Tag: pfl

‘Fight Of The Year Across Any Promotion’ – MMA Fans React After Wild PFL Europe Brawl Features 14 Knockdowns!

This past Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, PFL Europe 3 produced possibly the best fight to have ever taken place in the Smart Cage. After his previous opponent withdrew, Lewis McGrillen stepped in as an alternate to face Dean Garnett in the semi-final play-offs of the bantamweight tournament. What followed was an unbelievable back-and-forth war between […]

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This past Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, PFL Europe 3 produced possibly the best fight to have ever taken place in the Smart Cage.

After his previous opponent withdrew, Lewis McGrillen stepped in as an alternate to face Dean Garnett in the semi-final play-offs of the bantamweight tournament.

What followed was an unbelievable back-and-forth war between the two Brits that featured a staggering 14 knockdowns in just 12 minutes.

The majority of them came from McGrillen, who is known for knocking opponents out cold but Garnett kept recovering and getting back to his feet.

That was until the fifth round where a heavy shot landed and sent Garnett face down to the canvas, giving “McGrizzla” a spectacular walk-off KO moment.

MMA Fans React To Fight Of The Year Contender In PFL Europe

In what will surely go down as one of the best fights of the year, if not one of the greatest bouts in the history of UK MMA, McGrillen vs Garnett sure did turn some heads.

MMA fans reacted on social media to one of the wildest contests that you’re ever likely to see.

“Fight of year across any promotion”

“This is unreal, both fighters just biting down on the mouthpiece and going for the knockout. Pure fighting.”

“Both of these guys have jaws made of STEEL!!!”

“Gotta be the greatest fight in UKMMA history. Best scrap I’ve seen live”

“Crazy fight , I almost missed the Bryan Battle fight because this was the best fight I have seen all year. Insanity from both fighters.”

Read also: Paddy Pimblett Gives 3-Word Reaction To Renato Moicano’s Callout At UFC Paris

Continue Reading ‘Fight Of The Year Across Any Promotion’ – MMA Fans React After Wild PFL Europe Brawl Features 14 Knockdowns! at MMA News.

2024 PFL Europe 3: Playoffs Results & Highlights: Stevie Ray Lands ‘Scottish Twister’

The 2024 PFL Europe Playoffs took place on Saturday, and MMA News has you covered with all the action! Having broken onto the scene with its regular season and playoff format in North America, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has begun its pursuit of further prominence around the globe. In 2023, that took sizable step forward […]

Continue Reading 2024 PFL Europe 3: Playoffs Results & Highlights: Stevie Ray Lands ‘Scottish Twister’ at MMA News.

The 2024 PFL Europe Playoffs took place on Saturday, and MMA News has you covered with all the action!

Having broken onto the scene with its regular season and playoff format in North America, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has begun its pursuit of further prominence around the globe.

In 2023, that took sizable step forward with the maiden PFL Europe season. And the sophomore campaign moved closer to its lucrative conclusion in Lyon, France today when the playoff bouts went down inside the OVO Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.

After the season bouts all eyes were on local favorite and former PFL global lightweight finalist Stevie Ray as he returned from retirement to headline on home soil.

“Braveheart” thrilled his home crowd by notching his self-created submission, the Scottish twister, for the second time in his career to submit Lewis Long in the very first round.

While the event was broadcast on DAZN for select countries, it was unfortunately not available to audiences in the United States. However, MMA News has you covered below with the full results and all the highlights below.

2024 PFL Europe Playoffs Results & Highlights

Main Card:

  • Welterweight Main Event: Stevie Ray def. Lewis Long via submission (Scottish twister): R1, 4:21
  • Catchweight (150lbs) Co-Main Event: Rob Whiteford def. Roger Huerta via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Lightweight: Mark Ewen def. Yassin Chtatou via submission (D’arce choke): R1, 2:30
  • Bantamweight Playoff: Lewis McGrillen def. Dean Garnett via KO (left hook): R3, 1:45
  • Bantamweight Playoff: Alexander Luster def. Julian Lopez via submission (rear-naked choke): R1, 1:15
  • Welterweight Playoff: Florim Zendeli def. Jack Grant via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Welterweight Playoff Bout: Daniele Miceli def. Ibrahima Mané via TKO (uppercut & punches): R1, 1:26

Preliminary Card:

  • Lightweight Playoff: Jakub Kaszuba def. Daniele Scatizzi via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Lightweight Playoff: Connor Hughes def. Ignacio Capella via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Women’s Flyweight Playoff: Shanelle Dyer def. Valentina Scatizzi via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Women’s Flyweight Playoff: Paulina Wi?niewska def. Karolina Wójcik via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Lightweight Showcase: Lorenzo Parente def. Stefano Catacoli via submission (armbar): R1, 1:45
  • Bantamweight Showcase Bout: Matiss Zaharovs def. Brian Hyslop via submission (rear-naked choke): R2, 4:18
  • Women’s Flyweight Showcase: Gemma Auld def. Weronika Pietruszka via TKO (punches): R1, 4:50

Gemma Auld Def. Weronika Pietruszka

Matiss Zaharovs Def. Brian Hyslop

Lorenzo Parente Def. Stefano Catacoli

Paulina Wi?niewska Def. Karolina Wójcik

Shanelle Dyer Def. Valentina Scatizzi

Jakub Kaszuba Def. Daniele Scatizzi

Daniele Miceli Def. Ibrahima Mané

Florim Zendeli Def. Jack Grant

Alexander Luster Def. Julian Lopez

Lewis McGrillen Def. Dean Garnett

Mark Ewen Def. Yassin Chtatou

Rob Whiteford Def. Roger Huerta

Stevie Ray Def. Lewis Long

Continue Reading 2024 PFL Europe 3: Playoffs Results & Highlights: Stevie Ray Lands ‘Scottish Twister’ at MMA News.

PFL Announces Full Card For ‘Battle Of The Giants’ PPV Headlined By Francis Ngannou

The PFL has announced the full card for “Battle of the Giants”, the promotion’s huge event in Riyadh on October 19. We already knew about four fights, which regardless of the rest of the card, were going to make this one of the biggest nights in the history of the promotion. Between Francis Ngannou’s MMA […]

Continue Reading PFL Announces Full Card For ‘Battle Of The Giants’ PPV Headlined By Francis Ngannou at MMA News.

The PFL has announced the full card for “Battle of the Giants”, the promotion’s huge event in Riyadh on October 19.

We already knew about four fights, which regardless of the rest of the card, were going to make this one of the biggest nights in the history of the promotion.

Between Francis Ngannou’s MMA return against Renan Ferreira, Cris Cyborg vs Larissa Pacheco, the Bellator middleweight title rematch between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards plus a fantastic lightweight bout with AJ McKee taking on Paul Hughes, this card was certainly PPV worthy.

We now know the remaining six bouts that will fill up the rest of the evening and though they’re still noteworthy, they don’t quite match up in box office value compared to the big four that were previously announced.

Rounding out the main card is a featherweight clash between Switzerland’s Husein Kadimagomaev and Germany’s Zafar Mohsen.

The most notable name to be added is Raufeon Stots, who will be fighting in the featured prelim against Marcos Breno.

This will be Stots’ first fight of the year following his victory over Danny Sabatello in November last year at Bellator 301.

See the full card for “Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact” listed below:

Main card:

Heavyweight Main Event: Francis Ngannou (17-3) vs. Renan Ferreira (13-3, 3 NC) 
Women’s Featherweight Co-Main Event: Cris “Cyborg” (27-2, 1 NC) vs. Larissa Pacheco (23-4)
Bellator Middleweight World Title Bout: Johnny Eblen (15-0) vs. Fabian Edwards (13-3)
Featherweight Main Card Bout: Husein Kadimagomaev (11-1, 1 NC) vs Zafar Mohsen (13-4)
Lightweight Main Card Bout: AJ McKee (22-1) vs. Paul Hughes (12-1)

    Early Card:

    Bantamweight Early Card Bout: Raufeon Stots (20-2) vs Marcos Breno (15-3)
    Lightweight Early Card Bout: Makkasharip Zaynukov (15-4) vs Dedrek Sanders (9-4)
    Featherweight Early Card Bout: Ibragim Ibragimov (7-0) vs Nacho Campos (5-0)
    Middleweight Early Card Bout: Mostafa Nada (9-3) vs Ahmed Sami (11-4-0, 1 NC) 
    Featherweight Early Card Bout: Youssef Al Housani (4-1) vs Taha Bendaoud (3-0)

    Read also: Muhammad Mokaev Claims His Pay Is Three Times Higher After UFC Release

    Continue Reading PFL Announces Full Card For ‘Battle Of The Giants’ PPV Headlined By Francis Ngannou at MMA News.

    Francis Ngannou’s Coach Details Tom Aspinall Collaboration In Preparation For Renan Ferreira Fight

    To prepare for his long awaited MMA return, Francis Ngannou is doing his training camp out in Paris before October 19. Any heavyweight in the sport will tell you that one of the biggest problems that they encounter is finding suitable training partners to work with. This is even more true when you’re preparing to […]

    Continue Reading Francis Ngannou’s Coach Details Tom Aspinall Collaboration In Preparation For Renan Ferreira Fight at MMA News.

    To prepare for his long awaited MMA return, Francis Ngannou is doing his training camp out in Paris before October 19.

    Any heavyweight in the sport will tell you that one of the biggest problems that they encounter is finding suitable training partners to work with.

    This is even more true when you’re preparing to fight a 6’8″ opponent in Renan Ferreira.

    Team Ngannou’s problem could have been temporarily solved this week thanks to the UFC arriving in Paris for Saturday night’s event at the Accor Arena.

    Ngannou’s coach, Eric Nicksick, has built a strong relationship with another of the world’s best heavyweights – whom he was hoping to cross paths with in the French capital.

    Eric Nicksick Says He Would’ve Loved To Connect Ngannou & Aspinall

    In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Nicksick said that he hoped to connect Ngannou with the interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall this week.

    Unfortunately, Aspinall wasn’t making the trip over for the fights on Saturday but the Xtreme Couture coach still thinks it could happen at some stage.

    With both men being right at the top of their weight class in different promotions, the sparring videos alone would be PPV-worthy.

    He said that the short distance between England and France means that Aspinall may be able to join their camp before they leave for Saudi Arabia.

    Nicksick did say that though the Brit isn’t in town, he did offer to help out in a different way, by giving them a list of names who may be of use as sparring partners to mimic Ferreira.

    “I was hoping that he’d [Aspinall] be out here and we’d get some training in and not saying it won’t happen, maybe it can before we get out of here because he’s like an hour flight away. He’s not too far away but he was gracious enough to send me some names of his training partners and guys that we could use and try to bring out here to help out Francis but he was all about it man and Tom’s been a great friend and a great guy to have in the circle.”

    Read also: Ciryl Gane’s Absence From UFC Fight Night Card In Paris Explained

    Continue Reading Francis Ngannou’s Coach Details Tom Aspinall Collaboration In Preparation For Renan Ferreira Fight at MMA News.

    2024 PFL MENA 3: Playoffs Results & Highlights

    The inaugural PFL MENA season continued on Friday, and MMA News has you covered with all the action! Having broken onto the scene with its regular season and playoff format in North America, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has begun its pursuit of further prominence around the globe. In 2023, that took sizable step forward with […]

    Continue Reading 2024 PFL MENA 3: Playoffs Results & Highlights at MMA News.

    The inaugural PFL MENA season continued on Friday, and MMA News has you covered with all the action!

    Having broken onto the scene with its regular season and playoff format in North America, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has begun its pursuit of further prominence around the globe.

    In 2023, that took sizable step forward with the maiden PFL Europe season. And this year, the promotion continues to grow with its latest regional expansion, PFL MENA (Middle East and North Africa).

    Like the inaugural and sophomore cards in May and July of this year, the playoffs event took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The PFL MENA Studio in Boulevard City played host as a number of athletes booked their spots at the championship finals later this year.

    The main event came at 145 pounds, where Saudi Arabia’s own Abdullah Al-Qahtani had hope to advance from his semifinal against Jordan’s Abdelrahman Alhyasat. After recording two wins at PFL global events in 2023 and opening his 2024 with another knockout triumph on the PFL vs. Bellator card, “The Reaper” was now nearing regional dominance.

    However, hopes of that came to a crashing halt courtesy of Alhyasat’s efforts on fight night. He outpointed the home favorite on all three scorecards to take home the upset win.

    While the event was broadcast on DAZN for select countries, it was unfortunately not available to audiences in the United States. However, MMA News has you covered below with the full results and all the highlights below.

    2024 PFL MENA Playoffs Results & Highlights

    • Featherweight Semifinal: Abdelrahman Alhyasat def. Abdullah Al-Qahtani via unanimous decision
    • Welterweight Semifinal: Omar El Dafrawy def. Jarrah Al-Selawe via TKO: R1, 3:11
    • Welterweight Semifinal: Mohammad Alaqraa def. Amir Fazli via unanimous decision
    • Lightweight Semifinal: Mohsen Mohammadseifi def. Souhil Tairi via unanimous decision
    • Bantamweight Semifinal: Ali Taleb def. Jalal Al Daaja via KO (punch): R1, 2:18
    • Featherweight Semifinal: Islam Reda def. Marouane Bellagouit via unanimous decision
    • Bantamweight Semifinal: Rachid El Hazoume def. Elias Boudegzdame via unanimous decision
    • Lightweight Semifinal: Georges Eid def. Omar Reguigui via TKO (punches): R1, 1:39
    • Amateur Flyweight Showcase: Malik Basahel def. Saher Qasmieh via unanimous decision
    • Featherweight Showcase: Adam Meskini def. Yazeed Hasanain via split decision

    Adam Meskini Def. Yazeed Hasanain

    Malik Basahel Def. Saher Qasmieh

    Georges Eid Def. Omar Reguigui

    Rachid El Hazoume Def. Elias Boudegzdame

    Islam Reda Def. Marouane Bellagouit

    Ali Taleb Def. Jalal Al Daaja

    Mohsen Mohammadseifi Def. Souhil Tairi

    Mohammad Alaqraa Def. Amir Fazli

    Omar El Dafrawy Def. Jarrah Al-Selawe

    Abdelrahman Alhyasat Def. Abdullah Al-Qahtani

    Continue Reading 2024 PFL MENA 3: Playoffs Results & Highlights at MMA News.

    Exclusive | The Scholar and the Fighter, From PhD to PFL: Dr. Souhil Tahiri “Don’t set limits on yourself.”

    Souhil TahiriSouhil Tahiri has defied the odds for his entire life. Despite doing poorly in school, he would later get…

    Souhil Tahiri

    Souhil Tahiri has defied the odds for his entire life. Despite doing poorly in school, he would later get his PhD. Despite not wanting to be a professional fighter, the French-Algerian is now competing in the lightweight semi-finals in PFL MENA taking place on September 20.

    Dr. Souhil Tahiri

    All he wanted to do was try to quit smoking, so one day Dr. Souhil Tahiri registered at an MMA gym. Speaking in an interview with Tim Wheaton of LowKickMMA, he explained:

    “I just wanted to quit smoking and get in better shape. I’d never done combat sports or any sports before that. My main goal was to quit smoking and maybe get some abs or something basic like that.”

    But what added to his drive was coaches telling him that he should not be doing this as he was a scholar. At this point, he was working on a PhD in mathematics. Therefore, a career in MMA simply didn’t add up. But he persisted anyway as he pushed himself to constantly be a better version of himself.

    “I kept going with it. I started both journeys at the same time, and everybody kept telling me that it was too late to do combat sports or boxing, that I needed to focus on studying. Even in boxing, when I went to the gym, the coach would say, ‘You’re just a scholar. You’re good at studying, no need to put so much effort into boxing. You won’t go any further.‘”

    A vital pillar of Souhil Tahiri is that one never stops growing, or learning. Whether it’s in the ring, cage, or classroom; people should strive to be their very best. Therefore, he kept pushing himself.

    “Don’t set limits on yourself … I’m trying to motivate those around me. If you have goals, believe in them and work for them. Maybe you’ll get results, maybe not, but you’ll always benefit in some way.

    “Yes, it’s possible. You have to put in hard work, believe in what you’re doing, and just keep showing up. Never let yourself down. Even on bad days, keep going to the gym, keep going to school. I failed many exams and lost many fights, but I kept showing up no matter what. Alhamdulillah, now I’m in the PFL, I have my PhD, and I have a job. So, yeah, things are going well.“

    PFL MENA 3

    Now, Dr. Souhil Tahiri will face the experienced Sanda fighter Mohsen Mohammadseifi in the semi-finals of the PFL MENA tournament. PFL MENA 3 goes down on September 20.

    See the full interview with Souhil Tahiri below:

    Souhil Tahiri