The Professional Fighters League kicks off its 2024 in Saudi Arabia this Saturday with its biggest card to date: a showdown between promotions, PFL Champs vs. Bellator Champs.

Having purchased rival Bellator MMA last fall, the promotion opted to go with a head-to-head format on Pay-Per-View, though the Champs vs. Champs format fell apart somewhat due to injury, with only two all-champs match-ups remaining.

Those include the headliner, which sees PFL heavyweight champ Renan Ferreira take on Bellator counterpart Ryan Bader. And to up the stakes, league officials announced on Thursday that the winner would earn the coveted shot against free agent signing Francis Ngannou.

The other remaining champ vs. champ fight had PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay moving back down to his old home at 185lbs to take on Bellator middleweight champ Johnny Eblen.

The fighters from Saturday’s PFL vs Bellator event hit the scales Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  All bouts save one are official without issue despite several last minute changes to the event in the past week.

Notably, the heavyweight headliners will see the biggest disparity as 2023 PFL champion Renan Ferreira will enjoy a 32 pound advantage over Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.  The bout received higher stakes on Thursday as it was announced that lineal UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou would be facing the winner.

In other action, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire made weight for his bout with his new opponent: last year’s PFL featherweight finalist Gabriel Braga.  The moved was made after an injury to Jesus Pinedo removed last year’s champion from Peru from the card. However, it was announced Friday morning that Braga was also unable to compete and the bout was called off.

Braga’s original opponent, Aaron Pico, had his bout changed to a lightweight for which he and short notice replacement Henry Corrales both made weight. The bout is a rematch of a 2019 contest.

Finally, boxing star Claressa Shields and Kelsey Desantis made weight without issue after their bout was bumped up in weight earlier this week.

The ceremonial weigh ins will take place at 12pm ET and be streamed live on the PFL YouTube Channel (and below):

PFL Champs vs. Bellator Champs Weigh-In Results

Main Card

Heavyweight: Vinicius PereiraRenan Ferreira (263.2 lbs) vs Ryan Bader (231.1 lbs)
Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay (185.8) vs Johnny Eblen (185.5 lbs)
Featherweight: Gabriel Braga* vs Patricio Pitbull (145.9 lbs)
Catchweight (182lb): Ray Cooper III (182.4 lbs) vs Jason Jackson (182.1 lbs)
Heavyweight: Bruno Cappelozza (236 lbs) vs Vadim Nemkov (238.1 lbs)
Middleweight: Thiago Santos (205 lbs) vs Yoel Romero (205 lbs)
Lightweight: Clay Collard (155.5 lbs) vs AJ McKee (154.8 lbs)

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: Henry Corrales (155.7 lbs) vs Aaron Pico (155.7 lbs)
Lightweight: Biaggio Ali Walsh (155.5 lbs) vs Emmanuel Palacios (152.6 lbs)
Catchweight (165lb): Claressa Shields (164.4 lbs) vs Kelsey DeSantis (164.6 lbs)
Featherweight: Abdullah Al Qahtani (146 lbs) vs Edukondala Rao (145.7 lbs)
Flyweight: Malik Basahel (124.9 lbs) vs Vinicius Pereira – Amateur

The post PFL vs. Bellator Weigh-In: Ferreira 32 Pounds Heavier Than Bader, Braga vs Pitbull Off appeared first on Cageside Press.

Saturday marks the beginning of a new chapter for AJ McKee, but even he admits there’s a few storylines left to finish as he enters it.  The Bellator lightweight champion who took the world by storm with an undefeated run to win the Grand Prix and shock Patricio “Pitbull” Freire has completed his journey from top prospect to contender who is respected worldwide.

Now under a new umbrella, “The Mercenary” has a new roster of names he could potentially set his sights on.  That said, unfinished business from his days under the Bellator brand could see him target familiar foes sooner rather than later.  With the Bellator events expected to be more spaced out this year, he says potential one offs back at featherweight are options for him.

I’ve always been open to returning to the 145 pound division. I miss having a belt around my waist. At 145 pounds I feel I can jump back into a title shot at any moment so with this event in Saudi I think it’s gearing up for either 45s or 55s. I can kind of go either way. It’s just a matter of sitting down with PFL and seeing what they’d like to do. Sitting down with Bellator, putting together a game plan. If Patricio wins at 145 pounds, there’s a trilogy that’s never happened that everyone wants to see. If Pinedo wins, there’s a AJ McKee who’s the true champ who wants to return and show he’s the best 145 pounder in the world. Period

While there are still decisions to be made, it is noticeable that not all of the stars of the Bellator roster are being immediately brought into the PFL’s regular season structure.  McKee says he is open to a potential turnaround into the regular season in April if all goes well, but that is a business decision that is not solely determined by him after Saturday.  Should he remain in the Bellator International Champions Series in 2024, he acknowledges the fights that are still left to be made from his days in the previous regime at 155 pounds as well.

There’s an Usman Nuramgomedov that is an outstanding undefeated fighter. If I can’t be undefeated, no one can so I’m looking to that 0 on his record. There’s a lot of great names within this 155 pound division. You’ve got Shabliy, there’s a few hitters at 155 pounds that I’ve been wanting to fight that we’ve kind of spoken upon fighting and some things just fell through. We were real close in Bellator’s 155 pound tournament to continue in that hit list and those eight names on that world title but some things fell through the cracks.

While opponents from Bellator are likely on the docket later this year, he first has a fresh face to fight in PFL star and last year’s finalist Clay Collard whom McKee expects to have an exciting bout with.

Clay Collard is a great scrapper, a great boxer and a great fighter. He’s made it to the finals of the PFL’s tournament and in my eyes I see him as the champ since their champ [Olivier Aubin-Mercier] has retired. I’m looking forward to just going in there and doing what I do best and that’s exposing his weakness.

AJ McKee fights Clay Collard this Saturday at the PFL vs Bellator event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The post AJ McKee Has His Sights Set on Gold in Two Divisions in PFL appeared first on Cageside Press.

“He’s definitely tough. He’s got a good record,” Collard told Cageside Press.

“I think his striking is a little sloppy personally. He’s a good wrestler. I just don’t think he’s fought the level opponents as I’ve fought and I think that’s going to be the difference.”

Collard (24-11) will fight McKee at 155 pounds which is north of his opponent’s usual featherweight limit.

“He’s the same guy. He fights the same way, the same style, maybe he has a little bit more weight to him. He’s got to be a little bit smaller if he’s coming up from 45. I think he’s the same fighter same guy,” Collard said.

The weight class isn’t the only thing that’s different in this fight. Elbows, which were previously banned in PFL, are legal for this event.

“I haven’t been able to throw elbows for three years man I’m chomping at the bit man I cannot wait. When my manager called me and was like ‘hey man you know they’re allowing elbows this fight right?’. I was like a kid in a candy store,” he said.

“With all these people trying to wrestle me and hold me down, if I could have elbowed OAM (Olivier Aubin-Mercier) it would have been a completely different story I think. I’m extremely excited about throwing elbows for sure.”

Following the PPV Collard says he’s considering entering the PFL lightweight tournament once again.

“I’m going to fight this time and I’m honestly thinking about going back into the tournament and winning that belt. That means I’ve got 6 weeks, I’ve got till April, then I’m fighting again. 6-8 weeks later so and so forth,” Collard said.

“Ready to stay active. I’m in my prime, I’m young, I’m healthy. I’m just ready to f*cking scrap man.”

Watch the entire interview with Clay Collard above. He takes on AJ McKee at PFL vs. Bellator in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Feb 24.

The post Clay Collard Plans To Enter The PFL Season Following McKee Bout appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Everything has been good. I can control what I can control, and I’m really happy with this PFL-Bellator merging,” Pico told Cageside Press.

“I think it’s good for us fighters. We have new challenges that we’re going to face as far as opponents. More eye balls to the sport. I’m happy. Everything is good.”

Pico (12-4) didn’t dwell on the merger much because it was out of his hands. Now that he’s all in with PFL he’s keeping his mind strictly on fighting.

“As far as the business side and stuff like that it’s not really something that I get too involved in. I let the management and the president, the matchmakers, get involved with that. They take care of that,” he said.

“For me I always just kept the mindset (of) just be ready. Be ready for when they call and they want you to fight. The answer is going to be yes. Of course there’s a little bit of uncertainty. When are you going to fight? You don’t know when, your manager doesn’t really know what’s going on, so it’s kind of a little bit nerve wracking. I just stayed focused and trained and went on some vacations and rode my horse. Spent some time with my son and trained. I knew it was all going to work out. Now we’re here.”

With PFL vs. Bellator taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Pico looks at the bigger picture of it all.

“I’m excited to go to Saudi Arabia. I’ve been watching obviously all the boxing that they’ve put on. They seem like they’re really putting a lot of effort into combat sports. To be a part of that is just really cool,” said Pico.

“I know that 20 years from now, 30 years when I’m reminiscing about the good old days of when I used to fight. To be able to say ‘I was in Saudi Arabia and look what they’re doing now, all the big fights, and I was a part of that early on’ it’s an honor.”

Watch the entire interview with Aaron Pico above. He takes on Henry Corrales in a rematch at PFL vs. Bellator on Feb 24 in Saudi Arabia.

The post Aaron Pico Happy With PFL-Bellator Merger, Excited To Fight In Saudi Arabia appeared first on Cageside Press.