Denis Goltsov secured his place in the 2023 PFL playoffs, and needed just a few seconds to do it.
In the final preliminary bout at 2023 PFL 5 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Goltsov (31-7) quickly took care of business against Yorgan De Castro (9-5). The walkoff celebration was on after landing a right hand that stiffened and dropped De Castro just 18 seconds into the fight.
Goltsov peppered De Castro with left jabs immediately. De Castro fired off a right leg kick, but another left jab came in return, and so did the finishing right hand behind it.
Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter):
DENIS GOLTSOV IS A PROBLEM!
Goltsov locks up his #PFLPlayoffs spot and the #1 seed!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomD5xg pic.twitter.com/LYIN9p7rXK— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 17, 2023
The first-round finish earned Goltsov six more points and clinched a playoff spot. He currently sits at the top of the leaderboard in the heavyweight division with 12 total points. Goltsov also racked up six points in his first fight of the season, by finishing Cezar Ferreira at 2023 PFL 3 in April.
De Castro has been eliminated from the playoffs, as he needed a first or second-round finish of his own to be in contention.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 5.
