| PFL vs. Bellator | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Promotion | Bellator MMA Professional Fighters League | ||
| Date | February 24, 2024 | ||
| City | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Venue | Kingdom Arena | ||
| Bellator MMA events chronology | |||
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| PFL events chronology | |||
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PFL vs. Bellator: Champs was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Professional Fighters League and Bellator MMA that took place on February 24, 2024, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [1] [2]
In November 2023, it was announced that the PFL had acquired rival promotion Bellator MMA. [3] Speculation was that the company would run a champion against champion event in 2024, bolstered by appearances of Bellator MMA champions at PFL's final event of 2023.
A champion versus champion card was announced on January 16, 2024, and scheduled for the following month. Originally, the event was to see four champions from four divisions (heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, and featherweight) defend their titles from their respective organizations. [4] However, two champion versus champion matches were altered leading up to the card:
The undercard also included bouts between fighters from the rival promotions, with the following fights being added as well: [4]
In addition, the card featured the MMA return of Claressa Shields and the professional MMA debut of Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammed Ali who previously competed for PFL in amateur bouts. [4]
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones made an appearance on the broadcast. [9]
| Main Card (ESPN+ PPV / DAZN PPV) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Renan Ferreira | def. | Ryan Bader | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:21 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Middleweight | Johnny Eblen | def. | Impa Kasanganay | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Catchweight (182 lb) | Jason Jackson | def. | Ray Cooper III | TKO (leg kick and punches) | 2 | 0:23 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| Heavyweight | Vadim Nemkov | def. | Bruno Cappelozza | Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 2 | 2:13 | [lower-alpha 4] |
| Light Heavyweight | Yoel Romero | def. | Thiago Santos | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | A. J. McKee | def. | Clay Collard | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 1:10 | |
| Early Card (ESPN/ ESPN+) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Aaron Pico | def. | Henry Corrales | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:53 | |
| Lightweight | Biaggio Ali Walsh | def. | Emmanuel Palacio | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Super Lightweight | Claressa Shields | def. | Kelsey DeSantis | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Abdullah Al-Qahtani | def. | Edukondala Rao | TKO (punches and head kick) | 3 | 0:23 | |
| Flyweight | Malik Basahel | def. | Vinicius Pereira | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 3:00 | [lower-alpha 5] |
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