| PFL vs. Bellator | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| 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] It was the first MMA event held in Saudi Arabia. [3]
In November 2023, it was announced that the PFL had acquired its competitor Bellator MMA. [4] 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. [5] 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: [5]
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. [5]
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones made an appearance on the broadcast. [10]
| 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] |
Bellator MMA is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008. At one point considered the second largest in the United States and one of the largest combat sport promotions in the world, Bellator's first event was held in 2009, and the promotion has since held over 300 "numbered" events. The promotion takes its name from bellātor, the Latin word for "warrior".
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2019 in Bellator MMA was the eleventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 27 events in 2019.
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Jesus Pinedo is a Peruvian mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). He won the 2023 PFL Featherweight Championship. In October 2023, Pinedo reached No. 10 in World Featherweight rankings according to Fight Matrix.
The PFL 10 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Professional Fighters League that took place on November 24, 2023, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., United States. This was the finale of the playoffs for all 2023 divisions, with the winners getting a $1 million cash prize.
2024 in Bellator MMA is the sixteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
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