Corey Anderson claimed the PFL light heavyweight title with a one-sided performance to shut down Dovlet Yagshimuradov across five rounds in their rematch on Friday.
Some very early adversity saw Anderson get clipped with a couple of hard shots but outside of that, he was dominant with numerous takedowns and smothering ground control. As time passed, Yagshimuradov was clearly running out of steam and Anderson just kept applying pressure as he secured the win in the PFL Dubai co-main event.
The final scorecards read 49-45, 48-47 and 49-45 as Anderson wins the PFL 205-pound title after previously holding Bellator gold in the same division.
Gunning for the knockout from the jump, Yagshimuradov actually ended up with two eye pokes early in the opening round that paused the action. On the second restart, Yagshimuradov blasted Anderson with a blistering combination of punches that did some damage as the former UFC light heavyweight was briefly rattled as he stumbled backwards towards the cage.
Yagshimuradov attempted to surge ahead with a flurry but Anderson was quick to counter with a slick takedown that gave him the advantage back.
Anderson continued to pressure forward with his wrestling with Yagshimuradov already fighing with his mouth open, seemingly gasping for air. The aggression from Yagshimuradov also started to slow down, although he was still more than capable of launching a haymaker to keep Anderson honest.
As the fight moved into the third round, Anderson’s coaches were convinced that Yagshimuradov was running out of gas in a hurry. So Anderson was really pushing forward while trying to drain whatever energy Yagshimuradov had left as the recent PFL tournament winner was breathing heavy and no longer unleashing multi-strike combinations.
Anderson bided his time until he finally dragged the fight back to the canvas where he began peppering away with punches trying to put Yagshimuradov away. Despite his best efforts, Anderson couldn’t quite get the finish but Yagshimuradov was clearly shifting into survival mode.
Another takedown followed and Anderson just continued with suffocating pressure on the ground and time ran out on Yagshimuradov and felt the chance to win slip away.
It was a vintage performance from Anderson as he showcased superior conditioning and grappling skills to overwhelm Yagshimuradov across five rounds. He can now celebrate as the PFL light heavyweight champion with the new title being introduced and an eventual showdown against 2025 tournament winner Antonio Carlos Junior could happen in the near future.
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