Welterweight Neiman Gracie (12-5), a former Bellator MMA title challenger, returns to action at this Friday’s PFL 6 card in Sioux Falls, SD, looking to get on the board, score some points, and steal a spot in the league’s post-season.
This is Gracie’s first season in the PFL tournament format, and adaptation to PFL style has been key.
“This is as fast as I’ve fought after another fight,” he told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “The most important thing is to keep my weight down. I cannot get too happy, because I got to weigh in again. That was the biggest difference. I didn’t have a break after the last fight, I just came back and kept training, kept dieting, and stayed on the hustle.”
Still, added Gracie, when it comes to the busy schedule, “I think it’s good because it keeps you sharp, keeps you training, but at the same time it’s tough, because you can’t eat pizza on the weekend.”
There’s another added benefit as well. Gracie, who dropped a decision to fellow Bellator alum Goiti Yamauchi in his first fight of the PFL 2024 season, gets an instant distraction to take his mind off the loss.
“It’s a great thing actually. It puts me right back into work, thinking about the next guy already. It’s really good. And being in a tournament, we can always fight again, so I can have my revenge in the future.”
The switch from Bellator to the PFL (the league purchased its rival late last year, and is running the promotion alongside its own PFL brand) has been a positive one for Neiman Gracie, he told us.
“I’d been with Bellator for such a long time, so it was a good thing, changing, a little bit. Changing people, changing the staff, for me it was great. I felt renewed, like doing something new,” stated Gracie. “It was really good, I like it. They are very professional, it was a great fight week.”
At the 2024 PFL 6 card on Friday, Gracie faces off with Don Madge, who leads the welterweight standings. “He’s a striker, he’s a southpaw, so regular stuff you see as a fighter. I was able to study him a little bit, so it’s going to be a good fight,” suggested Gracie.
Madge is a black belt. Neiman Gracie is, well, a Gracie. A black belt, and a very highly regarded one at that. Will Don Madge dare entertain him on the mat?
“It’s hard to say. I don’t know, if he’s like me, if he’s going to want to go to the floor. I don’t think he’ll want to go to the floor with me, but I want to take him to the floor,” Gracie said. “We’re going to have to see that on June 28.”
Watch our full interview with 2024 PFL 6 welterweight Neiman Gracie above.
