Former Bellator interim bantamweight champ Raufeon Stots is joining April’s PFL Chicago card.
Stots (21-3), who trains relatively nearby at Roufusport in Milwaukee, WI, will face undefeated Team Khabib standout Renat Khavalov (11-0) at the event on April 11, 2026 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL.
News of the booking was announced by PFL officials on Thursday. Stots is ranked #2 in the PFL’s bantamweight division currently, while Khavalov sits at #7.
Stots defeated Juan Archuleta to claim interim gold in Bellator in 2022, in the opening round of the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix, and defended his title opposite current RIZIN champ Danny Sabatello later that year. He’d end up losing a title unification bout in the grand prix finale against Patchy Mix in April 2023.
Raufeon then put together back-to-back wins before dropping a fight against teammate Sergio Pettis at least year’s PFL 7.
Dagestan’s Khavalov is a former Eagles FC bantamweight champion, and sits at 3-0 under the PFL banner. Seven of his eleven victories have come via KO/TKO to date. He trains under UFC Hall of Famer and lightweight great Khabib Nurmagomedov, alongside the likes of Islam Makhachev, Usman and Umar Nurmagomedov, and others.
PFL Chicago is headlined by another bantamweight clash, as Sergio Pettis takes on rising prospect Mitch McKee. The following match-ups feature on the April 11 card:
- Sergio Pettis vs. Mitchell McKee
- Jordan Newman vs. Joshua Silveira
- Gabriel Braga vs. Mehdi Baydulaev
- Jena Bishop vs. Borena Tsertsvadze
- Omar El Dafrawy vs. James Vake
- Raufeon Stots vs. Renat Khavalov
