Marcirley Alves Triumphs After Late Knockdown in Bantamweight Tournament Final – PFL 9 Highlights
Marcirley Alves survived a late scare to defeat Justin Wetzell in the PFL World Tournament bantamweight final on Friday night in Charlotte.
Alves led the dance in round one, finding his timing and clipping Wetzell with a series of solid right hands. However, Wetzell did find some success attacking Alves’ lead leg, compromising the Brazilian’s movement in the second stanza. Through the first 10 minutes, the calf kick was Wetzell’s best weapon while Alves dominated the boxing exchanges.
Wetzell started to show the damage on his face in the third as Alves continued to pull away in the five-round finale. Adding insult to injury, Alves reversed a late takedown attempt from Wetzell, effectively putting him up 3-0 on the scorecards heading into the penultimate round.
60 seconds into the fourth, Wetzell finally managed to get Alves to the mat. Though he couldn’t keep Alves down for long, Wetzell leaned on his grappling skills to control much of the round.
With his back against the wall, Wetzell unleashed a flying knee that connected with Alves’ chin two minutes into the fifth and final round. The blow dropped the Brazilian immediately, prompting Wetzell to fish for a d’arce choke. Alves fought his way out of the hold and back up to his feet. Wetzell hit the gas and landed a stiff one-two with only seconds left in the fight. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the final second ticked off the clock, sending us to the judges.
Official Result: Marcirley Alves def. Justin Wetzell via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to win the PFL bantamweight world tournament final.
