Australian welterweight Shane Mitchell has suffered a decision loss to Mexico’s Nayib Lopez in the Aussie’s PFL debut at PFL 3 in Las Vegas.
The two met in the first bracket of the PFL welterweight tournament, with Lopez earning 3 points in the PFL rankings for the victory.
The story of the fight was Mitchell’s striking against Lopez’s wrestling, with Mitchell having success counter striking on the feet, and Lopez landing seven takedowns over the course of the fight. Although Mitchell was successful reversing position multiple times throughout the bout, as well as going for multiple Kimura submission attempts, Lopez’s grappling was too much for the Aussie, having nearly four minutes grounded control time over the three rounds.
This loss changes Mitchell’s professional record to 13-5, and his PFL record to 0-1, while Lopez remains undefeated at 16-0.
Mitchell is one of two Australians competing in the PFL this season, with the other being last year’s PFL light heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson.
Mitchell will get another chance to fight and earn points in the 2023 PFL season in June at PFL 6 in Atlanta, Georgia.
