There were many activities Josh Fremd was preoccupied with over the past two years. Competing in mixed martial arts wasn’t one of them. When the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships and Professional Fighters League called, the Connellsville and Slippery Rock University graduate’s readiness level wasn’t ideal.
“I wasn’t,” said Fremd, who fights at middleweight. “I was chasing women, doing drugs, drinking and not having a purpose.”
There was no evidence of any dip into depression Saturday at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center. In front of the sold out PFL event, Fremd survived his shorts slipping off and a spinning elbow from Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi to win his debut with the organization with a third-round KO via a left hook.
Despite Laurel High School graduate Dalton Rosta getting knocked out by Impa Kasanganay at the 3 minute, 18 seconds mark of the first round of the co-main event, it was a festive atmosphere. This was the first time a global MMA promotion held an event in Pittsburgh in nine years and drew a sold out crowd of more than 4,000 fans.
PFL CEO John Martin said he was impressed by the atmosphere.
“The crowd was pumped,” Martin said. “I liked the venue. We were 80 percent full by the end of the first fight of the night. That never happens.”
Johnny Eblen capped the card by submitting Bryan Battle in a middleweight main event.
Ethan Goss, who is a former two-division champion at the locally-based 247 Fighting Championships, competed in the first preliminary fight of the night.
“It’s a blessing that this is the kind of turnout we can get,” Goss said. “This is what we can produce here in Pittsburgh. There’s a lot of talent and I hope that we can continue to have shows like this.”
Goss was disappointed with the stoppage in his fight, which saw it halted while Frederik Dupras was applying a guillotine choke in the first round. The fight was stopped after referee Chip Snider determined Goss went unconscious while Dupras was tightening the choke.
Goss said he never went out.
Goss plans to appeal the decision with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission to try and get the result overturned to a no contest.
Fremd, who is 12-6 during his career, had a six-fight stint in the UFC. He was cut from the UFC after he failed to make weight for a scheduled bout with Abdul Razak Alhassan in October 2024.
“I didn’t lose it because I wasn’t a good fighter,” Fremd said. “I lost it because of my discipline. Josh Fremd only learns lessons the hard way.”
Fremd’s return saw him go through all the trials and tribulations of an action fight. He held a 75-28 edge in significant strikes, but was taken down twice.
Fremd also scored three takedowns of his own. Even in the third round, he wasn’t comfortable if the fight went to the scorecards.
“I looked at the clock and saw there’s a minute, 30 left and everything that happened in the last year came back,” Fremd said. “I didn’t know what the score was. I thought I may have been winning. But I knew I had 1 minute and 30 seconds left to finish the fight.”
Other results from the card included:
• Women’s flyweight, Tatiana Postarnakova dec. Elora Dana, 30-27 (x3)
• Welterweight, Ernesto Rodriguez majority dec. Masayuki Kikuiri, 28-28, 29-28, 29-28
• Lightweight, Dakota Bush TKO Robert Walter, Round 1 :34
• Lightweight, Jakub Kaszuba dec. Natan Schulter, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
• Bantamweight, Jack Cartwright, split dec. Allan Begosso, 29-28, 27-29, 29-28
• Bantamweight, Lazaro Dayron dec. Jacob Thrall, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27
• Featherweight, Alexei Pergande dec. Julio Acre, 29-28 (x3)
• Women’s flyweight, Ariane Da Silva dec. Sumiko Inaba, 30-27 (x2), 29-28