Live Now! PFL San Diego ‘McKee Vs. Isbulaev’ Play-by-play, Results & Round Scoring

Sherdog’s live
PFL San Diego coverage will begin Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

Top notch
featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at
8 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.

Round 1

With the UFC’s action-packed amuse-bouche out of the way today,
we’re ready for some primetime combat with a handful of matches
that should have immediate rankings implications with the PFL. A
short, sweet nine-fight offering is what fans will get in San Diego
tonight, a city with a name scholars maintain that the translation
was lost hundreds of years ago. The first of those nine comes
between two bantamweights making their company debuts against one
another. Fehr (3-0, 1 NC; 0-0 PFL) has a bit of experience under
his belt with a few pro Tuff-N-Uff outings the last couple years,
while PFL San Diego headliner A.J. McKee teammate Bzdigian (0-0,
0-0 PFL) will serve as the crowd favorite in this initial offering.
The match starts with a fist bump, as referee Jason Herzog takes
stock of his surroundings.

Fehr introduces himself with a pair of low kicks, the second he
uses to set up a single-leg takedown that he lands with ease over
the MMA neophyte. Bzdigian closes his guard and starts absorbing
ground-and-pound, with Fehr floating through to pass to side
control and exert as much pressure as he can on Bzdigian. Bzdigian
pushes his feet off the fencing to improve his position, but he
remains nullified as Fehr drops down a few more punches.

Bzdigian turns to his stomach and puts himself into brabo choke
submission danger. Bzdigian twists but goes the wrong direction,
inadvertently tightening the choke that Fehr has fastened around
his neck. As “The Don” crushes down on his windpipe, Bzdigian tries
to sit up but has to surrender as consciousness is quickly fleeting
from his eyes. Fehr dismounts his defeated foe and
runs circles around the cage before climbing up it to let loose a
few guttural yet celebratory screams.

The Official Result

Cobey Fehr def. Daniel Bzdigian R1 2:00 via Submission (Brabo
Choke)

Round 1

Do you recall in the days of Bellator, a young Brazilian woman
cruised in the flyweight division carrying around a list of names
she wanted to defeat while sporting the name “Arya Stark”? What
happened to her, you ask? Her real name is Joanne (13-10, 2-2 PFL),
and she will be colliding with a veritable MMA Barbie in the form
of Canada’s Clark (7-1, 0-0 PFL). The two 125ers will face off
under the watchful eye of referee Jonathan Romero, and they
awkwardly take their time reaching one another without bothering to
bump fists.

Jabs from way out of range are offered, although their fists are
feet away from their intended targets. Clark lands a couple low
kicks, and Joanne counters one with a right hand over the top. The
Brazilian sees a similar opening and capitalizes on it, and does so
one more time as Clark’s face starts to turn red. These situations
keep cropping up time and again, with Clark not seeming to realize
that putting her hand in the fire will burn. Joanne ducks a big
swing from her opponent and tackles her to the mat, landing in the
guard and swatting away with hammerfists. The Canadian remains
active from her back with elbows and constant movement, and it
might be to her advantage.

Joanne remains hanging out in the guard, but it seems that she is
taking more damage than she is able to come up with in top
position. Clark’s elbows remain humming as she hacks and slashes at
the dome of “Arya Stark,” with them landing so consistently that
she actively takes away from Joanne’s offense. Joanne steps over to
side control and she looks to wrap up the neck of her foe, but an
awkward scramble and a near-wardrobe malfunction results in both
women springing back to their feet. In a last-ditch effort, Clark
jumps guard for a guillotine choke, but there is nothing to it when
the bell sounds.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Clark
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Clark
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Clark

Round 2

The ladies wade toward one another, with Clark pitching out kicks
early and often. Joanne counters a front kick with two hooks, and
Clark takes them flush and gets right back to her kick-first
approach. Her low kicks leave her wide open to overhand right
counters, and Joanne clubs her with one, but she does not
discourage Clark from attacking with more. Clark meanders into an
exchange, walking into a few knees as she lets loose with her fists
as she puts Joanne’s back to the wall. Clark wraps up Joanne and
bends her over to knee her in the head several times, and those
gradually break Joanne down. Joanne takes one particularly
painfully to her torso, and she crumbles to the floor. Clark rolls
her over and knees her in the stomach for her effort, and she finds
herself in the guard facing submissions.

The Brazilian throws her legs up to pursue a triangle choke, and
she transitions to an armbar when Clark gets out of the first
effort. Clark too breaks out of this attempt, and she smothers
Joanne to open the guard up. This allows Joanne to set up another
armbar, and Clark hammerfists her way through it. Clark stands up
and nails Joanne in the posterior with an emphatic kick, and Romero
tells Joanne to get up. Joanne takes her sweet time to stand back
up, sucking wind with a fresh cut on her right eyebrow immediately
leaking blood down her cheek. She still manages to will herself
forward to bowl Clark over and wind up in the guard, but again
Clark is a veritable meat grinder when put on her back as he elbows
swipe out like flesh-colored Ginsu knives. Clark holds the back of
Joanne’s neck in a can opener maneuver to work back to her feet,
and she wraps up the round pounding Joanne in the face with knees
while Joanne is leaned against the cage wall.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Clark
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Clark
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Clark

Round 3

Clark’s game plan to start off the round is a consistent one, as
she kicks her way into range. She takes less time than usual to
close in, but this is because she knows she has Joanne’s abdomen
compromised. Clark sets up knees to the body, blasting the
Brazilian time and time again until Joanne’s legs give way beneath
her. Clark fires off another few knees to the body, ramming it into
Joanne’s side viciously and relentlessly.
Clark drives home ground strikes when Joanne collapses, but somehow
the Brazilian wills herself back into the fight and wall-walks
upright. It is not the best of plans for her, as she takes a few
knees before deciding to drop herself down to a knee to make
herself a grounded fighter. This is too little, too late, as Clark
only needs a little more punishment from her fists and knees to
punctuate this performance properly. Romero steps in as more of a
mercy stoppage than an individually destructive blow, with Joanne a
busted muay thai heavy bag at this point. Clark
strides off triumphantly and looks relieved that the fight is over
and she can relax now. She has now earned her first win in a major
organization, while recording her first knockout in years.

The Official Result

Shannon Clark def. Ilara Joanne R3 1:43 via TKO (Knees and
Punches)

Round 1

Initially a bantamweight encounter, Khamidov (16-1, 0-1 PFL) must
have taken his first loss exceedingly poorly as he biffed weight
ahead of his comeback by two pounds to hand a healthy chunk of his
purse to Wetzell (12-3, 2-1 PFL). Whether he is coming into this
pairing compromised or if there is another reason for the weight
miss, it could matter—it also might not play a factor at all. The
fighters do not share a fist bump to get things started, with
referee Blake Grice standing by.

Khamidov rushes out of his corner like he was shot out of a cannon,
backing Wetzell up immediately and blasting him with an overhand
right. Wetzell hits the deck but uses the fence behind him to
return upright, with Khamidov keeping control of him while working
him over with short knees. The action stalls out as Khamidov holds
on, offering little more than short punches to the sides and
meaningless foot stomps. Khamidov breaks free and clips Wetzell
with a left hand.

Wetzell has to blink it out and responds with a jump knee, and his
momentum is used against him when the Tajik tackles him to the mat.
Khamidov starts getting busy from above, punching and elbowing
down. As he drops down strikes, he is warned for eye gouging as his
fingers rake across the face uncomfortably. Khamidov’s top control
is consistent to shuck off any escape attempts, sweeps or sub
efforts, but he is once more told that his fingers are entering
Wetzell’s eye sockets. Khamidov’s grind is embraced as seconds peel
off the clock, with the heavy favorite and heavy athlete ending the
round with a barrage of strong elbow strikes.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-8 Khamidov
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Khamidov
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Khamidov

Round 2

Khamidov is as aggressive as ever when he starts off the second
stanza, walking the American down and once more punching him square
in the face. This time, Wetzell does not go down, but the wrestling
from the Tajikistan native is soon to follow. Khamidov mixes in
power punches when looking for control, opening up a body lock
takedown from behind when he circles around his foe who overswings.
Wetzell stands back up, and Khamidov mat returns him before long.
Wetzell seats himself with his back to the cage, and he turns to
his knees and gives up his back in the process.

Khamidov gladly takes it and climbs on it to wrap up a body
triangle with his legs and a one-armed rear-naked choke with his
right arm. Wetzell hand-fights the other limb to prevent the choke
from getting locked up, but he loses the grip and Khamidov grapples
hold of a face crank right down on Wetzell’s mouth. Khamidov
squeezes with all his might to complete this painful submission,
and Wetzell grimaces and is dragged down to his back with a minute
to go.
As they hit the mat, the forearm of “Mowgli” slides beneath the
chin and transforms to a brutal rear-naked choke. This choke is so
tight that Wetzell fights it but goes limp possibly in hopes of
taking some of the pressure off his neck. Grice tests the
resistance of the American’s arm, and he waves the fight off when
getting no pull back. Wetzell’s eyes go wide and he yanks his arm
back to notify Grice that he is still with it, and there is now a
question as the whether he went out all the way, was flash choked
out or was just sandbagging. Wetzell protests loudly
to anyone that will lend a friendly ear, but the result of a
technical submission stands. “Mowgli” has bounced back from his
first pro defeat with a chokeout of a fighter who had never before
been subbed, although there is plenty of controversy surrounding
the win ranging from his weight miss to the nature of the
stoppage.

The Official Result

Sarvarjon Khamidov def. Justin Wetzell R2 4:11 via Technical
Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)

Round 1

Fresh off a win in her PFL debut in March, Lipski da Silva (18-11,
1-0 PFL) is happy as a clam right now at her activity level in the
sport. After surpassing Sumiko Inaba, her next test will be
grappling wiz Bishop (10-3, 4-3 PFL). Taking charge of the cage for
these flyweights will be referee Mike Beltran, who steps back to
let the ladies touch ‘em up.

Lipski da Silva puts out a body kick, and she is immediately met
with a pair of punches from the local woman. Bishop pulls back when
Lipski da Silva is about to sit down on punches, and she walks into
two before getting away. Lipski da Silva lands a few more punches,
prompting a level change from the 40-year-old that is miles away
from completion. Lipski da Silva laughs it off and pitches a high
body kick. Bishop grabs hold of her when they close in, but Lipski
da Silva knees her way out of the position. Bishop chases her down
to hit a double-leg takedown and plant the Brazilian on her back.
Lipski da Silva keeps a knee shield to prevent Bishop from passing,
leading to Bishop offering up ground strikes to soften her up.
Lipski da Silva kicks Bishop off of her, and a few upkicks are
close to landing flush.

Bishop lowers herself down into the guard of her opponent, but she
still struggles to get past the legs. As Lipski da Silva keeps them
up hoping to force an exchange, Bishop times a guard pass to
transition to side control. Lipski da Silva twists and gives up her
left arm for a potential kimura setup. She quickly spots the danger
and turns over, giving her back up and getting flattened out.

Bishop sees the opening and starts raining down punishment on
either side of Lipski da Silva’s head, beating on her with her
fists as Beltran takes a close eye on them. Bishop leans back to
set up an armbar, and the moment her back touches the canvas,
Lipski da Silva is tapping out as there is nothing left for her to
do tonight. This is huge for the home city fighter, as
the building gives her a tremendous pop for landing the armbar on a
woman who had only once before been tapped.

The Official Result

Jena Bishop def. Ariane Lipski da Silva R1 4:08 via Submission
(Armbar)

Round 1

It has been quite some time since any of us have seen
Magomedsharipov (10-0, 0-0 PFL) grace a cage, with the younger
brother of former ranked UFC fighter Zabit Magomedsharipov coming
back after two years off. The unbeaten Russian will throw down with
Weems (17-8, 0-0 PFL), with Magomedsharipov sporting odds as
astronomical as -4000 in his favor. Never tell him, or referee
Jonathan Romero, the odds.

A clap of hands from the 145ers sets the stage for what is to come,
as Weems works his way in to attack. When he throws a naked kick,
Magomedsharipov sets him down with an overhand right that puts
Weems flat on his back. Weems does not appear overly compromised
from the knockdown, as he closes up his guard and wraps his arm
around the back of the head—this was leading to exposing him to a
Von Flue choke, but Weems bails on it. Something Weems offers off
his back damages Magomedsharipov’s nose, which starts leaking in a
big way on Weems’ chest. Magomedsharipov looks to pass guard and
present an arm-triangle choke from the other side, and he looks to
pass to the half and side to complete it. He steps over across the
body to lock the choke down, and he switches his grip to fasten it
securely. Weems makes a motion that he is about to surrender, and
then frantically taps out before he gets put to sleep. This was
largely one-way traffic for the monumental betting favorite, and
perhaps the catalyst to increased activity for the still-unbeaten
Russian.

The Official Result

Khasan Magomedsharipov def. Joshua Weems R1 2:10 via Submission
(Arm-Triangle Choke)

Round 1

The main card of PFL San Diego begins with a match between light
heavyweights on different escalators. Having dropped three
straight, 2022 PFL tourney champ Wilkinson (19-5, 1 NC; 6-3, 1 NC
PFL) may be on the downslope. Will Britain’s Bably (8-2, 5-2 PFL),
on the upswing with three first-round knockouts in his back pocket,
take out the Tasmanian? Just like referee Blake Grice, we will know
within the next few minutes, 15 at maximum. Gloves are touched
before they are traded.

Bably takes to the center of the cage and bounces in and out of
range. He does not commit to any serious offense for the first 30
seconds, and then he springs to action behind a couple haymakers.
At least one of those big punches lands on “Razor Rob,” who frowns
and circles away. Bably goes after him, busting him in the face
with his large fist again and again, and Wilkinson can only twist
away and escape once more. Bably advances, and Wilkinson tries to
intercept him with a body kick, only to get nailed with a monster
right hand. Wilkinson tanks it cleanly and works back to his feet
to turn the tables on Bably and tie him up, threatening a level
change in the midst of it. Bably leans on Wilkinson before
separating, hurling huge punches that largely hit air as Wilkinson
sees them coming and evades the worst of them. Bably crashes the
pocket to get close to the Australian fighter again.

Bably leans on his opponent for some time, perhaps getting his wind
back after his big swings and misses. Grice asks for them to do
more after about a minute of tight clinch work, and Wilkinson
circles in hopes of escaping and offering up knees. Bably ignores
them and keeps headhunting, punching his way into a clinch again
but stinging Wilkinson on the way in. Using a body lock takedown,
Bably hurls Wilkinson to his back and advances immediately into
full mount. With 15 seconds to go, Wilkinson scrambles like a
madman to not only get off of his back, but upright again to
pressure Bably against the fence until the round wraps.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Bably
Mike Pendleton scores the round: 10-9 Bably
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Bably

Round 2

The 205ers bump fists to engage again, and Bably once more motions
himself to the center of the cage. As he slowly works his way
forward, Wilkinson circles to his right, in hopes of taking some of
the sting out of the huge right hand that is about to come at him.
It does, and Wilkinson gets caught and fires back possibly on
autopilot, harming Bably and putting him on roller skates for a
moment. Bably clinches up to slow Wilkinson down, who is a bit
fired up after his success and wants to inflict more damage. Bably
leans and stays close to his foe, who turns him about on the second
try aod knees him in the guts several times. Bably shoots for a
takedown as the body shots appear to compromise him, and
approaching a double and getting hammered by Wilkinson’s defensive
strikes. Wilkinson beats down Bably’ who is firmly committed to
this takedown and nothing else, jackhammering him with elbows to
the sides of the head.

Grice tells Bably to fight back several times, but he does not see
quite enough to step in. Wilkinson keeps landing these strikes
until he has to take a rest, and Bably comes at him in hopes of
exacting revenge. This is not his best strategy at this point as
Bably’s spirit was willing but his flesh was spongey and bruised.

Wilkinson allows him to overswing so that he can push the American
on his side to pummel him with his fists. The punches rain down
methodically, not individually devastating but having an impact as
they add up. Bably has no answers and is just taking shots at this
point, so Grice steps in to save Bably from any further pain and
discomfort. It took a bit of a comeback, but Wilkinson
is finally back in the win column again with another stoppage
triumph on his ledger.