PFL x Bellator Supercard Officially Set for February 24 in Riyadh Featuring Four Champion vs. Champion Fights

PFL x Bellator supercardThe PFL x Bellator supercard is officially set for February 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A few short months…

PFL x Bellator supercard

The PFL x Bellator supercard is officially set for February 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A few short months after the Professional Fighter League’s blockbuster announcement that it had acquired Bellator MMA, we now know when and where the highly anticipated event featuring PFL champions vs. Bellator champions will go down. According to a report from Ariel Helwani, the event will emanate from the Saudi Arabian capital next month with a slew of exciting fights.

In the main event of the evening, 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira will take on Bellator MMA heavyweight titleholder Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader. In the co-main event, 2023 PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay will face Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen in a 185-pound fight.

Also announced for the main card is 2023 PFL featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo who will face Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull, and 2023 PFL welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov will square off with Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson.

Rounding out the card will be a series of can’t-miss clashes, including former PFL heavyweight champion Bruno Cappelozza vs. Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov in a heavyweight bout. Clay Collard vs. A.J. McKee will go down in a lightweight scrap and fight fans will also be treated to a heavy-hitting affair as Thiago Santos meets Yoel Romero.

Also expected to feature on the card will be the return of women’s boxing ‘GWOAT’ Claressa Shields, and the pro mixed martial arts debut of Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Biaggio Ali Walsh.

Check out the full fight card below:

PFL vs. Bellator Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 3 p.m. ET):

  • Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader
  • Impa Kasanganay vs. Johnny Eblen
  • Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Jason Jackson
  • Jesus Pinedo vs. Patricio Pitbull
  • Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov
  • Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero
  • Clay Collard vs. AJ McKee

Prelims (ESPN News/ESPN+ at 12:30 p.m. ET):

  • Gabriel Braga vs. Aaron Pico
  • Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Chris Morris
  • Claressa Shields vs. Kelsey DeSantis
  • Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao
  • Malik Basahel vs. Vinicius Pereira

As always, the card is subject to change.

Claressa shields Snaps Back after viral footage of her getting knocked out by a man emerges online: ‘You are a cheat’

Claressa ShieldsFootage of Claressa Shields, the self-proclaimed greatest women’s boxer of all time, getting dropped during a sparring session has…

Claressa Shields

Footage of Claressa Shields, the self-proclaimed greatest women’s boxer of all time, getting dropped during a sparring session has surfaced five years following the incident.

With an undefeated run of 14 straight wins, Claressa Shields holds the record for becoming a two and three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights, capturing the undisputed light middleweight, undisputed middleweight, and unified WBC and IBF super middleweight titles. Since then, Shields has tested her mettle in the world of mixed martial arts, but she has often boasted that her skill set would find success against some of the best male boxing world champions.

The footage you’re about to see does not support those claims.

Recently, a short video clip emerged online of Arturs Ahmetovs, a 6-1 boxer who has not competed since 2020, knocking out Claressa Shields during a sparring session in 2018.

Claressa Shields Explains it all

Shortly after the clip went viral, Claressa Shields offered up a scathing response, claiming that Ahmetovs had removed most of the padding from the gloves at some point before sparring with her.

Despite her insistence that she’s not mad about it, her feed on X tells a very different tale.

“I’ve never been Ko’d in 17 years and I’ve been dropped 2x all in a week of each other. I have no shame in that. But for a male fighter to literally take the padding out his gloves, he’s a punk. Him and coach Derrick santos are bad for the sport!”

I have no problem getting caught in sparring it happens and I Sparr majority Men! But this dude Arthur and his coach Derrick santos were embarrassed and next time we sparred he purposely wore gloves with no little to no padding, I can’t make this up. I couldn’t believe it

Check your sparring partner gloves. People be offended that I do that now. But after being knocked down by a guy who was upset I pieced him up earlier that week, I do it every sparring session since 2018.

Let me tell yall something. This coward has had this video for 5 years, the knock down happened 1 week before I fought against Hannah Gabriel’s. Y’all couldn’t wait to jump on this train, but I’m unbothered. This same dude Arthur quit boxing after being knocked out by Rollies.

Y’all be smooth tho, I’m in the gym bout to shed a few more pounds so I can go to Vegas and beat Rollie ass. That b*tch over stepped his boundaries with me.

After establishing herself as the ‘GWOAT’ of women’s professional boxing, Claressa Shields looked to test out her skills in MMA, signing a three-year deal with the Professional Fighters League in 2020. She competed twice for the promotion, winning her debut via a third-round TKO after her opponent, Brittney Elkin gassed out in the final five. Shields suffered a split decision loss in her sophomore appearance against Abigail Montes.

In November, it was announced that she had signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to return in 2024.

Claressa shields Snaps Back after viral footage of her getting knocked out by a man emerges online: ‘You are a cheat’

Claressa ShieldsFootage of Claressa Shields, the self-proclaimed greatest women’s boxer of all time, getting dropped during a sparring session has…

Claressa Shields

Footage of Claressa Shields, the self-proclaimed greatest women’s boxer of all time, getting dropped during a sparring session has surfaced five years following the incident.

With an undefeated run of 14 straight wins, Claressa Shields holds the record for becoming a two and three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights, capturing the undisputed light middleweight, undisputed middleweight, and unified WBC and IBF super middleweight titles. Since then, Shields has tested her mettle in the world of mixed martial arts, but she has often boasted that her skill set would find success against some of the best male boxing world champions.

The footage you’re about to see does not support those claims.

Recently, a short video clip emerged online of Arturs Ahmetovs, a 6-1 boxer who has not competed since 2020, knocking out Claressa Shields during a sparring session in 2018.

Claressa Shields Explains it all

Shortly after the clip went viral, Claressa Shields offered up a scathing response, claiming that Ahmetovs had removed most of the padding from the gloves at some point before sparring with her.

Despite her insistence that she’s not mad about it, her feed on X tells a very different tale.

“I’ve never been Ko’d in 17 years and I’ve been dropped 2x all in a week of each other. I have no shame in that. But for a male fighter to literally take the padding out his gloves, he’s a punk. Him and coach Derrick santos are bad for the sport!”

I have no problem getting caught in sparring it happens and I Sparr majority Men! But this dude Arthur and his coach Derrick santos were embarrassed and next time we sparred he purposely wore gloves with no little to no padding, I can’t make this up. I couldn’t believe it

Check your sparring partner gloves. People be offended that I do that now. But after being knocked down by a guy who was upset I pieced him up earlier that week, I do it every sparring session since 2018.

Let me tell yall something. This coward has had this video for 5 years, the knock down happened 1 week before I fought against Hannah Gabriel’s. Y’all couldn’t wait to jump on this train, but I’m unbothered. This same dude Arthur quit boxing after being knocked out by Rollies.

Y’all be smooth tho, I’m in the gym bout to shed a few more pounds so I can go to Vegas and beat Rollie ass. That b*tch over stepped his boundaries with me.

After establishing herself as the ‘GWOAT’ of women’s professional boxing, Claressa Shields looked to test out her skills in MMA, signing a three-year deal with the Professional Fighters League in 2020. She competed twice for the promotion, winning her debut via a third-round TKO after her opponent, Brittney Elkin gassed out in the final five. Shields suffered a split decision loss in her sophomore appearance against Abigail Montes.

In November, it was announced that she had signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to return in 2024.

Claressa shields Snaps Back after viral footage of her getting knocked out by a man emerges online: ‘You are a cheat’

Claressa ShieldsFootage of Claressa Shields, the self-proclaimed greatest women’s boxer of all time, getting dropped during a sparring session has…

Claressa Shields

Footage of Claressa Shields, the self-proclaimed greatest women’s boxer of all time, getting dropped during a sparring session has surfaced five years following the incident.

With an undefeated run of 14 straight wins, Claressa Shields holds the record for becoming a two and three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights, capturing the undisputed light middleweight, undisputed middleweight, and unified WBC and IBF super middleweight titles. Since then, Shields has tested her mettle in the world of mixed martial arts, but she has often boasted that her skill set would find success against some of the best male boxing world champions.

The footage you’re about to see does not support those claims.

Recently, a short video clip emerged online of Arturs Ahmetovs, a 6-1 boxer who has not competed since 2020, knocking out Claressa Shields during a sparring session in 2018.

Claressa Shields Explains it all

Shortly after the clip went viral, Claressa Shields offered up a scathing response, claiming that Ahmetovs had removed most of the padding from the gloves at some point before sparring with her.

Despite her insistence that she’s not mad about it, her feed on X tells a very different tale.

“I’ve never been Ko’d in 17 years and I’ve been dropped 2x all in a week of each other. I have no shame in that. But for a male fighter to literally take the padding out his gloves, he’s a punk. Him and coach Derrick santos are bad for the sport!”

I have no problem getting caught in sparring it happens and I Sparr majority Men! But this dude Arthur and his coach Derrick santos were embarrassed and next time we sparred he purposely wore gloves with no little to no padding, I can’t make this up. I couldn’t believe it

Check your sparring partner gloves. People be offended that I do that now. But after being knocked down by a guy who was upset I pieced him up earlier that week, I do it every sparring session since 2018.

Let me tell yall something. This coward has had this video for 5 years, the knock down happened 1 week before I fought against Hannah Gabriel’s. Y’all couldn’t wait to jump on this train, but I’m unbothered. This same dude Arthur quit boxing after being knocked out by Rollies.

Y’all be smooth tho, I’m in the gym bout to shed a few more pounds so I can go to Vegas and beat Rollie ass. That b*tch over stepped his boundaries with me.

After establishing herself as the ‘GWOAT’ of women’s professional boxing, Claressa Shields looked to test out her skills in MMA, signing a three-year deal with the Professional Fighters League in 2020. She competed twice for the promotion, winning her debut via a third-round TKO after her opponent, Brittney Elkin gassed out in the final five. Shields suffered a split decision loss in her sophomore appearance against Abigail Montes.

In November, it was announced that she had signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to return in 2024.

Boxing Star Claressa Shields, PFL Agree to Multiyear Contract for MMA Return in 2024

Undisputed middleweight boxing champion Claressa Shields is going back to mixed martial arts in 2024. Shields announced on Wednesday she has signed a new…

Undisputed middleweight boxing champion Claressa Shields is going back to mixed martial arts in 2024. Shields announced on Wednesday she has signed a new…

Claressa Shields targets gold in both boxing and MMA: “Being PFL world champion is my next goal. MMA seems harder.”

Claressa ShieldsUS-born boxing great Claressa Shields is looking to make history by becoming a two-sport world champion between MMA and boxing. Shields has already put together incredible accolades in the boxing world including two Olympic gold medals, she holds the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBF, WBO, and The Ring middleweight titles, plus, sports a perfect 13-0 unbeaten […]

Claressa Shields

US-born boxing great Claressa Shields is looking to make history by becoming a two-sport world champion between MMA and boxing. Shields has already put together incredible accolades in the boxing world including two Olympic gold medals, she holds the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBF, WBO, and The Ring middleweight titles, plus, sports a perfect 13-0 unbeaten record. The 27-year-old athlete made her MMA debut in PFL MMA in 2021 and has since gone 1-1 professionally.

Claressa Shields explained recently in an interview, that she has conquered boxing and is ready to move on to MMA. Speaking to DAZN, she said:

“I feel like my legacy in boxing is really cemented, which it already was, but now it’s really cemented. I want to be boxing champion and PFL world champion at the same time.”

Claressa Shields switching her focus to MMA

Since she has become an all-time great in boxing, the multi-organizational world champion wants to her switch her focus to MMA full-time. Claressa Shields continued:

“Being PFL world champion is my next goal. MMA seems harder (than boxing). I just want to keep making history and prove everybody wrong who doubted me. I’ve been doing MMA for a year and a half but I’ve only been able to train for MMA for maybe six to nine months. I haven’t been able to really train. I’m trying to get a schedule for where I’m training for MMA year round.”

Last night at PFL 10 2022, Larissa Pacheco upset and defeated the undefeated two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison. Brazil’s Pacheco said she want to defeat another Olympian in MMA. In her post-fight interview, the PFL world champion said:

“It’d be awesome. To beat a boxer would be amazing. I beat an Olympic (boxing) champion. Let’s make it two.”