Just a few weeks after announcing the first-ever Professional Fighters League (PFL) vs. Bellator “Champions vs. Champions” mega event — which is set to go down isnide Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sat., Feb. 24, 2024 — a title fight has been removed from the star-studded lineup.
Magomed Magomedkerimov has been ruled out of his scheduled Welterweight title fight against Bellator’s 170-pound title holder, Jason Jackson, for an unspecified reason. As a result, Ray Cooper III will step in to face “The Ass-Kicking Machine” in a non-title fight set to be competed at a Catchweight of 182 pounds.
Cooper is coming off a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Derek Brunson at PFL 10 in Nov. 2023, his second loss in three fights. The fight was Cooper’s Middleweight debut, but he missed weight by 1.6 pounds, his third such transgression.
Cooper III won the PFL tournament as a Welterweight in 2019 and 2021, but lost the 2018 tournament to Magomedkerimov, coincidentally enough. Overall, Cooper has amassed a 12-4-1 record under the PFL banner. As for Jackson, he won the 170-pound title by upsetting Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 301, handing the Ukrainian-born fighter his first-ever defeat by stopping him in the third round (highlights).
Also, Emmanuel Palacio will step in to face Ali Walsh after Chris Morris was removed from the event, also for undisclosed reasons.
The stacked event will proceed with three title fights as PFL Heavyweight kingpin, Renan Ferreira, battles Bellator’s champion, Ryan Bader, in the main event. PFL Light Heavyweight champion, Impa Kasanganay, will drop down to Middleweight to battle Bellator’s 185-pound king, Johnny Eblen, while Jesus Pinedo takes on Patricio Pitbull for Featherweight supremacy.
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