Kai Kamaka pulled out a grueling 15-minute decision win to close in on making the four-man featherweight playoffs in the Professional Fighters League.
The only problem was, he had to wait to see how the main event played out on Friday at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Once Justin Gonzales failed to stop Brendan Loughnane in the first round of the final fight Kamaka could celebrate making the playoffs on Aug. 23, needing two wins to take home a $1 million paycheck.
Kamaka (14-5-1) earned his fifth consecutive victory with a unanimous decision over Pedro Carvalho (13-10), winning 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 on the three judges’ scorecards.
“If you want me to be real, in the fight, I don’t give a (expletive) about no points system. That is all for the PFL,” Kamaka said. “I’ve got to win my fight. Finish, no finish, win my fight, feed my family, move on to the next fight, get better, try to get the next finish.”
That fight will be at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. Kamaka, the No. 4 seed, will fight Loughnane, who earned the top seed with a second-round TKO of Gonzales. Loughnane won the PFL featherweight tournament in 2022 and is 29-5 overall and 9-2 with PFL.
Loughnane opened the 2024 season with a first-round TKO of Carvalho.
“It’s eight weeks from now. Gotta heal up, gotta rest up, make sure the body is ready to go again,” Kamaka said. “That’s the main thing,”
Friday’s fight was largely a striking battle as both fighters remained on their feet for the duration of the first round. Carvalho was the busier fighter, but Kamaka landed the heavier blows, including two right hands that staggered Carvalho in the final minute.
A combination of strikes in the final seconds helped Kamaka secure the round on all three judges’ scorecards.
With cousin Ray Cooper, a two-time PFL featherweight champion, rooting him on from the crowd, Kamaka remained poised to start the second round as Carvalho tried to step up the pressure.
Kamaka controlled Carvalho’s back for a minute before pushing his opponent away. The two traded power shots in the middle of the cage before Kamaka again stayed poised and used counter shots to remain ahead on the scorecards.
Carvalho landed a hard left and a hard right that stunned Kamaka with a minute to go in the second round before Kamaka again wrapped his arms around Carvalho and pressed him against the cage.
Kamaka developed some swelling under his right eye in the beginning of the third round as Carvalho continued to throw high volume strikes that started to catch Kamaka cleaner than earlier in the fight.
Kamaka slowed Carvalho down with a left kick to the body and briefly defended a single-leg takedown attempt.
Carvalho finally scored a takedown with just over a minute remaining in the third round, but Kamaka was able to quickly get back to his feet.
Kamaka fell to the mat with 30 seconds remaining and Carvalho ended the third round on top.
The Star-Advertiser scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Kamaka, who landed 78 of 171 total strikes. Carvalho landed 88 of 183 strikes.
