Sherdog’s live
PFL Sioux Falls coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
A world class
welterweight clash headlines PFL Sioux Falls: Tune in Saturday, May
2 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Round 1
The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will host a
dozen matchups for the latest PFL offering this May. There may be
no title on the line at night’s end, but that does not mean these
matches will be any less compelling. We kick things off at the
heavyweight division, as U.S. Virgin Islands native Williams (10-5,
1-3 PFL) looks to end the longest losing streak (three) of his
career. To do so, he will have to get through Nana (7-2, 2-1 PFL),
who saw his own victorious stretch come to a halt last October. The
third man in the cage for the big men will be referee Nick Berens,
who keeps watch as the fighters touch gloves.
Nana positions himself in the center of the cage, where he pushes
out a few jabs right off the bat. When Williams is about to
counter, Nana kicks his front leg. He tosses the same strike once
more to try to set something else up, but Williams is out of the
way for anything else. Williams lunges behind an overhand right,
and Nana skirts back to take the sting out of it. Williams chops at
the front leg to disrupt him coming in, and he hand-fights to parry
an intercepting blow. Nana lets go a thudding inside leg kick,
getting knocked back a step with a right hand but no worse for
wear. Both big men reach at one another with wide swings, but they
are out of range with most of it. Williams does get off the end of
a one-two on the forward brow, and he takes a right hand to the
ribs for his effort.
Both men scoop with awkward left hooks to score them on one
another, and the match turns into a sparring match with little put
behind their swings. Nana comes up short on a left hand, and he
dances away from a counter. Williams stands Nana up with a right
hand, and he eventually shoots in for a takedown after absorbing a
few naked low kicks. All Williams can do is press Nana to the
fencing for a moment, with the Cameroon native turning him back
around as they jockey for position. Williams tags Nana with a right
hand right before bell, concluding a close round.
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Williams
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Williams
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Williams
Round 2
The two slowly work towards one another offering tentative strikes,
still not committing fully as they take turns tossing strikes at
one another. Nana is the aggressor, although not by a wide margin,
as Williams is ready and willing to counter and jab back. Nana
springs around with his jab, and he sneaks in a right hand as
Williams is transitioning to sting him. Williams reacts poorly from
a subsequent punch, an oddly angled left hook, but he gathers his
thoughts and rifles off a one-two. Nana gets poked in the eye
during an exchange, and Williams backs off to let him clear it out
when Berens does not register it.
Nana meanders towards his target, ripping a body shot as a takedown
shot bears down on him. Williams is shut down when pursuing the
tackle, and he gets popped in the chops on the way out. Nana keeps
pressing forward behind his jab, doubling it up to decent effect.
After some chasing from Nana, Nana walks face-first into an
overhand right and tanks it without batting an eye. Nana’s counters
do not get released, as he fakes and feints to draw out exaggerated
reactions from the man from the Virgin Islands. Nana walks into a
jab and no-sells it, looking to set up an overhand right with a low
kick but not throwing the former. The tepid round draws to a
close.
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nana
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Nana
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Nana
Round 3
The big men high-five, neither man appearing fatigued thus far.
Nana bounces on his heels before letting go with a body kick, and
Williams kicks him back in the knee. Nana answers that strike back
post haste. Williams punches his way into a takedown attempt, but
he does not even go for the standard double or single and instead
just mashes his way forward into a body lock clinched position.
Nana pushes him away without absorbing any damage, and he gets back
to flicking his jab out. When Williams reaches out to find his
distance, Nana grabs his wrist with both gloves, and Williams looks
at him strangely until he releases the grip. Nana sneaks in short
double jabs, pecking and probing without swinging for the
bleachers. Williams lets go with a left hand, and Nana wipes his
eye as if he was poked again, and Berens does not call it so they
sort of fight on. Williams lets him off the hook for a few seconds
before confusedly shooting in for a naked single, this time
changing levels enough to actually possibly take the fight
down.
Nana stands his man up with his own back to the wall, and he shoves
Williams away to reset. Williams parries the jab he knows is
coming, and he cannot quite figure out what to do when Nana grabs
his lead hand in exchanges. Williams swats out a left hook that is
well out of range, and he pulls a right hand before letting it go
all the way. Nana lets go with a body that lands a bit low, and
Williams ignores it to rush forward in pursuit of a level change.
Nana shuts it down and keeps himself close enough to Williams but
not within clinch territory. Nana beats Williams to the punch with
a left hand on the temple, and he leans to the side to avoid a few
punches. Fifteen minutes elapse, and both men raise their arms in
the air.
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nana (29-28 Nana)
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Nana (29-28 Nana)
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Nana (29-28 Nana)
The Official Result
Maxwell Djantou Nana def. Karl Williams via Unanimous Decision
(29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Round 1
It’s an all-South Dakota affair between MMA neophytes as the
prelims roll on. Making not just his organizational debut but also
his first walk to the cage professionally, “Seabass” Bye (0-0, 0-0
PFL) wants to kick the ass of Michels (1-0, 0-0 PFL)—and
those in the crowd are sure to let him know he should. The
welterweights will test the waters as they collide under the
auspice of referee Kevin MacDonald, clocking the match in with a
glove touch.
Bye gets right to work, stringing short combinations together. He
mixes punches into kicks, setting up body shots with head work and
vice versa. Michels takes them on the chin and abdomen and
considers a level change. Bye fires off a left hand and absorbs one
back, and Michels gets in close to ding him with an overhand right.
Bye catches a body kick to loop a right hand back at his man, and
he turns Michels with a few punches upstairs. Michels gathers his
thoughts, his nose glowing read, and he looses a kick the same time
Bye does. Michels falls to the mat, and Bye leaps at him and almost
instantly has an arm-triangle choke in play. Michels explodes out
of the danger, and Bye time a head kick when Michels is resetting.
Michels takes it well, but uppercuts from Bye that follow get
through and bloody him up.
Bye lets fly a kick under the armpit, and he tosses out a low kick
and gets countered. His foot bumps into the peninsula south of the
Equator, and there is no pause from it but just a short first bump.
The blood begins to leak more heavily from Michels’ right cheek,
and Bye goes right to the head and left to the body. Bye steps
through to keep landing blows, driving a knee to the liver and
bending Michels over. Bye digs a left to the same spot, and Michels
collapses. Bye knows he is on the home stretch. Michels shells up,
and Bye lords over him beating him down with his fists until
MacDonald has to step in and rescue Michels. That is one way to
kick off a professional career, who did not need to even use the
grappling chops that he supposedly has in his arsenal.
The Official Result
Brett Bye def. Taylor Michels R1 3:40 via TKO (Punches)
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Brian Knapp scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
