PFL season opener: Valentin Moldavsky scores impressive first-round TKO over Ante Delija

Ante Delija won the PFL's 2022 heavyweight championship and was among the favorites to do it again this year when the Professional FIghter's League regular season kicked off at the Boeing Center Thursday in San Antonio, Texas.

But Delija's chances of taking that $1 million season-ending prize took a big hit when he was stopped in the first round by former Bellator interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky. Moldavsky landed a crisp right hand, a pair of knees and then a series of rights to the head as Delija covered up, forcing referee Jacob Montalvo to stop it at 2:17 of the first.

Delija grew up, as many his age did, as a fan of the legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. Emelianenko was working Moldavsky's corner Thursday, and Delija said that rather than feel pressure fighting in front of one of his heroes, he was motivated. He said he wanted to beat Moldavsky in front of Emelianenko.

But a body shot early in the fight badly hurt Delija and he never really got untracked. Moldavsky stalked him and backed Delija to the cage and it seemed inevitable that sooner or later, Moldavsky would end things. After he landed the right and the knees, he opened up with short, fast rights. Delija just covered up and waited until Montalvo stopped it.

Moldavsky, who went off as a 6-5 favorite at DraftKings, said he was well prepare for the bout.

"I was ready 100 percent," Moldavsky said. "I had a really good training camp and I was ready. I was trying to finish the fight earlier. The plan was to finish the fight early and so I did what I was supposed to do. I am really excited."

So, too, was Liz Carmouche, the Bellator flyweight champion who opted not to defend her title as a Bellator champion but rather to enter the PFL's new women's flyweight tournament and chase the $1 million prize. She met ex-Bellator champion Julianna Velasquez for the third time on Thursday, but the result was no different than the first two.

Carmouche came out strong early and was never in difficulty. She stormed from the cage at the opening bell and landed a combination on Velasquez, setting the tone for the remainder of the night. 

She won every round going away and came away with a 30-27 victory over Velasquez on all three cards. Velasquez is 12-3 in her MMA career, but she's 12-0 against everyone else and 0-3 against Carmouche.

Despite the dominant win, Carmouche only earned three points and ended the night in fourth place because Dakota Ditcheva, Taila Santos and Jena Bishop each won by first-round finish. They got three points for the win and and an additional three points for finishing in the first.