The PFL x Bellator card on February 24 will feature nine reigning title holders in action in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on pay-per-view.
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The next chapter for the PFL and Bellator MMA is set to begin on February 24, and they are kicking things off with a monster lineup. Per a press release, the card will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 24. The event is scheduled to have a seven fight main card that will be available on ESPN+ pay-per-view with an additional five fight preliminary card.
Last year, it was announced that the Saudi Arabia backed SRJ Sports Investments group had purchased a stake in the PFL and the result would be the promotion’s pay-per-view events being hosted in the country. The promotion is still expected to hold multiple regular season and playoff events in the United States in 2024.
The event on February 24 is set to be headlined by 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira against longtime Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader. Ferreira enters the bout on a three fight win-streak and has been one of the stand out performers of the PFL’s heavyweight division for the last several years. Bader has held the Bellator heavyweight championship since 2019 when he won it by winning the Grand Prix. Prior to that, he was also the light-heavyweight champion and won that belt shortly after joining the promotion after a long and successful stint in the UFC.
The main card will feature three more fights between current champions with the co-headliner featuring new PFL light-heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay against Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen who will be moving up in weight to 205 pounds. Now two-time PFL welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov will be taking on Bellator champion Jason Jackson and PFL featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo will take on decorated Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in other marquee action.
Several big names will also be in action with former PFL heavyweight champion Bruno Cappeloza welcoming Bellator light-heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov to the division, UFC vet and now PFL contender Thiago Santos taking on former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero, and last years PFL lightweight finalist Clay Collard taking on former Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee.
The preliminary card will be highlighted by featherweight finalist Gabriel Braga taking on Aaron Pico, the professional debut of Biaggio Ali Walsh against Chris Morris, and the MMA return of WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, WBF, and Ring featherweight champion Claressa Shields against Kelsey DiSantis.
Notably absent is Bellator featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino who is scheduled to have a boxing bout next Saturday and would need more time to make the turnaround to be a part of the card against either Larissa Pacheco or Kayla Harrison. Also, Bellator bantamweight champion Patchy Mix is not scheduled to be part of the card, though notably PFL doesn’t have a bantamweight division and he might part of the Bellator exclusive events in 2024.
Plans for the PFL’s regular season and European series have yet to be announced.
The Full PFL x Bellator card is as follows:
Main Card:
- Renan Ferreira vs Ryan Bader – Heavyweight
- Impa Kasanganay vs Johnny Eblen – Light-Heavyweight
- Magomed Magomedkerimov vs Jason Jackson – Welterweight
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs Jesus Pinedo – Featherweight
- Bruno Cappeloza vs Vadim Nemkov – Heavyweight
- Thiago Santos vs Yoel Romero – Light-Heavyweight
- Clay Collard vs AJ McKee – Lightweight
Preliminary Card:
- Gabriel Braga vs Aaron Pico – Featherweight
- Biaggio Ali Walsh vs Chris Morris – Lightweight
- Claressa Shields vs Kelsey DiSantis – Lightweight
- Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao – Featherweight
- Malik Basahel vs. Vinicius Pereira – Flyweight (Amateur)
