MacDonald knocked out by replacement fighter in PFL semis

CARDIFF, United Kingdom — Dilano (The Postman) Taylor, a late replacement, knocked out Canadian welterweight Rory (Red King) MacDonald in the first round of their Professional Fighters League semifinal Saturday.

Taylor (10-2-0) was dominant from the get-go and finished the fight with 11 straight blows from above after felling MacDonald (23-10-1) with a powerful right to the head. Referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight at three minutes 59 seconds.

Taylor will meet Sweden's Sadibou Sy in the final with the 170-pound title and a US$1-million payday on the line.

Sy (12-6-2 with one no-contest) won a unanimous decision (29-27, 29-29, 29-27) over Brazil's Carlos (The Lion) Leal (17-4-0) in the other welterweight semifinal Saturday.

MacDonald, the top seed in the playoff compared to No. 2 for Sy, lost a unanimous decision to the Swede at PFL 6 on July 1. Leal was seeded third.

MacDonald, who also lost in last year's semifinal to eventual champion Ray Cooper III, has now lost four of his last five fights and is 3-6-1 in his last 10 outings.

MacDonald was originally slated to meet (Prince) Magomed Umalatov but the PFL announced Thursday that the unbeaten Russian had visa issues and couldn't get into the country. Russian heavyweight Denis Goltsov also had to drop off the card at Motorpoint Arena, with alternates stepping in as replacements.

Taylor, who fights out of Miami but represents Jamaica, was a third-choice replacement. The PFL said the first two alternates, 2018 welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov of Russia and 2019 and 2020 titleholder Cooper were unable to compete.

Unlike other MMA promotions, the PFL features a regular season, playoffs and championship across six divisions, each with 10 competitors. The four