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PFL vs. Bellator: Champs Fight Card Preview
PFL vs. Bellator: Champs will take place this Saturday, February 24th at 12 PM from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When PFL bought Bellator in November of last year, fight fans immediately suspected that there would be a crossover card that would have the champions and major names of each promotion fight each other…and that’s exactly what we are getting this weekend. Let’s take a look at the card for Saturday:
PFL vs. Bellator fight card
Main Card | ESPN+ 3 p.m. ET
Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader
Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen
Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Jackson
Gabriel Braga vs. Patricio Freire
Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov
Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero
Clay Collard vs. A.J. McKee
Preliminary Card | ESPN+ | 12 p.m. ET
Henry Corrales vs. Aaron Pico
Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Emmanuel Palacio
Claressa Shields vs. Kelsey DeSantis
Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao
Malik Bashael vs. Vinicius Pereira
If you are looking for something to watch in the middle of the day after running some errands or shortly after WWE Elimination Chamber, I highly suggest taking a look at the prelims. While they aren’t major fights, there are some names to watch:
Claressa Shields - while her early MMA attempts have not been super impressive, she is a big name in boxing and one of the best women to put on a pair of gloves in the “Sweet Science.” Her boxing skills will find a way to translate to MMA, if she keeps at it. However, she will definitely need to work on the rest of her MMA skills in order to find true success in the sport.
Biaggio Ali Walsh - this will be Biaggio’s first professional MMA fight after a handful of amateur bouts. Most of his amateur bouts took place on PFL shows, which is quite rare for an amateur. However, Biaggio Ali Walsh is one to watch - for multiple reasons. He is an exciting fighter who is explosive and is focused on improving each time he fights. It also helps that he is the grandson of the great Muhammad Ali. With those great genes of his, along with his motivation, the sky could be the limit.
Aaron Pico - Pico was originally scheduled to fight Gabriel Braga, but Braga got moved to the Main Card when Freire’s opponent had to pull out. That would have been a banger. Luckily, we still get to see Aaron Pico on the prelims, as he is one of the more fun up-and-comers in PFL/Bellator. A nice win here will probably ensure a more prominent bout his next time out.
Of course, the Main Card will garner the majority of the attention on Saturday, as it should. People tuning into this show without having watched PFL or Bellator previously are in for a treat. While there may not be household names, this card is stacked with fighters who have put on great fights and have had strong, and even great for some, careers in these companies. This will serve as a great introduction to both companies and give everyone a feel for what to expect in the future.
For those of us who have followed these promotions, we know the fun we are in for. However, it will also lead to a lot of questions. Now that PFL and Bellator are facing off…what next? There will be international Bellator cards. There will be PFL seasons. There will also be special PFL shows featuring the “big names.” However, where do all of these fighters fall after this weekend? Hopefully, some of those questions are answered in the coming weeks.
Let’s take a look at some of the Main Card fights, though:
Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader (Heavyweight Champion vs. Heavyweight Champion)
Ryan Bader is a recognizable name, as he had success on a season of The Ultimate Fighter and had a decent career in the UFC before moving on to Bellator. Bader has been heavily featured in Bellator - being the first Bellator fighter to hold a championship in two different divisions at the same time. He has faced some major names and tough fighters in his career. While Renan Ferreira may not carry the same respect as some of Bader’s former opponents, he is a beast. He is one of the taller fighters, if not the tallest, that Bader has faced. Renan’s size tends to work in his favor, as he is entering this fight on a three fight win streak. While Bader may have the longer resume, Ferreira does have a puncher’s chance.
Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen (Middleweight Champion vs. Middleweight Champion)
Kasanganay is entering this fight on a five fight win streak and has some impressive finishes since joining PFL. Eblen will be his toughest test. At 14-0, Johnny Eblen has dominated in the Bellator Middleweight Division. When he first started in MMA, Eblen relied a lot on his strong wrestling background. However, he has developed the other parts of his game in order to become a much more well-rounded champion. This will be a great fight to see who comes out as the face of the Middleweight Division in this merger of companies.
Ray Cooper III vs. Jason Jackson
Jason Jackson is coming off of the biggest win of his career when he upset Yaroslav Amosov to win Bellator’s Welterweight Championship. He was supposed to fight Magomed Magomedkerimov on this card, but due to injury, will be facing Ray Cooper III at a catchweight instead. Cooper is a fun replacement, although it would have been great to see how Jackson stacked up against Magomedkerimov. Cooper, though, can fight like a zombie - just stays upright and keeps going forward. He has the skills to give Jackson a problem, so we shall see if Jackson can protect his streak and maybe reschedule his fight against Magomedkerimov.
Gabriel Braga vs. Patricio Freire
As was mentioned in the Preliminary Card section, Braga was originally scheduled to take on Aaron Pico. Not only did Braga get selected to fill in on the main card, but he will be taking on one of the faces of Bellator. Patricio Pitbull has had an amazing run in Bellator and is looking to continue to impress during these later stages of his career. While I am sure that Pitbull was looking forward to putting an end to Jesus Pinedo’s Cinderella-like run, Braga will be game to fight and try to showcase that he deserves to be featured on the Main Card.
Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov
This will be Vadim Nemkov’s return to Heavyweight after terrorizing Bellator’s Light Heavyweight Division. Nemkov is well-rounded and scary, but loves to drag his opponents into the deep waters of later rounds. Bruno Cappelozza has had some success in MMA with his 14 knockouts in his 15 wins. However, he will definitely have his hands full with Nemkov.
Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero
Both of these fighters only know one direction - forward. This fight has the chance to have a highlight reel moment. Both men have had their ups and downs in this sport, so a win will help them stay in the spotlight.
Clay Collard vs. A.J. McKee
This should be fun. McKee is legit - only losing once in his 22 fights. While the level of opponent that he has faced has fluctuated over the years, he still has done his job and gotten the victories. Clay Collard has been a lot of fun since joining PFL. His fights have been entertaining dog fights and this one looks to be no different.
For fun, here are my picks:
Main Card | ESPN+ 3 p.m. ET
Ryan Bader
Johnny Eblen
Jason Jackson
Patricio Freire
Vadim Nemkov
Thiago Santos
A.J. McKee
Preliminary Card | ESPN+ | 12 p.m. ET
Aaron Pico
Biaggio Ali Walsh
Claressa Shields
Abdullah Al-Qahtani
Malik Bashael
Whether you are familiar with these names or not, I highly suggest you check out PFL’s YouTube channel. Over the last week, they have added some videos that give you a sneak peak into some of the fighters and their preparation for the fights. They are also continuing their version of UFC’s Embedded with a daily vlog leading up to fight day. The videos have been really cool and have helped me get excited for the event. Give them a try!
This PPV will be $50 on ESPN+. I know $50 on a non-UFC show is a tad expensive, but PFL did its best to stack this card with interesting fights and names. If you have the time and money, I highly suggest you give this a watch and see where the promotion goes in the future.
Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think of the show, if you check it out, at matt.tenhoeve@gmail.com.
