Back in November, the PFL stole the headlines when they announced that they had acquired Bellator MMA. The goal of the Professional Fighters League with this acquisition was to become a co-leader in the MMA world alongside the UFC. As soon as they announced the acquisition, the promotion announced it’s intensions for a champions versus champions card.
A massive PPV event that would pair the very best from Bellator against the very best from the PFL. Today, we learned that the card has been finalized. Ariel Helwani broke the news on X that on February 24th from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the two promotions will clash pairing their champions against each other.
The card goes as followed:
- Ryan Bader – Renan Ferreira
- Johnny Elben – Impa Kasanganay
- Patricio Pitbull – Jesus Pinedo
- Jason Jackson – Magomed Magomedkerimov
- Bruno Cappelozza – Vadim Nemkov
- Thiago Santos – Yoel Romero
- Clay Collard – AJ McKee
- Gabriel Braga – Aaron Pico
PFL vs. Bellator
I’m just going to say it right away, the PFL hit a home run with this card. There is a glaring fight missing if you ask me and it’s a women’s fight featuring Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco. If you’re asking me, that was the one fight that many wanted to see and it’s not happening. Cyborg against Pacheco or Kayla Harrison could’ve headlined but it’s not happening.
That said, the card is still incredible. A few fights that stand out to me are the Jesus Pinedo – Patricio Pitbull matchup as well as the Clay Collard – AJ McKee matchup. The entire card is insanely stacked and this is a helluva way for the PFL to officially kickoff the relationship with Bellator.