudden finish came after a fight that saw Hadley prove to have the better striking, marching Brazil’s Mattos down with punches to the body and head. But Mattos showed toughness and had his own promising moments, keeping the fight hard to score as it neared the end.
Hadley’s seven-fight UFC run came to an end after losing three of his past four fights by late last year. The English 28-year-old now has one of three fights down in his 2025 redemption quest in the PFL.
On a night that saw many of the bantamweight bouts go into deep waters, Mando Gutierrez had a much quicker shift. The Mexican prospect made the best of a slip from opponent Francesco Nuzzi in the first round, allowing him to take the back for a rear naked choke submission, which ended the fight with a little less than a minute to go in the round.
Gutierrez, who was in a back-and-forth brawl on the feet with Nuzzi before the fight-ending sequence, now has three wins over the past year. Nuzzi hadn’t previously tasted defeat since 2016, entering Friday with a streak involving wins in PFL Europe, Brave CF, and all around the Italian regional scene.
With his recent win, Gutierrez is now set to face another up-and-comer in the bracket, Justin Wetzell, who easily scored one of the biggest major MMA upsets of the year on Friday night when he faced Kasum Kasumov.
+700 underdog Wetzell got the nod after a clinch-heavy battle where the bantamweights went tit-for-tat with strikes while jockeying for position. Wetzell arguably did a good job at providing some of the more pronounced moments in the fight, including big takedowns and hard shots, like the numerous thudding elbows to the head he connected with.
Wetzell was one of the many fighters who entered the bracket on short notice, stepping in to replace the undefeated Ciaran Clarke. The U.S. prospect was making his PFL debut after a trio of wins on the regional scene, including a past LFA appearance. He notably missed weight for the fight by two-and-a-half pounds, but nonetheless will remain in the tournament.
The result ended Kasumov’s lengthy win streak, including past Bellator wins over Josh Hill and Matheus Mattos.
Carmouche Earns Quick Win To Advance At Flyweight
Liz Carmouche, the final flyweight champ in Bellator history, returned to the cage with a statement win in the co-main event against Ilara Joanne. Appearing for the first time since her undefeated post-UFC run came to an end last year, Carmouche used explosive striking to dispose of a mismatched Joanne quite early.
Storming Joanne early with shots, Carmouche eventually dropped her after a long series of knees and punches to the body. The former champ continued to go after Joanne as the fight hit the mat, nailing away at her with ground and pound shots until the fight was stopped, earning her a rare sub-two-minute win.
Carmouche, a favorite for the women’s bracket following the exit of 2024 finalist Taila Santos, credited her team for an easy weight cut, which helped her bounce back after missing the 126-pound limit in her previous appearance. The result continued struggles for Joanne, who has won just one of her past five fights now.
In her next fight, Carmouche will go from facing a fellow Bellator vet to meeting a newer yet promising name to the global MMA scene in Elora Dana.
Former Jungle Fight Flyweight Champion Dana won her U.S. debut in the opening bout of the night, advancing past the quarterfinals with a quick victory over Diana Avsaragova. While Dana had a back-and-forth battle with Avsaragova during a stand-up exchange, it became a dominant performance for the Brazilian once they hit the ground.
Dana was able to lock in a neck crank in the closing moments of the first round, forcing a tap from Avsaragova. 26-year-old Dana is one of the most promising 125-pound prospects to appear in the ongoing tournament, now possessing an undefeated record of eight wins. Avsaragova was returning for the first time since 2023, when she suffered her first pro loss against Justine Kish.
Ekaterina Shakalova scored the quickest win of her pro career when she got past former Bellator champ Juliana Velasquez in the featured prelim. The Ukrainian talent took Velasquez to the mat early, immediately going to the back for a rear naked choke. It didn’t take long for her to fully secure the hold after that moment, forcing a champ from Velasquez.
Shakalova noted afterward that one of her biggest battles in the week was making weight, as Friday marked her first flyweight appearance after previously competing up at bantamweight and even featherweight. She was quick to celebrate the achievement after securing her win, eating a cinnamon roll while still in the cage.
Velasquez has now lost three of her past four fights since losing her flyweight title to Liz Carmouche in 2022.
Shakalova will enter the semi-finals with little damage consumed. The same cannot be said for future opponent Jena Bishop, who had a scrappy three-round performance against former RIZIN talent Kana Watanabeto emerge with a decision win on the prelims.
In a fight that saw her take large amounts of damage, including an early right hook knockdown, Bishop had the higher volume of shots and brief moments of successful work in grappling exchanges as well. This was enough for her to walk away with the win on Friday night, advancing to the playoffs and ending vet Watanabe’s season early.
The matchup was the classic example of two fighters with ground-based fighting styles almost cancelling eachother out, forcing the fight to the feet instead. Bishop, who has experience in Jiu-Jitsu, liked that the bout tested her abilities.
“I wanted to prove that I’m not just a grappler, I’m a mixed martial artist,” Bishop said afterward. “I can stand, I can bang, I can do it all … I thought she would’ve wanted to take it to the ground a little more, but I knew that wherever it went, I could be good.”
Both Bishop and Watanabe were returning after competing in the 2024 flyweight bracket.
Bantamweight Semi-Finals
Justin Wetzell vs. Mando Gutierrez
Jake Hadley vs. Marcirley Alves
Flyweight Semi-Finals
Ekaterina Shakalova vs. Jena Bishop
Elora Dana vs. Liz Carmouche
Here are the quick results:
Main Card (11:00PM EDT) (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Bout 8: Marcirley Alves def. Leandro Higo via Decision, Split (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 7: Liz Carmouche def. Ilara Joanne via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:25) (Flyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 6: Mando Gutierrez def. Francesco Nuzzi via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 4:13) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 5: Justin Wetzell def. Kasum Kasumov via Decision, Unanimous (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Preliminary Card (9:00PM EDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 4: Ekaterina Shakalova def. Juliana Velasquez via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:05) (Flyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 3: Jake Hadley def. Matheus Mattos via Submission, Scottish Twister (RD 3, 2:16) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 2: Jena Bishop def. Kana Watanabe via Decision, Unanimous (Flyweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 1: Elora Dana def. Diana Avsaragova via Submission, Neck Crank (RD 1, 4:48) (Flyweight Quarter-Final)
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