The second round of PFL‘s featherweight and heavyweight fights went down last night. Lance Palmer, who stopped Bekbulat Magomedov for the first time in his career in the first round, took on Jumabieke Tuerxun in the main event while Andre Harrison, who won a decision against Tuerxun in the first round, faced first round winner Nazareno Malegarie.

Below, I’ve picked out a few of the fights and performances which stood out for me.

Featherweight bout: Timur Valiev (6 points) def. Bekbulat Magomedov (0 points) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

After both of their opponents missed weight, the fellow Dagestan fighters were matched up just 24 hours before this fight. Timur Valiev, who trains with former UFC champion Frankie Edgar, took a decision win from Max Coga in his last fight. Bekbulat Magomedov suffered his first stoppage loss in his last fight against Lance Palmer. Magomedov looked to have the edge in the first round, landing more strikes than Valiev. Valiev came out throwing and moving quicker in the second round, landing a lot off of feints, and just barely missing with a flying knee. Valiev came out just as fast in the third round, always moving and keeping Magomedov guessing. Valiev finally got the fight to the ground with a minute remaining and cut Magomedov open, controlling until the bell rang. Valiev advances with 6 points as Magomedov is knocked out of the playoffs.

Heavyweight bout: Kelvin Tiller (11 points) def. Jared Rosholt (3 points) via submission (guillotine choke) (R2, 0:54)

Kelvin Tiller had arguably the best knockout of the first round with his win over Caio Alencar, but he was facing an All-American wrestler in Jared Rosholt, who also won his first fight over Valdrin Istrefi. Tiller came out and surprisingly scooped up and took down the wrestler, but Rosholt eventually took side control before transitioning to half guard and ending the round in control. Rosholt came out in the second round looking for the takedown again, but Tiller grabbed his head on the way down, and secured a guillotine until Rosholt finally tapped. That took ‘The Mama’s Boy’ to 11 points, which leads the heavyweights going into the playoffs.

Heavyweight bout: Philipe Lins (8 points) def. Alex Nicholson (5 points) via TKO (punches) (R2, 3:39)

Alex Nicholson also had arguably the best knockout in the first round as well, landing a crushing flying knee to Jake Heun to win his first bout. Philipe Lins was awarded 3 points after his opponent missed weight in the first fight. The first round of the fight was a respectful one, with both fighters observing each other’s power and Lins winning the striking battle. The second round showed more urgency from both fighters, Alex Nicholson eventually landed some good shots, looking like he had Lins in trouble, he recklessly moved forward trying to get the finish when he was caught with a right on the chin and stumbled backward. Lins got the knockdown not too long after that and finished the fight, picking up 5 points in the process.

Featherweight bout: Steven Siler (12 points) def. Alexandre Almeida (6 points) via technical submission (guillotine choke) (R1, 0:34)

Quite the controversial stoppage in this one. Steven Siler was coming off a comeback win over Magomed Idrisov, where he locked in a triangle choke with under a minute left in the first round. Alexandre Almeida was coming off a first round submission win of his own over Lee Coville. This fight started in a promising way, with Siler dropping Almeida before locking in a guillotine choke. It seemed like Almeida rolled to his side and was out, which prompted the referee to stop the fight. Steven Siler locked up the top spot in the standings with 12 points. Siler has been quite the surprise so far in the tournament.

Heavyweight bout: Francimar Barroso (12 points) def. Jack May (6 points) via submission (arm-triangle choke) (R1, 1:36)

Francimar Barroso won his first fight by doctor stoppage and Jack May won his first fight by first round knockout. Barroso is a small heavyweight, moving up from light heavyweight for this tournament and was giving up reach and leg reach to May. Barroso caught a leg kick early on and dumped May to the mat, after some ground work he transitioned to an arm-triangle choke until May was forced to tap. Barroso locked up the top spot in the heavyweight division with his 12 points.

Featherweight bout: Andre Harrison (6 points) def Nazareno Malegarie (3 points) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Andre Harrison, one of the rising young stars in MMA, easily handled Jumabieke Tuerxun in his first fight and Malegarie took a decision win over Marcos Galvao. Harrison was in full control of round one, stuffing Malegarie’s takedowns and winning the striking exchange. It was more of the same in round two before Malegarie got Harrison on the cage. After some positioning Harrison got off and landed some hard shots, temporally hurting Malegarie before landing a takedown and finishing the round. Harrison‘s speed was the story in round three, Malegarie was tough, but just couldn’t figure out Harrison, who stuffed last ditch attempt takedowns on his way to a decision win. Harrison winds up with 6 points, and with his low-finishing rate, that could hurt him in the playoffs.

Featherweight bout: Lance Palmer (9 points) def Jumabieke Tuerxun (0 points) via submission (neck crank) (R3, 4:34)

Lance Palmer had an impressive showing in his first fight, being the first one to stop Russia’s Bekbulat Magomedov inside three rounds. Jumabieke Tuerxun was coming off a loss to Andre Harrison, a fight where he was dominated in all three rounds. Both fighters started the first exchanging before Tuerxun shot for a single leg, Palmer defended it and took Tuernun‘s back before winding up in half guard and controlling the rest of the round. Palmer came out shooting in the second, took Tuerxun‘s back before transitioning to full mount and keeping him there the rest of the round while landing strikes. The third round was relatively quiet, Palmer won the striking exchange and Tuerxun tried for a single leg but wound up having his back taken once again. With 26 seconds left, Palmer forced the tap with a neck crank and brought his total up to 9 points.

You can see the full results here.