England’s Brendan Loughnane delivered a statement performance at PFL 3 to tell the rest of the PFL featherweight division that he’s back, and ready to launch his assault on the 145-pound division once again.

Loughnane finished former Bellator title challenger Pedro Carvalho with strikes in just 86 seconds of their co-main event bout in Chicago to put himself at the top of the featherweight standings after the first round of regular season matchups in the 145-pound division.

Loughnane admitted after the fight that he carried some fear into the cage with him following his shock knockout loss to Jesus Pinedo last season. But the Manchester man looked back to his best as he dropped Carvalho with a big right hand, then finished the job with ground strikes to claim a “Quick Six” victory and put him at the top of the featherweight standings with maximum points.

The main event saw undefeated Russian contender Magomed Umalatov set out his stall as one of the men to beat in the 170-pound division with a unanimous decision win over former Bellator champion Andrey Koreshkov.

Umalatov took the fight 29-28 on all three scorecards to extend his unblemished record to 15-0 and get his season off to a winning start.

Also at 170 pounds, Bellator interim welterweight champion Logan Storley’s hopes of a winning start on his PFL debut were dashed by undefeated Shamil Musaev, who demolished the American with strikes early in the second round to make a big statement to the rest of the welterweight division.

Also in the welterweight division, longtime Bellator contenders Goiti Yamauchi and Neiman Gracie faced off in a rematch, with Yamauchi claiming the victory on the scorecards.

Yamauchi captured the win in their first meeting at Bellator 284 back in 2022, when he stopped Gracie with punches in the second round. But in the rematch inside the PFL SmartCage, the action was much closer as the pair battled all the way to the judges’ scorecards.

Despite taking Yamauchi the distance, it would prove to be double disappointment for Gracie as he suffered his second loss to his compatriot, with the scorecards reading 29-28 in Yamauchi’s favour.

The main card opened with something of a surprise result, as former Bellator veteran Kai Kamaka outpointed former PFL featherweight runner-up Bubba Jenkins after three closely-contested rounds.

Jenkins looked good early, but a late knockdown in Round 1 saw the momentum switch to Kamaka, and while “Bad Man” responded well in the second round, Kamaka turned up the work rate to edge the third and claim a unanimous decision victory.

PFL

PFL 3: Official results

MAIN CARD

• Magomed Umalatov def. Andrey Koreshkov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Brendan Loughnane def. Pedro Carvalho via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:26
• Shamil Musaev def. Logan Storley via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:27
• Gabriel Braga def. Justin Gonzales via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:59
• Goiti Yamauchi def. Neiman Gracie via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Kai Kamaka def. Bubba Jenkins via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Adam Borics def. Enrique Barzola via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Timur Khizriev def. Brett Johns unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Murad Ramazanov def. Laureano Staropoli via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:07
• Don Madge def. Brennan Ward via submission (standing rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:02
• Tyler Diamond def. Otto Rodrigues via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
• Thad Jean def. Romain Debienne via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:07

PFL featherweight standings

1. Brendan Loughnane – 6
2. Gabriel Braga – 6
3. Timur Khizriev – 3
4. Adam Borics – 3
5. Kai Kamaka – 3
6. Bubba Jenkins – 0
7. Enrique Barzola – 0
8. Brett Johns – 0
9. Justin Gonzales – 0
10. Pedro Carvalho – 0

PFL welterweight standings

1. Don Madge – 6
2. Murad Ramazanov – 6
3. Samil Musaev – 5
4. Magomed Umalatov – 3
5. Goiti Yamauchi – 3
6. Neiman Gracie – 0
7. Andrey Koreshkov – 0
8. Logan Storley – 0
9. Brennan Ward – 0
10. Laureano Staropoli – -1*

* Staropoli received a -1 point penalty after missing weight