Thad Jean has arrived.
On Friday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., Jean squared off with Logan Storley in the welterweight finals at PFL 8, and after five hard-fought rounds, Jean won his first PFL championship.
Jean came out strong, peppering Storley with shots and even taking mount on the accomplished wrestler in the first round. He continued to build a lead with his superior striking, hurting Storley with big punches and a brutal jumping knee in the second. But the former Bellator interim welterweight champion hung tough and battled back, using his wrestling to muddy the fight up and turn it into a surprisingly fun scrap. In the end, Jean took home a unanimous decision win and advanced to 10-0 in his MMA career.
In the co-main event, Movlid Khaybulaev became a two-time PFL champion, submitting Jesus Pinedo in the fifth round to win the featherweight tournament finals and a measure of revenge.
Though Pinedo was the betting favorite — stemming in part from his previous TKO win over Khaybulaev, which was later overturned to a No-Contest — Khaybulaev looked to be the superior fighter from jump street. Pinedo had some moments, but simply had no good answer for the takedowns and grappling prowess of the 2021 PFL featherweight champion.
In the final round, Khaybulaev scored another takedown and put a stamp on his victory, locking in an arm-triangle choke and squeezing until Pinedo tapped.
Also on the main card, Asael Adjoudj won a competitive decision over Yves Landu. Landu had his moments, but Adjoudj had more, nearly securing a triangle choke at one point and ultimately winning two rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.
In the opening main card bout of the evening, former Division-III National Champion wrestler Jordan Newman advanced to 8-0 in his professional career, with a comeback win over Eslam Abdul Baset. Baset dropped Newman early and had him in trouble, but the undefeated prospect weathered the storm and then rearranged Baset’s nose with a big knee. Baset survived the round but didn’t answer the call to start Round 2, losing by TKO.
Check out the full PFL 8 results below.
Thad Jean def. Logan Storley via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
Movlid Khaybulaev def. Jesus Pinedo via submission (arm-triangle choke) — 1:17, Round 5.
Asael Adjoudj def. Yves Landu via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
Jordan Newman def. Eslam Abdul Baset via TKO (retirement) — 5:00, Round 1.
Jakub Kaszuba def. Sergio Cossio via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
Kyle Driscoll def. Husein Kadimagomaev via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)
Fred Dupras def. Nathan Kelly via technical submission (guillotine choke) — 4:38, Round 2
Sarak Shields def. Nick Meck via TKO (doctor stoppage) — 5:00, Round 1. | Gruesome Cut
Tom Pagliarulo def. Matt Turnbull via knockout — 4:36, Round 1.
