Both Bajor and Scheffel were veterans of the Professional Fighters League, with Scheffel also having competed on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, where he lost to Azamat Murzakanov in a light heavyweight contest.

In the co-main event, Brazilian ONE Championship and ROAD FC alum Bruno Azevedo made his promotional debut for KSW, paired up with Poland’s own Oleksii Polischuck.

Polischuck entered the night off back-to-back wins under the promotion’s banner.

Where to Watch KSW 97: Bajor vs. Scheffel

Poland’s KSW finds itself at the Arena Jaskółka in the Polish city of Tamow on Saturday, August 24, 2024 for the Bajor vs. Scheffel card. The event is available via streaming PPV and can be accessed through KSWTV.com. The broadcast gets underway at 1PM ET, 10AM PT; full results from the card can be found below.

KSW 97: Bajor vs. Scheffel Results

Matheus Scheffel def. Szymon Bajor by unanimous decision
Bruno Azevedo def. Oleksii Polischuck by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 2, 2:07
Igor Michaliszyn def. Oton Jasse by unanimous decision
Muslim Tulshaev def. Marcin Krakowiak by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 2, 2:14
Wiktoria Czyżewska def. Erianny Castaneda by KO (head kick), Round 1, 2:09
Albert Odzimkowski def. David Hošek by TKO (punches), Round 1, 4:12
Sergiusz Zając def. Kleber Raimundo Silva by TKO (elbows), Round 1, 1:36
Michał Guzik def. Konrad Rusiński by split decision
Krystian Blezień def. Alvin Lowenski by split decision

The post KSW 97: Bajor vs. Scheffel Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Scheffel (17-9) picked up a unanimous decision win in the pair’s first meeting last year, and went all the way to the final in November. While he was unable to claim the title and million dollar prize — that honor went to Ante Delija — Scheffel is in a good spot heading into his rematch with Cappelozza to kick off the 2023 season.

He’s certainly confident heading in, given his performance in the pair’s first fight. But confidence is nothing new for Matheus Scheffel.

“Yeah, I’ve always got confidence when I fight. Doesn’t matter who, doesn’t matter if it’s the second fight, or first fight, I don’t care,” Scheffel told media outlets including Cageside Press this week. “I’ve always got confidence for the fight.”

With one season under his belt, “I’m feeling better now,” he added. “I know how things work in the PFL now. I like the seaosn, I like the format of the tournament, I live everything, and I’m feeling home here.”

While their last fight went the distance, Scheffel envisions an angry clash that devolves into all-out war during the rematch.

“I think Bruno will come with a lot of anger, and I’m pissed off too. This is my fifth fight here in the PFL, and four of those five fights is against a champion or former champion. So I think I’ve proved to everybody that I deserve to be here. I don’t think I need to prove it to anybody. This is my second year here, and I don’t care. I don’t care about Bruno, I don’t care about his strategy. When the door closes, we’re gonna make a huge war. This is my promise for the MMA fans.”

Watch the full 2023 PFL 2 media day appearance by Matheus Scheffel above.

The post PFL 2 2023: Matheus Scheffel Promises “Huge War” in Cappelozza Rematch appeared first on Cageside Press.

Delija (22-5) fought in the heavyweight championship bout last year as well against Bruno Cappellozza in one of the best fights of the year. The Croatian protégé of Mirko Cro Cop actually holds a win over Scheffel this season when he finished the Brazilian in April and if he could repeat that performance, then he would win one million dollars. The Brazilian native Scheffel (17-8) came into the fight looking for revenge and a chance at a life-changing prize in the biggest fight of his life.

The two big men met in the center of the cage at the opening bell and began to figure out each other’s timing. Delija was throwing punches in combinations and Scheffel returned in kind, landing several good counter left hooks early.

Two minutes in the Croatian judoka shot a double leg but was denied and forced Scheffel into a clinch against the fence. Scheffel broke away quickly and the two traded big punches with fast hands for big men. Soon after, a hook from Delija seemed to rock Scheffel as he backed up to the fence. Delija may not have realized at first, but soon after that he threw another blistering fast hook combo in the pocket — nine punches in all — and Scheffel collapsed to a knee against the fence. The Croatian jumped on top to finish the fight and Dan Mirgliotta quickly stepped in.

Walking trouble indeed! #PFLWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/szeypLPPWe

— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) November 26, 2022

After sealing the million dollar addition to his pay in under five minutes, Ante Delija jumped on top of the cage and celebrated with his coach. The pair then left the cage entirely to celebrate with a jubilant Croatian fan contingent in the stands nearby before Delija FaceTimed with his family back home.

Official Result: Ante Delija def. Matheus Scheffel by TKO (punches), Round 1, 2:50

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League officials announced the news in a press release distributed Thursday. Stepping in for Cappelozza will be Matheus Scheffel. He’ll face Goltsov at PFL 8 in Cardiff, Wales on August 13, 2022.

After losing his first fight of the PFL 2022 season, which happened to be his promotional debut, Scheffel (16-8) stormed back in his next outing. That fight saw him secure a unanimous decision against Cappelozza himself — though the three points earned for going the distance and winning wasn’t enough to make the post-season.

With Cappelozza out, however, Scheffel now has another shot at earning the $1 million dollars in prize money.

Goltsov (29-7) has made the post-season on three consecutive occasions, in 2019, 2021, and now 2022 (the PFL’s 2020 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic).

The full PFL 8 card, which features three other semifinal match-ups in the heavyweight and welterweight divisions, currently breaks down as follows:

• Rory MacDonald vs. Magomed Umalatov – welterweight semifinal
• Ante Delija vs. Renan Ferreira – heavyweight semifinal
• Denis Goltsov vs. Matheus Scheffel – welterweight semifinal
• Sadibou Sy vs. Carlos Leal – heavyweight semifinal
• Will Fleury vs. Anthony Salamone
• Nate Kelly vs. Ben Ellis
• Vojto Barborik vs. Maxim Radu
• Moktar Benkaci vs. Francesco Nuzzi
• Joshua O’Connor vs. Emran Sakhizada
• Mohammad Fakhreddine vs. Marcin Wojcik
• Chris Mixan vs. Christian Stigenberg
• Hatef Moeil vs. Szymon Bajor

The post 2021 Heavyweight Champ Bruno Cappelozza Out of PFL Semifinals, Matheus Scheffel Steps In appeared first on Cageside Press.

Let’s get to the meat of it: just four fights made DWCS Season 5 Week 1 a rather compact affair. Future instalments would feature the usual five fights; just how the shortened card impacted the contract situation was the question ahead of Tuesday. Would only one or two UFC deals be dished out? Was there a chance all four fighters wound up signed with big showings?

Among the standouts on Tuesday’s card was Azamat Murzakanov, a.k.a. “The Professional.” Undefeated in nine pro fights, the Russian had wins over UFC alums Andre Muniz and Guto Inocente. Murzakanov was paired up with Matheus Scheffel, the current Future FC light heavyweight champ out of Brazil. Scheffel entered the night on a two-fight win streak.

Also on Tuesday’s DWCS Season 5 Week 1 card was Carlos Candelario. If the name seems vaguely familiar, well, Candelario had appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series once before, in the inaugural season back in 2017. The flyweight, at the time one of the top 125lb prospects in the world, had won his bout — but was denied a contract. Worse, he tore his ACL in the fight, and subsequently retired from competition.

Four years later, almost to the day, Candelario returned, fighting at CES 63 earlier this month and picking up a unanimous decision win. Now, with just four weeks having passed, Candelario took on Mexico’s “El Magnifico” Victor Altamirano.

Dana White’s Contender Series 2021 kicks off at 8PM ET on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass internationally. Full results from DWCS Season 5 Week 1 can be found below.

Welterweight AJ Fletcher kicked off Tuesday’s card in style. After showing some slick leg kicks and spinning attacks early against Italian Leonardo Damiani, he launched a flying knee that absolutely smoked his opponent. With Damiani’s back against the fence, he had no avenue of escape. A flying knee KO in the first fight of the season? Wild.

The second fight, a flyweight contest between Victor Altamirano and Carlos Candelario, had a lot to live up to. Too much, as it turned out. Candelario had a dominant opening round, but the second two were much closer. The result was initially announced as a unanimous decision for Victor Altamirano, but that was later corrected to a split decision.

Things started off promising in the third fight of the evening, before becoming unfortunate and downright weird. Joanderson Brito looked fantastic on the feet. Diego Lopes had his moments off the back, coming close with an arm-bar. It seemed like Brito was up on the scorecards heading into the third. Then, early in round three, an eye poke left Lopes unable to continue. The ref deducted a point, but Lopes could not continue. They went to the scorecards, with little in the way of a third round to score. The end result, Joanderson Brito won a technical unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three scorecards.

Just as things had started to drag, Azamat Murzakanov came out and ended the show in a big way. The Russian landed clean on the jaw of Matheus Scheffel, dropping him. A few more strikes ended any hope of Scheffel getting back up. Almost certainly a contract with that finish.

The contracts handed out Tuesday brought about a surprise: for the first time in DWCS history, a losing fighter was awarded a deal. That came as Carlos Candelario was granted a contract, as well as Victor Altamirano. AJ Fletcher, Joanderson Brito, and Azamat Murzakanov were all awarded UFC contracts as well.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 1 Results

Light Heavyweight: Azamat Murzakanov def. Matheus Scheffel by TKO, Round 1, 3:00
Featherweight: Joanderson Brito def. Diego Lopes by technical unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Flyweight: Victor Altamirano def. Carlos Candelario by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Welterweight: AJ Fletcher def. Leonardo Damiani by knockout (flying knee), Round 1, 2:24

Contract winners: AJ Fletcher, Victor Altamirano, Carlos Candelario, Joanderson Brito, Azamat Murzakanov 

The post Dana White’s Contender Series Season 5, Week 1 Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

And why not? Because frankly, there’s a lot to like about the Contender Series, from the stakes to the presentation to the no fuss, no muss format.

Either way, the show returns Tuesday, with a four-fight card to kick off its fifth season. Here’s a look at the fights gracing the card in week one!

Light heavyweight: Azamat Murzakanov vs. Matheus Scheffel

Tale of the Tape

Pros and Cons

Who has the advantage?

Striking: Murzakanov
Speed: Scheffel
Output/Volume: Scheffel
Knockout Power: Murzakanov
Chin: Murzakanov
Kickboxing: Scheffel
Footwork: Murzakanov
Wrestling: Murzakanov
Grappling: Murzakanov
Submissions: Neither
Cardio: Scheffel

Prediction

Even though Scheffel has much more experience than Murzakanov, Murzakanov has beaten better fighters. Murzakanov has wins over Mohammad Fakhreddine, the well-traveled Guto Inocente, and UFC fighter Andre Muniz.

Murzakanov has a background in judo and hand-to-hand combat, where he beat UFC fighter Ion Cutelaba. Scheffel does pose a threat on the feet for Murzakanov however. With that said, Scheffel has been knocked out a few times and Murzakanov has immense power. I have no doubt Murzakanov can knock out Scheffel. Murzakanov can go the other route in grounding Scheffel as he has a clear wrestling and grappling advantage. Russia’s Murzakanov has more ways to win this fight, and I believe he’s better everywhere.

The post DWCS 2021 Week 1 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.

Sources have confirmed to Cageside Press that Bergh (8-0-1) will face Matheus Scheffel (14-6) on Dana White’s Contender Series on October 6. Thus far, only one other bout has been reported for that DWCS date, which will be week ten of the current season. That bout sees Chelsea Hackett take on Jamey-Lyn Horth Wessels in a women’s flyweight fight.

Bergh had been set to debut for the UFC proper on Fight Island on July 15, part of the Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige card. However, the Norwegian fighter never made it to the scales for the bout, reportedly encountering difficulties with his weight cut.

“Ymir” was ruled unable to continue his cutting weight, resulting in his bout with Jorge Gonzalez being scratched (Gonzalez himself was later booked against Ike Villanueva, however Gonzalez would eventually withdraw from the fight).

Brazil’s Scheffel is currently the Future FC light heavyweight champion. Fighting out of Curitiba, Scheffel is 6-1 across his past seven fights. Two of his early career losses came to Klidson Abreu and John Allan, both of whom would go on to join the UFC.

Assuming there are no hiccups between now and October, Bergh will hope to win his way back to the UFC, while Scheffel will look to join other Brazilian light heavyweights like Glover Teixeira and Johnny Walker in a wide-open 205lb weight class.

The post DWCS: After Falling Out of UFC Debut in July, Kenneth Bergh will Face Matheus Scheffel on October 6 appeared first on Cageside Press.