PFL vs. Bellator start time, full fight card details | ‘Seize the Throne’

A few of the finest from Skilled Fighters League (PFL) and Bellator MMA are set to go collide in opposition to each other later TODAY (Sat., Feb. 24, 2024) inside Kingdom Enviornment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in what might be a historic occasion. Streaming stay on ESPN+ PPV, in addition to DAZN PPV, the occasion might be headlined by a Heavyweight title struggle between PFL champion, Renan Ferreira, and Bellator titleholder, Ryan Bader. Within the co-main occasion, PFL Mild Heavyweight champion, Impa Kasanganay, drops to Middleweight to battle Bellator’s 185-pound champion, Johnny Eblen.

What’s Sizzling:

If you will do a promotion vs. promotion, champion vs. champion occasion, you’ll be able to by no means go unsuitable with having the large males headline it. Renan Ferreira received the 265-pound event in November, and now he’s attempting to cement his place among the many nice huge males within the sport by taking out Bellator’s champ, Ryan Bader. Of his 12 wins, Ferreira has received 10 of them by knockout, together with seven of them within the very first spherical. In brief, “Problema” is simply that, an issue on the ft for anybody standing throughout from him.

Bader isn’t afraid to strike, however it will behoove him to depend on his wrestling as a result of as Denis Goltsov confirmed throughout his title struggle in opposition to Ferreira, he may be taken down and saved there. Certain, Bader isn’t shy from getting busy within the placing division, however let’s be actual, who desires to strike with a person that stands 6’8’’ and hits like a Mack Truck? The winner of this struggle won’t solely earn a shiny new belt for the mantle, in addition to bragging rights, however they will even be the one to welcome Francis Ngannou to the Sensible Cage later this 12 months.

And you realize what meaning: Purple Panty Night time.

What’s Not:

I imply, apart from the unlucky cancellation of a few title fights, there isn’t a lot one can complain about relating to this occasion. It has intriguing matchups from prime to backside that may fulfill anybody’s starvation for hand-to-hand fight motion.

Unique Card vs. Precise Card:

The occasion was set to characteristic 4 title fights. however PFL’s Featherweight champion, Jesus Pinedo, bowed out of his title struggle in opposition to Patricio Pitbull. Consequently, Gabriel Braga was pulled from his scheduled struggle in opposition to Aaron Pico to face Pitbull. Nevertheless, Braga was pulled from the struggle previous to weigh ins for no unspecified purpose, leaving Pitbull with out an opponent, but once more. As for Pico, he’ll get a rematch in opposition to Henry Corrales on the undercard.

Accidents:

Other than Pinedo’s damage, Magomed Magomedkerimov was pressured out of his scheduled Welterweight championship bout in opposition to Jason Jackson attributable to an unspecified well being setback. Stepping in to fill the void is Ray Cooper III.

New Blood & Prelims

We’re going to mix each of those columns as a result of all however one of many fights on the undercard will characteristic newcomers. The lone struggle that may embrace longtime veterans is a rematch between Aaron Pico and Henry Corrales, who agreed to step in on brief discover after Gabriel Braga was pulled from the struggle. Pico and Corrales have fought as soon as earlier than, leading to a first-round knockout win for Corrales, snapping Pico’s 4 struggle win streak. It’s a struggle that I’m certain Pico has been wanting ahead to getting once more, and now he has the prospect to make issues proper for himself. Corrales is coming off a razor-thin break up resolution loss to Kai Kamaka III. As for his opponent, he’s at present using a two-fight win streak and is coming off a first-round TKO win over Pedro Carvalho.

Biaggio Ali Walsh has competed for PFL as an beginner, however he might be making his official professional debut as we speak when he battles Emmanuel Palacio. The grandson of Muhammad Ali, Walsh went 6-1 as an beginner with six knockouts, 4 within the very first spherical. As for Palacio, he’s 1-0, successful his personal professional debut in opposition to Pedro Barrios in Dec. 2023. Walsh is a highly-touted prospect given his household lineage, so if he could make a splash with one other knockout win he’ll make individuals take discover immediately.

Malik Basahel and Vinicius Pereira will sq. off in a battle of newcomers. Pereira went 3-0 as an beginner, successful all of his fights by way of first-round submission. As for Basahel, he went 9-1-1 as an beginner and is available in having received six in a row.

Edukondal Rao will make his PFL debut in opposition to Abdullah Al-Qahtani. After beginning his professional profession at 5-0, Rao suffered the primary lack of his profession in his final outing by way of unanimous resolution by the hands of Gurtej Singh. As for Al-Qahtani, he’s 2-0 below the PFL banner and owns an general file of of 7-1. He hasn’t been overly energetic as a professional, solely preventing eight occasions in six years.

Additionally, Kelsey De Santis might be making her PFL debut when she steps as much as face off in opposition to present world boxing champion, Claressa Shields. The “GWOAT” at present holds the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, WBF, and The Ring middleweight titles and is undefeated at 14-0 as a boxer. As an MMA fighter, Shields remains to be younger in her profession, going 1-1, shedding to Abigail Montes by way of split-decision in Oct. 2021. Nearly 2.5 years later, Shields returns looking for her second win as a professional. De Santis, in the meantime, suffered two straight losses to start out off her professional MMA profession, however managed to choose up her first win in her final outing by defeating Kathleen Noy Nelson by way of first-round TKO. Defeating Shields can be a good way to make an impression on her new firm.

Who Wants A Win Badly:

Each Yoel Romero and Thiago Santos have seen higher days contained in the cage. Romero is coming off a unanimous resolution loss by the hands of Vadim Nemkov, dropping him to 2-5 in his final seven fights, 1-2 below the Bellator banner. Nearing 47 years of age, Romero wants a win to stop the chatters of his age affecting his efficiency contained in the cage from ramping up much more. As for Santos, his final win got here in Oct. 2021, defeating Johnny Walker by way of unanimous resolution contained in the UFC Octagon. He left the promotion on a two-fight shedding streak, and didn’t kick off his PFL debut with a bang after shedding to Rob Wilkinson. Thankfully for “Marreta,” that win was dominated a No Contest (NC) after Wilkinson examined optimistic for elevated testosterone.

Curiosity Degree: 8.5/10

Within the co-main occasion Impa Kasanganay drops right down to Middleweight to face Johnny Eblen. Kasanganay has been on fireplace since becoming a member of PFL, going 5-0 and successful the Mild Heavyweight title in Nov. 2023. As for Eblen, he has a 14-0 file, 10-0 in Bellator. He’s coming off a knockout win over Fabian Edwards at Bellator 299, his fourth straight title protection. Eblen is a former NCAA Division 1 wrestler, so taking the struggle to the bottom looks like a no brainer. Kasanganay would like to maintain the struggle standing, and, consider it or not, Eblen might be a really keen dance companion.

Jason Jackson is coming off an enormous win over Yaroslav Amosov, knocking him out within the third spherical at Bellator 301. It was “Ass-Kicking Machine’s” seventh-straight win, and whereas he received’t get the prospect to struggle PFL’s champion and presumably win a brand new belt, he’ll get the chance to face a former champion in Ray Cooper III, who coincidentally sufficient has a win over the present 170-pound champion, Magomed Magomedkerimov. Cooper III has seen higher days, although, since he’s simply 1-2 over his final three fights and is coming off a loss to Derek Brunson. He can bounce again in an enormous approach by taking out Bellator’s 170-pound title holder.

Bruno Cappelozza isn’t any stranger to huge fights. He did, in any case, win the 2021 Heavyweight event by defeating Ante Delija by way of unanimous resolution. That was the one struggle he has received by way of resolution as a result of he knocked out 14 of 15 opponents. He’ll want that knockout energy to be in full impact in opposition to Vadim Nemkov, who loves nothing greater than to grind his opponents down over the course of a 15 or a 25-minute struggle. Nemkov vacated his Mild Heavyweight title so as to make a run on the 265-pound strap, so he’ll are available highly-motivated. He isn’t against getting right into a barn-burner, however his finest guess is to remain shut, soiled field and go for the takedowns. For Cappelozza, he might be on the lookout for the house run shot any likelihood he will get.

Kicking issues off on the principle card is a Light-weight bout between 2023 Light-weight finalist, Clay Collard, and former Bellator Featherweight champion, A.J. McKee, who’s undefeated at 3-0 since transferring as much as 155 kilos. McKee is as well-rounded as they arrive. He can stand with the most effective of them and he can submit them, too. He did, in any case, win the 145-pound title by submitting Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 263. He has six wins by way of knockout, seven by way of submission and eight by way of resolution, so if that’s not well-rounded I don’t know what’s. As for Collard, he would love nothing greater than to get again on monitor with a win over “Mercenary” after falling to Olivier Aubin-Mercier within the Light-weight remaining in Nov. 2023, which snapped his three-fight win streak. This actually is a historic occasion that may function a template for PFL’s future promotion vs. promotion occasions

Benefit from the fights!

Full ‘Seize the Throne’ Battle Card:

PFL Vs. Bellator Major Occasion:

265 lbs.: PFL Heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira vs. Bellator Heavyweight champion Ryan Bader

PFL Vs. Bellator Major Card (3 p.m. ET)

185 lbs.: PFL Mild Heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay vs. Bellator Middleweight champion Johnny Eblen182 lbs.: Jason Jackson vs. Ray Cooper III (not Magomed Magomedkerimov) 145 lbs.: Bellator Featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull vs. Gabriel Braga CANCELED265 lbs.: Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov205 lbs.: Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero155 lbs.: Clay Collard vs. A.J. McKee

PFL Vs. Bellator ‘Prelims’ Undercard (12:30 p.m. ET)

145 lbs.: Aaron Pico vs. Henry Corrales155 lbs.: Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Emmanuel Palacio155 lbs.: Claressa Shields vs. Kelsey DeSantis 145 lbs.: Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao 125 lbs.: Malik Basahel vs. Vinicius Pereira

Keep in mind that MMAmania.com will ship LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow protection of all the ‘Seize the Throne’ struggle card proper right here, beginning with the early ESPN+ and DAZN “Prelims” matches on-line, that are scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. ET, earlier than the pay-per-view (PPV) major card begin time at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV and DAZN PPV.