The beauty of mixed martial arts is athletes are afforded the ability to take losses as they figure things out in their careers. PFL middleweight Dalton Rosta hopes his last two performances will be minor roadblocks in his career. But make no mistake, the Laurel High School graduate will feel the pressure August 7 in Charlotte.

Rosta, who is 11-3, has suffered consecutive knockout losses for the first time in his career. He will attempt to turn things around against UFC veteran Bryan Battle in a middleweight main event. Defeats can't be more emotional than Rosta's last loss.

In front of a sold-out crowd at the UPMC Events Center at the PFL Pittsburgh card, Rosta chose to go for the knockout against former PFL tournament champion Impa Kasanganay. Kasanganay ended up getting the better of the exchange and scored a KO win 3 minutes, 18 seconds into the first round.

Battle, a former UFC fighter who is 12-3 in his career, made his debut in the organization that night, but he lost by submission to another former champion, Johnny Eblen. 

Dalton Rosta is getting prepared for his next professional fight, which will be March 28 at Robert Morris University's UPMC Event Center. Rosta, a former middleweight title challenger in the Professional Fighters League, will take on former PFL champion and UFC veteran Impa Kasanganay in the co-main event.

Rosta, who attended Laurel High School, recently posted a picture of him training with the wrestlers at his high school program. Rosta, who is 11-2 in his career, is looking to bounce back from his first career knockout loss. 

Rosta was knocked out by a headkick against Fabian Edwards, who is the brother of former UFC champion Leon, during the PFL middleweight tournament championship fight last August. The loss was disappointing for Rosta after he avenged his first career loss by beating Aaron Jeffrey in a controversial decision in the semifinal.

Rosta last competed in the Pittsburgh area during a 247 Championships grappling event in October 2023. He beat Tanner Hall via decision in a grappling bout during Sprawl in the Burgh 2 at the Meadows Casino.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Fabian Edwards followed in a family tradition by capturing a belt in mixed martial arts with a head kick knockout Thursday night at the Hollywood Casino in Florida. Edwards put away Dalton Rosta, a Laurel grad, with that particular attack during the third round round of the PFL Middleweight Tournament final.

Fabian's brother, Leon, also won the welterweight championship in the UFC with a head-kick knockout. Leon's was even more dramatic. He knocked out long-reigning champion Kamaru Usman with 56 seconds left in a fight where he was behind on the scorecards.

"That is team headshot, dead," Fabian said to Dan Hardy in the cage after the fight. "That is crazy. God has a funny way to work. I'm so grateful."

While Rosta found success with his wrestling, it wasn't enough to slow down the potent British striker. Rosta completed three of his five takedown attempts and was in control for most of the second round. However, Edwards kept mixing up his kicks and all of the work paid off in the third round.

Nearly 90 seconds into the round, Edwards fired off a left head kick that put Rosta out.

Edwards followed up with one shot on the ground before the referee stopped the bout. Rosta fell to 11-2 in his career.

Josh Rizzo is the editor of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X at @J_oshRizzo