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Brett Okamoto
Former two-time Bellator MMA title challenger Fabian Edwards knocked out Dalton Rosta in the third round of their PFL World Tournament finals matchup Thursday with nearly the exact kick his older brother, Leon, used to win a UFC championship three years ago.
Edwards (16-4) landed a left head kick at the 1:28 mark of the third round that put Rosta (11-2) down for good. It was eerily similar to the strike Leon landed on Kamaru Usman in one of the greatest comebacks in the sport at UFC 278 on Aug. 20, 2022.
The middleweight finals bout headlined Thursday’s PFL event in Hollywood, Florida.
The victory earned Edwards, 32, the PFL’s $500,000 tournament prize and served as a bit of redemption for his two championship fights under the Bellator banner. Edwards challenged former champion Johnny Eblen in 2023 and 2024 but came up short both times via TKO and decision. He overcame a couple of Rosta takedowns in the opening two rounds of Thursday’s contest for his sixth career win via knockout.
Thursday featured three PFL World Tournament finals. At heavyweight, Oleg Popov (22-2), a protege of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, defeated Alexander Romanov (19-4) by split decision to claim his first PFL tournament championship. He advanced all the way to the finals of last year’s “regular season” championship format, before ultimately losing by submission to Denis Goltsov in the opening round.
At light heavyweight, Antonio Carlos Jr. (19-6) earned his second PFL tournament championship with a second-round submission of Sullivan Cauley (8-1). Carlos actually went into the contest a small betting underdog, and Cauley certainly had his moments. Both light heavyweights scored a knockdown in the opening round, and Cauley suffered a bad cut in the second round before ultimately being finished on the ground.