Britons Hughes and Garnett reach PFL Europe finals

English duo Connor Hughes and Dean Garnett sealed their places in the PFL Europe finals with stoppage victories in Nantes, France.

Hughes claimed his second knockout of the competition, landing a clean head kick on Spain's Gino van Steenis in the opening round.

The 28-year-old, who lost in last year's lightweight final, meets Latvia's Aleksandr Chizov in December's final in Lyon.

Garnett beat the previously undefeated Jan Cieplowski by submission early in round three.

He goes up against another undefeated fighter in the bantamweight final after France's Baris Adiguzel beat American Julian Lopez by first round knockout.

Both finals offer up $100,000 (£78,000) in prize money.

Garnett lost in the semi-finals against eventual champion Lewis McGrillen last year but has come back stronger in 2025 to reach the final.

The 37-year-old needed a decision to get beyond Finland's Tuomas Gronvall in July and looked like he was set to go the distance again at Zenith Nantes Metropole.

After a back-and-forth two rounds, which saw Cieplowski getting the better of exchanges on the feet and Garnett enjoying more success on the ground, there was no clear indication of how the fight would end when they touched gloves for the final round.

But Garnett found his opponents' neck when a tired Cieplowski lunged forward and the Liverpudlian made sure the judges weren't required as he sunk in a guillotine.

"I respect Cieplowski a lot but it's my time now," Garnett said on Dazn.

"He thought I'd get tired in round three but I knew when he started wrestling that he was ready to get out of there.

"I'll be ready for that final in December - I should have been there last year."

Hughes followed his mum and uncle around the world from the age of three during their kickboxing careers and all that experience came to the fore in France.

He needed just two minutes and 56 seconds to get the job done against Van Steenis, with a barrage of calf kicks diverting the Spaniard's attention low before a head kick wrapped up a statement win.

It follows a knockout victory in the previous round when a right hook stopped Belgian Sebastien di Franco, and Hughes is confident he can make it three in a row when he takes on Chizov for the title.

"I'm going to get three knockouts, I'm coming for all of them one by one and there will be no question about anything," Hughes told Dazn.

"I know I'm smarter than these people and my eyes are far better."