Rory MacDonald missed out on a spot in the PFL finals for the second year running as he was knocked out by short-notice replacement Dilano Taylor in Cardiff.
MacDonald, 33, was looking to progress to the welterweight final and compete for the $1million prize after coming up short in last year's semi-finals to Ray Cooper. The UFC veteran and former Bellator champion MacDonald was scheduled to fight Magomed Umalatov, but Taylor replaced the Russian on just two days' notice after the Russian was forced out due to visa issues.
Taylor started the fight well by fending off the early takedown attempts of MacDonald to keep the fight on the feet. 'The Postman' was looking sharp as he beat MacDonald to the punch and mixed in some hard low kicks. With just over a minute left in the first round, Taylor landed a right hand that dropped MacDonald and finished the fight with some follow-up ground and pound. Sadibou Sy, who beat Carlos Leal earlier on the card, will face Taylor in the welterweight final.
