The PFL announced a major card this morning that’ll go down on Saturday, December 13th. The promotion announced that they would be heading to Lyon, France with two big time title fights headlining the card.
In the main event, the heavyweight title is on the line as former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov (19-2, 1 NC) takes on 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira (13-4, 3 NC).
I reached out to promotional officials after this announcement because I was curious to see what this means for Francis Ngannou (18-3). Ngannou defeated Ferreira and was awarded the Super Fights Heavyweight Championship.
The title was a one-time championship and the title that Ferreira and Nemkov are fighting for is the official heavyweight title for the promotion. With Ngannou’s next matchup likely coming in boxing, it made sense to go in this direction.
PFL Lyon
Turning our attention to this one, this is a big fight for Vadim Nemkov. Nemkov just signed a new deal with the promotion and now has the chance to capture heavyweight gold and set himself up for a potential fight with Francis Ngannou in the future.
Nemkov was the Bellator light heavyweight champ before moving up to heavyweight. He hasn’t lost since April 2016 and he’s won both of his heavyweight fights in the PFL by submission.
Renan Ferreira went on an incredible run in 2023 using his incredible power. Ferreira knocked out Matheus Scheffel, Maurice Greene, and Denis Goltsov to win the title.
He then knocked out former Bellator heavyweight champ Ryan Bader in 21 seconds setting him up for a fight with Ngannou that he lost. We haven’t seen him since, but we know that he’s hungry.
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