6/13/25: Thad Jean Remains Undefeated At PFL 'World Tournament' Semi-Finals
Also: BJ Penn has been arrested again
Welcome to a Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily! Today’s issue has a quick catch-up on all the latest MMA headlines, including coverage of last night’s PFL show. Tons to discuss, from three main news stories to smaller tidbits from all around the world in the notes section. Let’s begin.
Thad Jean Remains Undefeated, Jesus Pinedo Scores Fast Stoppage Win At PFL ‘World Tournament’ Quarter-Finals
The first of three PFL “World Tournament” quarter-final cards took place on Thursday night, finding out which world title matchups will go down on August 1st at featherweight and welterweight.
Here’s a quick rundown of the action from late last night, which saw an undefeated contender continue his rise and a former champ score a quick win as he looks to claim another trophy later this year.
Rising Star Thad Jean To Face Logan Storley In Welterweight Finals
Thad Jean’s quick rise continued on Thursday night.
Just near midnight at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 26-year-old undefeated MMA prospect Jean punched his ticket to his first-ever world title fight, lining himself up for an August 1st matchup against Logan Storley, who also won in a semi-final bout earlier in the evening.
Jean scored his biggest pro win yet in the main event of the night, getting past former Bellator Welterweight Champion Jason Jackson in an incredibly close split decision outcome.
A hot start from Jean gave him a lead early, then he did enough in a competitive second and third rounds to walk away with a decision win.
The biggest moment of the fight came just a minute in, when a jab from Jean sent Jackson to the mat. Jean chased after a recovering Jackson on his feet immediately after this blow, but had his momentum from the knockdown stopped when Jackson scored a takedown about 30 seconds later.
Wrestling from Jackson would continue to play a big role later in the fight as the action became much harder to score. Jean had to fend off countless shots from Jackson in the second and third rounds, with few attempts being successful.
Jackson and Jean were both methodical with their shot selection during the fight, and there were few blows from either fighter (apart from the opening round knockdown) that felt particularly major. After a close 10 minutes of battle that felt hard to score, it was Jean who took the nod.
“I am so grateful,” Jean said in his post-fight interview. “Honestly, that was such a close match. Jason Jackson, he is an ass kicking machine. I don’t want to say anything crazy because he did what he did.”
The razor-thin win means Jean will compete in his first-ever five-round title fight later this year. It will be a massive opportunity for the fighter representing Haiti, who only turned pro in 2021 and is competing in his first-ever PFL tournament this year.
Jean has, at least thus far, been the breakout star of PFL’s “World Tournament” tour this year, no matter the division. “The Silverback” scored one of the more memorable finishes of the quarter-final round, beating Mukhamed Berkhamov via first-round stoppage in April, and now has a solid win over a former world champ as he heads into a championship fight.
Storley leaned on his wrestling background to put on a successful decision performance over former interim Welterweight King of Pancrase Masayuki Kikuiri.
Past Bellator title challenger Storley opened the fight with a strong opening round, keeping Kikuiri on the canvas and staying active with a solid pace of ground and pound shots.
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Kikuiri was able to resist numerous takedowns from Storley in the second round, giving him the opportunity to piece together punches on the feet. This tied the fight on a couple of scorecards heading into the third.
But, after the fight became close, Storley put together another dominant round to pull ahead with a comfortable decision. His wrestling once again dictated the battle in the third, keeping Kikuiri on the ground for minutes at a time.
Storley will fight for a PFL title for the first time in two seasons when he next appears in the cage. It’ll be his first five-round appearance since 2023, when he attempted to take down Yaroslav Amosov in a Bellator title fight.
Former PFL Champions Jesus Pinedo & Movlid Khaybulaev To Meet In Featherweight Finals
It’s going to be a clash between past PFL champs in the featherweight finals later this year.
Undefeated 2021 featherweight PFL king Movlid Khaybulaev will face off against 2023 season winner Jesus Pinedo in August, as revealed through semi-final action this week.
Pinedo arguably had the most memorable performance of the bracket action on Thursday, needing just 76 seconds to put away rival Gabriel Braga with strikes.
After eating a couple of hard shots from Braga early in the fight, Peru’s Pinedo wobbled the Brazilian fighter with a clean right hook. A pair of follow-up punches from Pineda dropped Braga immediately after, causing a quick end to the bout.
“We fixed every hole we had, and this was just my best performance yet,” Pinedo said through an interpreter in his post-fight interview.
It’s been an explosive 2025 for Pinedo after missing out on PFL’s season action last year. Prior to his win this week, he put away long-time Bellator prospect Adam Borics in a little over three minutes with strikes in April, starting his year off with a bang.
His appearance this weekend carried some history, as the two had previously met in a pair of bouts. Braga beat Pinedo back in early 2023 via split decision, only for that result to be avenged in the featherweight championship bout later that year via stoppage. Braga, who scored a quick submission win in his quarter-final fight earlier this year, likely missed out on his last chance to avenge one of his few pro losses.
Khaybulaev out-grappled Korean prospect Kim Tae-kyun in the opening bout of the main card, wrestling him to the mat for half a dozen takedowns to control a large portion of their bout and win via unanimous decision.
While Kim provided some resistance to Khaybulaev’s takedowns, making it a hard-fought performance for the Russian, he was without a chance once the bout was in the judge’s hands, as he had little to show for after 15 minutes.
Khaybulaev, who has an impressive record of 23 wins, one draw and no losses, got past Canadian vet Jeremy Kennedy on scorecards as part of his quarter-final fight in the “World Tournament.”
Here are the quick results from last night’s show:
Main Card (11:00PM EDT / 10:00PM CDT) (ESPN / ESPN+)
Bout 10: Thad Jean def. Jason Jackson via Decision, Unanimous (Welterweight Semi-Final)
Bout 9: Jesus Pinedo def. Gabriel Braga via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:16) (Featherweight Semi-Final)
Bout 8: Logan Storley def. Masayuki Kikuiri via Decision, Unanimous (Welterweight Semi-Final)
Bout 7: Movlid Khaybulaev def. Kim Tae-kyun via Decision, Unanimous (Featherweight Quarter-Final)
Preliminary Card (8:30PM EDT / 7:30PM CDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 6: Adam Borics def. Jeremy Kennedy via Decision, Majority
Bout 5: Magomed Umalatov def. Anthony Ivy via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:28)
Bout 4: Sarek Shields def. Joseph Luciano via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Kendly St. Louis def. Mukhamed Berkhamov via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 3:21)
Bout 2: Alexei Pergande def. Mike Bardsley via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Jason Danner def. Nathan Gilmore via Decision, Unanimous
BJ Penn Arrested For Fourth Time This Year, Booked For Violating Restraining Order
Concerning developments surrounding UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn have only continued in recent weeks.
The former lightweight champ was arrested on Thursday for violating a temporary restraining order, per information obtained by Big Island Now. Penn was released on a $3,000 and is expected to appear in court today.
The arrest marked a fourth time that authorities have picked up Penn in recent weeks, as alleged mental delusions have made him enact what his mother claims has been “extreme psychological abuse” on close family members.
Penn, 46, was arrested twice late last month and charged with abuse of a household or family member. He was later also booked for missing a mandatory court date.
These arrests came after his mother, Lorraine Shin, filed a restraining order against him, recounting alleged incidents where Penn had assaulted her and taken large amounts of her belongings.
Shin alleges that Penn is suffering from Capgras Syndrome, which sees someone fall under a “delusional misinformation” illusion that many close to them, either friends or family, have been replaced by bad actors.
Penn has repeatedly posted online about “identity thieves,” calling family members “impostors” and alleging that they have been killed by others and replaced.
The restraining order filed by Shin against Penn will remain in place until November 23rd, per Hawaii News Now. It’s not known currently if Penn’s arrest this week was specifically due to a violation of the restraining order from Shin.
Imanol Rodriguez Stops Tough Arshiyan Memon To Advance on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’
Imanol Rodriguez had to throw everything at Arshiyan Memon to advance past the quarter-final round of “The Ultimate Fighter’s” flyweight tournament on this week’s episode.
Memon, the first fighter to represent India on “TUF,” endured a couple of challenging moments in his one-round fight against Rodriguez before finally succumbing to a series of punches on the feet.
Rodriguez, a 25-year-old Mexican prospect with five pro wins to his name, hurt Memon early in their fight with a kick to the body. He followed this shot up with hard ground and pound, getting Memon to the canvas and taking top control in the process.
A little later in the fight, Rodriguez got a controlling position on the ground once again after stuffing a takedown attempt from Memon. After enduring a rear naked choke attempt, Memon was able to explode out of the position and return to his feet.
A finish felt somewhat inevitable, even though Memon was still in the fight and throwing after surviving a near finish in the opening minute. An end to the bout finally emerged for Rodriguez with a little less than a minute to go in the opening round. A pair of right hands backed up a stunned Memon on the feet, kicking off a long flurry of punches and elbows from Rodriguez that eventually caused the referee to stop the bout.
Rodriguez is now the second flyweight to join the semi-finals. He joins Joseph Morales, who advanced in the season premiere against Eduardo Henrique.
Like Rodriguez, Memon came into this season with an impressive undefeated pro record. He has won all seven of his previous bouts via finish, most of which have come on the regional scene in India.
Next week’s bout, the second welterweight matchup of the season, will see Irish prospect Andreeas Binder and ex-Bellator fighter Jeff Creighton meet in the cage. Binder entered the show following a title run in Dutch regional promotion Levels Fight League, and Creighton is coming off a tour of title victories around the U.S. scene, including a win over former ONE Championship fighter James Nakashima.
It was teased in a preview of the episode that Binder will have significant trouble with his weight cut, so much that he potentially might only be able to compete if he’s allowed to miss the welterweight limit.
Notes On: UFC, PFL, OKTAGON & ONE Championship
UFC
The biggest news this week was that the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terrence Crawford boxing super-fight was officially announced, with Netflix being the official carrier of the broadcast. The event is being promoted by Saudi Arabia and TKO Boxing, as initially planned a couple of months ago when the bout was first revealed. Some will remember that there was a dust-up between the two parties a few weeks ago, and briefly, Saudi Arabia toyed with the idea of promoting the card without TKO’s involvement. If I had to guess (and it’s only a guess) why this issue happened, I’d say there was likely some protest on the TKO side about the event being moved from a Friday to a Saturday, putting it head-to-head with “Noche UFC.” Riyadh then went, “Well, who says we even need you to make this fight?” Anyway, whatever happened behind the scenes, it all got patched up and we’re back where we started. It will be interesting to see if there will be any more bumps in the road before this fight happens in September. And as a sidenote, it’s interesting to see Netflix secure yet another deal with TKO, even if it’s just a one-off card.
It was announced earlier this week that an injury has pulled Charles Jourdain (16-8-1) from his bantamweight showdown this weekend against Ricky Simon (21-6). Replacing him will be Cameron Smotherman (12-5), who is getting a quick turnaround after suffering his first UFC loss last month to Serhiy Sidey. Smotherman is no stranger to last-minute calls: He notably won his UFC debut on incredibly short notice last October, prevailing as an underdog against Jake Hadley. He’s gonna be an underdog heading into this one, too.
After getting an impressive finish win against Bruno Silva literally last weekend, Joshua Van (14-2) will try for a second win within a month when he meets Brandon Royval (17-7) at UFC 317 on June 28th. 23-year-old Van has climbed to 10th at flyweight by scoring big wins and staying active, previously also beating Rei Tsuruya in March. Now stepping in for Manel Kape (21-7), who had to withdraw due to an injury, he can take a massive leap in the flyweight rankings by beating first-place Royval, who got by Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira in close split decision results last year.
Marcus McGhee (10-1) has a big test lined up for this summer: The rising bantamweight will take on former champ Petr Yan (18-5) at UFC’s July 26th card in Dubai, per Alex Behunin of MMA Mania. McGhee has proven to be an impressive prospect in the 135-pound division since his 2023 UFC debut, most recently getting a win over Jonathan Martinez in a three-round decision. Currently ranked 13th, he can move into the top five with a win over Russia’s Yan, who is coming back after overcoming Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo, two very respected names in the division. Personally, I really like this matchup.
UFC 320 will take place on October 4th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. A fourth-quarter pay-per-view in Vegas has long been part of UFC’s schedule, and in recent years, since November is the month they head to Madison Square Garden, their trip to T-Mobile has either landed in October or December.
UFC’s PPV schedule for the rest of the year has one, maybe two spots open: Vegas later this month for “International Fight Week,” New Orleans in July, Chicago in August, October back in Vegas… Presumably another PPV in Abu Dhabi? November likely Madison Square Garden in New York, and December to be announced as well. There’s nothing revealed yet for September, and since the numbered lineage of the shows has been announced through to October, it seems possible that a PPV just won’t happen that month. As we know, these things can change.
PFL
PFL has added a fight between Mansour Barnaoui (22-6) and undefeated lightweight Archie Colgan (11-0) to its June 20th card. This was the expected headliner for PFL Europe’s May 24th show in Paris, France, before the entire card was cancelled. This is notably the first appearance for Barnaoui since prominent French paper Le Parisien documented allegations of physical abuse and rape against him, as told by an ex partner.
PFL announced that this bout is a #1 contenders match to face Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0), who they said is the “current” holder of the “PFL Lightweight World Title.” So I guess that means the last Bellator champions (or at least the few who are still with the PFL) are now getting their reigns transferred over? Either way, Paul Hughes didn’t like the idea that he’s not up next to face Usman, whom he had a highly competitive loss to early this year.
In a move that made some people go… “What the hell?” Russell Brand was spotted at the ceremonial weigh-ins for this week’s PFL event. I don’t know what they’re thinking here…
PFL Africa’s second event will take place on August 9th at the Big Top Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. Tournaments at featherweight and welterweight will begin on that date, with some matchups for those brackets beginning to be added already.
OKTAGON
A Tipsport Gamechanger Middleweight Grand Prix quarter-final bout between rising prospect Matej Penaz (10-1) and former champ Piotr Wawrzyniak (14-6) won’t take place at Saturday’s show in Prague, OKTAGON announced. An infection was reportedly taken Penaz off the card. The Tipsport round of 8 was scheduled to begin this weekend with a pair of bouts. But with both now off, we’re gonna wait a little longer before the bracket resumes.
ONE Championship
ONE Championship is heading to Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on November 16th for ONE 173. If the event ends up happening (because, as many of you likely know, ONE likes to change around their schedule), 2025 will be the first time that ONE heads to Japan twice in one year. Their last trip was back in March, when they visited the legendary Saitama Super Arena for a kickboxing super-fight between Takeru Segawa and Rodtang Jitmuangnon. ONE tends to stack their Japan cards and has told Japanese media that numerous title bouts will be on this one.
Misc.
There isn’t that much notable MMA happening tonight, which feels weird for a Friday. If you want to watch anything tonight, I’d definitely recommend the card that LFA has going down in Louisville, Kentucky. The co-event is just the second appearance from undefeated flyweight Christian Natividad (6-0) since he made his return late last year, and he’s a solid prospect in the weight class. The main event, Lance Lawrence (9-4) vs. Javier Reyes (20-5), is expected to be a close showdown. It’ll be on UFC Fight Pass.
It’s quiet on Friday, but as I highlighted in the preview piece, it’s gonna be wild on Saturday. UFC, RIZIN, KSW, OKTAGON, and even more. We’ll have it all here in the newsletter… Stay tuned and you won’t miss a thing!