The first
Professional Fighters League vs. Bellator
MMA card is official for Feb. 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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The event will feature four champion vs. champion bouts: PFL 2023
heavyweight king Renan
Ferreira vs. Bellator champ Ryan Bader at
heavyweight; 2023 PFL light heavyweight champ Impa
Kasanganay vs. Bellator middleweight champion Johnny
Eblen at 185 pounds; 2023 PFL featherweight champion Jesus
Pinedo vs. Bellator featherweight title holder Patricio
Freire and 2023 PFL welterweight champion Magomed
Magomedkerimov vs. Bellator welterweight champion Jason
Jackson.
A handful of other matchups were also confirmed for the event:
Bruno
Cappelozza vs. Vadim
Nemkov at light heavyweight; Clay
Collard vs. A.J. McKee at
lightweight; Thiago
Santos vs. Yoel Romero
at light heavyweight and Gabriel
Braga vs. Aaron Pico
at featherweight. Boxing champion Claressa
Shields is also expected to fight on the card against Kelsey
DeSantis, while Biaggio
Ali Walsh will make his professional debut against Chris
Morris.
The PFL confirmed the card in a release on Tuesday. The event will
take place at Kingdom Arena and the seven-bout main card airs on
pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT. Braga vs. Pico and the
fights featuring Shields and Ali Walsh will air on the preliminary
portion of the card beginning at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on ESPNNews
and and ESPN+. A price point for the pay-per-view was not
revealed.
According to a release, newly-designed Super Fight Championship
belts will be at stake for the four champion vs. champion matchups.
Additionally, elbows will be legal at this event, which is a
departure from the usual PFL rule set.
“The Middle East is the fight capital of the world, and the
Professional Fighters League is proud to bring the world’s best
combat sports stars to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Riyadh
Season to host the first-ever PFL pay-per-view Super Fight
mega-global event,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said. “PFL Champions
versus Bellator Champions is game changing for fighters and fans. I
would like to thank HE Turki Alalshikh, the [General Entertainment
Authority) and SRJ for this incredible opportunity to grow the
sport of MMA in the The Kingdom and around the world.”