A.J.
McKee was in peak form at PFL San Diego.
A.J.
McKee has the look of a man ready to make another championship
run.
Competing in his native California, the 31-year-old Team Bodyshop
representative handed Kazakh prospect Salamat
Isbulaev his first career defeat, taking home a unanimous
decision triumph in the
PFL San Diego headliner at Pechanga Arena on Saturday night.
McKee (25-2, 4-1 PFL), who enjoyed a brief reign as Bellator
MMA featherweight champion in 2021, is 3-0 since returning to
the division where he made his name.
Early exchanges were fraught with tension, and Isbulaev (10-1, 1-1
PFL) appeared more than eager to engage with his veteran adversary.
However, McKee was able to weather the initial burst and drag his
finish-minded foe, who had only once gone beyond the first round,
into deep waters. “Mercenary” was especially effective with his
grappling, landing takedowns in each frame and scrambling
effectively to dominant positions. After cutting Isbulaev near his
eye with an elbow from top position near the end of Round 2, McKee
put a lasting stamp on his victory with an onslaught of elbows,
punches and hammerfists from full mount in the waning seconds of
the final period.
In the evening’s co-main event, Viviane
Araujo had no answers for the considerable squeeze of the
“Girl-Rilla.”
The ageless Liz
Carmouche (25-8, 6-1) made a strong case for a shot at the
vacant flyweight strap, as she
submitted her Brazilian foe with a guillotine choke
2:07 into Round 2. It was the first time a fight involving Araujo
(14-8, 1-1 PFL) ended inside the distance since May 2019.
Carmouche, the 2025
PFL flyweight champion, has won four consecutive outings within
the promotion.
The 42-year-old Carmouche spent much of a slow-paced opening round
defending against Araujo’s advances in the clinch, though she did
turn the tide with a pair of takedowns late in the frame. When
Araujo shot for a takedown in the second stanza, Carmouche seized
her opportunity, quickly jumping guard with the fight-ending
maneuver in place. Araujo could only resist for a few seconds
before asking out of the fight — suffering the first submission
defeat of her professional tenure.
Elsewhere, a disciplined and technical approach carried Alexandr
Shabliy (25-4, 1-0 PFL) to a clear-cut unanimous decision
triumph over 2025 PFL tournament champion Alfie Davis
(20-7-1, 3-2 PFL) in a lightweight tilt. All three cageside judges
submitted tallies in favor of the Russian: 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27.
It was Shabliy’s first appearance since a loss to Usman
Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title bout under the Bellator
banner in September 2024.
Shabliy landed the most offense of consequence, attacking with
crisp counters while occasionally blending in timely takedowns to
keep his foe off balance. His best moment came in Round 2, when he
buckled Davis with a left hook following a failed spinning attack
from the Brit. If Shabliy had more time, he might have been able to
end the bout there, but a reeling Davis was saved by the bell. It
was more of the same for Shabliy in Round 3, as he repeatedly beat
Davis to the punch while deftly moving out of danger when his
opponent attempted to answer.
2022 PFL champion Rob
Wilkinson (20-5, 1 NC, 7-3 PFL) survived an early Abraham
Bably (8-3, 3-3) surge to give his opponent a rude welcome to
the light heavyweight division.
A series of unanswered left hands on the canvas
brought a halt to the contest 3:23 into Round 2, ending a
three-bout skid for Wilkinson in the process.
Bably, the 2025 PFL Africa heavyweight champion, put Wilkinson on
his heels in the opening period by pressuring and winging power
punches. When a finish didn’t arrive, “One and Only” also dictated
the action in the clinch. However, after having stopped his
previous three foes inside of a round, Bably’s gas tank waned in
the second stanza. Wilkinson began to seize control for good when
he defended a Bably takedown while landing a series of unanswered
punches and elbows to the side of the head. The two-time UFC
veteran then secured a rear body lock and powered his adversary
face-first to the canvas. From there, Wilkinson teed off with the
final salvo until referee Blake Grice
decided he had seen enough.
In preliminary action: Competing for the first time in two years,
Khasan
Magomedsharipov (11-0, 1-0) submitted one-time UFC vet Joshua
Weems (17-9, 0-1 PFL)
with an arm-triangle choke 2:10 into the first round
of their featherweight clash; 2025 flyweight finalist Jena Bishop
(11-3, 5-3 PFL)
submitted UFC veteran Ariane
Lipski da Silva (18-12, 1-1 PFL) with an armbar 4:08 into the
opening frame at 125 pounds; After missing weight, Sarvarjon
Khamidov (17-1, 1-1 PFL) submitted 2025 PFL bantamweight
tournament finalist Justin
Wetzell (12-4, 2-2 PFL)
with a rear-naked choke — though referee Blake Grice
may mistakenly thought Wetzell was unconscious when he called off
the fight — at the 4:11 mark of the second frame in a catchweight
matchup; Former Legacy Fighting Alliance queen Shannon
Clark (8-1, 1-0 PFL) brutalized Ilara
Joanne (13-11, 2-3 PFL)
with close quarters knees and punches en route to a
technical knockout victory 1:43 into Round 3 at flyweight and
Xtreme Couture product Cobey Fehr
(4-0, 1 NC, 1-0 PFL) submitted professional newcomer Daniel
Bzdigian (0-1, 0-1 PFL)
with a brabo choke 2:00 into the opening round of
their bantamweight clash.