PFL Charlotte sent fans home sleepy on Friday night.
Making his sophomore appearance in the promotion, Charlotte’s own Bryan Battle entered the cage to take on Dalton Rosta. The middleweight main event ended somewhat controversially, as the hometown middleweight Battle (13-3, 1 NC) came out the victor via a lackluster split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
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Rosta (11-4) started the early goings of the bout with some strong leg kicks early, chopping at Battle’s upright stance. That appeared to be a great recipe for success until it was entirely abandoned for a big Rosta body-lock takedown. Control didn’t last for Rosta, as Battle defended well, pushing down Rosta’s hands as he stood and walked around the cage wall. That was effectively where the rest of the round was spent until the 30-second mark. Some strikes were attempted between the two, leading to a failed late Battle double leg.
The second frame saw Battle get more aggressive, seeking long punches until Rosta worked his legs with kicks again. Those shots forced Battle to switch stance, and allowed Rosta to pursue another takedown. The remainder of the round was largely “highlighted” with more wall control exchanges and minimal strikes interjected.
Round 3 saw Battle tied up within the first minute to land some elbows and punches against the cage. Rosta started to land some punches at range once separated, and it was right back to failed takedown attempts and cage control in arguably the most forgettable fight of the year.
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For Battle, the former UFC welterweight prospect will likely climb the PFL middleweight rankings with his win. After the fight, he threw out the idea of a future matchup against new PFL co-owner, Most Valuable Productions’ Jake Paul.
“Considering the merger, I think it’s a great time to make a splash,” Battle said in his post-fight interview with Dan Hardy and Sean O’Connell. “I don’t think Jake Paul would fight me, but I’d fight Jake Paul, for sure.”
Rosta, on the other hand, now rides a three-fight losing skid after the close defeat. Prior to the stretch, Rosta had only lost once, which came against Aaron Jeffery in their Bellator days before Rosta scored redemption in what was his last win in June 2025.
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Earlier in the night, some big highlights were delivered in the forms of Denis Goltsov running through Hasan Mezhiev and Maxwell Djantou Nana crushing Eduardo Neves with a nasty body shot.
Catch full PFL Charlotte results below.
Main card
Bryan Battle vs. Dalton Rosta via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Simeon Powell vs. Dovlet Yagshimuradov via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Aaron Jeffery vs. Josh Silveira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Brandon Lewis vs. Lewis McGrillen via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Josh Fremd def. Jhony Gregory via TKO (punches) at 1:44 of R2 | Watch finish
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Prelims
Denis Goltsov vs. Hasan Mezhiev via TKO (head kick and punches) at 0:52 of R1 | Watch finish
Cheyden Leialoha def. Robbie Ring via unanimous decision (30-27 All)
Cheyanne Bowers def. Elora Dana via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:26 of R1 | Watch finish
Landry Ward def. Michael Boylan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
Bruno Cappelozza def. Valentin Moldavsky via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Jonathan Martin def. Wilson Lopshire via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-27)
Maxwell Djantou Nana def. Eduardo Neves via TKO (body punch) at 2:01 of R3 | Watch finish
Trey Waters def. Trukon Carson via TKO (knees and punches) at 4:37 of R1 | Watch finish
