PFL Washington DC: Jean vs. Rodriguez
Professional Fighters League MMA event in 2026
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PFL Washington DC: Jean vs. Rodriguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Professional Fighters League that took place on July 25, 2026, at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., United States.[1][2][3]
| PFL Washington DC: Jean vs. Rodriguez | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The poster for PFL Washington DC: Jean vs. Rodriguez | ||||
| Promotion | Professional Fighters League | |||
| Date | July 25, 2026 | |||
| Venue | CareFirst Arena | |||
| City | Washington, D.C., United States | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
The event marked the promotion's sixth visit to Washington, D.C., and first since PFL 9 (2024) in August 2024.[4]
A PFL Welterweight Championship bout for the vacant title between 2025 PFL Welterweight Tournament winner Thad Jean and 2024 PFL Welterweight Tournament winner Shamil Musaev was scheduled to headline this event. Former champion Ramazan Kuramagomedov had been stripped of the title when he immediately announced his retirement after winning the title against Musaev in February.[5] However, two days before the event, Musaev withdrew from the bout due to weight cut complications and was replaced by Ernesto Rodriguez.[6]
2025 PFL Africa Bantamweight Tournament winner Nkosi Ndebele and Mando Gutierrez were scheduled to meet in a bantamweight bout at this event.[7] However, Gutierrez withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by Brandon Davis.[8]
During the fight week, there were a scheduled another several bouts changes made:[7][9][10]
- A heavyweight bout between 2024 PFL Heavyweight Tournament winner Denis Goltsov and promotional newcomer Hasan Mezhiev was removed from the event for unknown reasons.
- Ernesto Rodriguez was scheduled to meet Magomed Umalatov in a welterweight bout, but Umalatov withdrew from the event and was replaced by Aaron McKenzie. In turn, Rodriguez was moved to fight against Jean in the title bout as main event after Musaev withdrew.[6]
- Bryce Meredith was originally scheduled to face Jack Cartwright at this event, but Cartwright pulled out and was replaced by Michael Cyr.
- A light heavyweight bout between former interim Bellator Heavyweight World Champion Valentin Moldavsky and 2021 PFL Heavyweight Tournament winner Bruno Cappelozza not compete at the event due to Cappelozza's visa issues and the bout was moved to PFL Charlotte: Battle vs. Rosta on August 7.
Results
| Main card (ESPN) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight | Thad Jean | def. | Ernesto Rodriguez | TKO (punches) | 3 | 2:44 | [a] |
| Light Heavyweight | Rafael Xavier | def. | Tyson Pedro | TKO (elbows) | 1 | 4:59 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Rasul Magomedov | def. | Sullivan Cauley | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Eliezer Kubanza | def. | Chris Mixan | Submission (brabo choke) | 2 | 2:34 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Catchweight (140 lb) | Bryce Meredith | def. | Michael Cyr | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (140 lb) | Nkosi Ndebele | def. | Brandon Davis | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Coby Bradford | def. | Chad Yard | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 1:57 | |
| Featherweight | Noah Hermosillo | def. | Jacob Pais | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
- For the vacant PFL Welterweight Championship.
