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The first-ever Professional Fighters League (PFL) vs. Bellator MMA “champion vs. champion” event has taken another big hit, losing yet another title fight just one week away from fight night. Scheduled to go down on Sat., Feb 24, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the event was originally set to feature four title fights, and now it has been whittled down to just two.

According to the promotions’ social media page, current PFL Featherweight champion, Jesus Pinedo, has been forced out of his scheduled showdown against Bellator MMA 145-pound kingpin, Patricio Pitbull, for unspecified reasons.

Pinedo was looking to build off the momentum of winning the division crown just last November, while Pitbull was hoping to snap his two-fight losing streak, but now both men will have to wait a little longer to get back into the cage. There is no word if this bout will be re-booked at a later time.

Just three weeks ago, the event suffered its first championship fight loss after Magomed Magomedkerimov was forced out of his bout Welterweight fight against Bellator’s 170-pound title holder, Jason Jackson. Ray Cooper III agreed to step in to face “The Ass-Kicking Machine” in a non-title fight set to be competed at a Catchweight of 182 pounds.

In other news, a scheduled Lightweight fight between Claressa Shields and Kelsey DeSantis will now go down at a catchweight of 165 pounds.

The event will be headlined by a Heavyweight championship bout as PFL Heavyweight kingpin, Renan Ferreira, battles Bellator’s champion, Ryan Bader. In the co-main event, PFL Light Heavyweight champion, Impa Kasanganay, will drop down to Middleweight to battle Bellator’s 185-pound king, Johnny Eblen.

In further action, former Bellator MMA Featherweight champion, A.J. McKee, will face off against Clay Collard, while Bruno Cappelozza welcomes Vadim Nemkov to the 265-pound division. Rounding out the main card will be a 205-pound tilt between Yoel Romero and Thiago Santos.

For all the latest PFL and Bellator MMA news and notes click here and here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Oban Elliott is about to have the greatest weekend of his young life.

On Saturday, Elliott makes his UFC debut, taking on Val Woodburn on the prelim card of UFC 298. Only 26 years old and with a 9-2 record amassed primarily in Cage Warriors, “The Welsh Gangster” earned his spot in the promotion with a win on the most recent season of the UFC’s Contender Series, and in so doing, achieved one of his life’s great ambitions.

“It’s been this dream since — I saw Brock Lesnar in 2009 when he was in the UFC — since literally I was a little kid,” Elliott said this week on The MMA Hour. “My dad had a video tape of UFC 40, Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. I think it was UFC Vendetta. So I saw that — Chuck Liddell, that was the day he knocked out Babalu. I’ve been a fan of this game, this company, this sport, for a very long time. For a majority of my life.

“And when I saw old uncle Chael [Sonnen], who you tipped your hat to, when I saw him feuding with Anderson [Silva], when he got on the mic when he beat Brian Stann, I just thought — I’m this massive wrestling fan, WWE fan, growing up as a kid, and then you’ve got this guy who is like a wrestler. I was like, ‘That’s me. That’s me there. That guy on the TV. That’s what I’ve got to be.’ I didn’t know how I was going to get here at the time, but I told all my teachers in school, I told all my friends, ‘I will be in the UFC one day and I’ll be chasing that belt.’ And here I am! Look at me now.

“I’m absolutely over the moon to be here. This is my lifelong dream. I’ll tell you where it really did get deep. It’s documented I’ve lost my dad. … Me taking that belt and putting it by his grave, that was the only way in my head, as a young kid, where I felt like I could, obviously not fill that void, but try to fill it. That was the only thing that got me through that from a young age. And here I am. It’s f****** mad.”

That event, Elliott explained, was another thing that drew him to Sonnen. Sonnen also lost his father at an early age and made a promise before he passed that he would beat Tito Ortiz and become world champion. Elliott could not help but see himself in Sonnen.

“This guy is a hero,” Elliott said. “He said, ‘My father died and it was my promise to him to get the world championship.’ I don’t care what you say, he’s bigger than a world champion. He was a world champion. He won that title when he beat Paulo Filho, but he’s become bigger. A world champion could walk past you on the street, but Chael Sonnen walks past you and the street will stop. That’s worth more than any belt could ever mean.”

“He fulfilled his promise and I’m just about to completely fulfill mine. It’s mad.”

Even more mad is that now Elliott has managed to grab Sonnen’s attention. “The Welsh Gangster” also talked through his early attempts to reach out to his American counterpart, and how Sonnen encouraged him early in his career.

“I just said, ‘Chael, I’m going to make it in the UFC one day.’” Elliott said. “I loved Anderson, but, ‘Please beat Anderson. We’re all cheering for you.’ God knows how many times I must’ve messaged him, tweeted to him, and he never got it, never got back. But then one day I checked it, March 2012, in the run-up to the [Silva] rematch, he said, ‘Good man. Chase your dreams.’ I didn’t hear from him then until 2021, and I said, ‘Uncle Chael, I’m chasing my dreams.’ And he said, ‘I know you are, I’m watching each step that you take.’ That was pinned on my Twitter. Mad, isn’t it?

“I’ve never met him, and God only knows what that’s going to feel like when I get to shake that man’s hand. Insane.”

It turns out that’s going to happen this weekend. In advance of Elliott’s appearance on The MMA Hour, Sonnen recorded a message for the UFC debutant that was played for Elliott.

“My ace! Congratulations!” Sonnen said. “Making it this far, as I’ve told you many times, has been no surprise. But what you might not know is I will be there live, cheering you on, from one gangster to another. You’ve made all of us very proud making it this far, but the journey just began. Let’s get the win this weekend, stud. Good luck!”

As you can imagine, Elliott was thrilled with this turn of events, and promised a successful debut on Saturday.

“Oh my God, he’s going to be there,” Elliott said. “Wow! My God. I can’t put into words how how you have just made me feel. Thank you. Chael, thank you. That’s unbelievable. I’m speechless. Thank you so much for getting that across. And I will get the job done. And it’s a perfect time to quote the man himself: No matter how I’m feeling, happy, sad, scared, fear — not one of those is going to get a judge to mark my name. This is what will mark my name [raises fists]. And I’ll make sure I get it done, 100 percent.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Alex Pereira is leveling up his skill set.

After just seven fights inside the Octagon, ‘Poatan’ has already etched his name in the history books, capturing both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles during his already iconic run. A year after his earth-shattering knockout of Israel Adesanya to claim the 185-pound crown, Pereira moved up to 205, taking the division’s vacant title after finishing former champion Jiri Prochazka in the second round of their UFC 295 headliner.

Ready to elevate his fight game above the laws of nature and put his next opponent under siege, Alex Pereira made the executive decision to call in ’90s action film star Steven Seagal. In a clip shared on Pereira’s Instagram stories, Seagal — a 7th-dan black belt in Aikido — showed the two-division titleholder some … interesting blocking techniques.

This is certainly not the first time that Seagal has shared his knowledge with a UFC champion. Seagal helped train Lyoto Machida, who credited Seagal for helping him perfect the front kick that he used to knock out Randy Couture at UFC 129 in May 2011.

After running his father-in-law’s dojo in Japan, Seagal moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s and pursued a career in acting. He made his feature film debut in 1988 and would go on to star in five movies over the next four years. In less than 10 years, he was relegated to doing direct-to-video features and was seen as something of a joke compared to other big-name action stars of his time, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

After putting in some work with the Marked For Death star, Pereira is all but guaranteed to take his next opponent to the bank… To the blood bank.

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UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

By all accounts, Merab Dvalishvili should be fighting for the bantamweight title next. Instead, he’s facing Henry Cejudo in a potential No. 1 contender’s bout at UFC 298.

Despite his remarkable nine-fight win streak, which includes victories over former UFC champions Petr Yan and Jose Aldo, the Georgian native was left on the outside looking in when the promotion put together the next title bout at 135 pounds. New champion Sean O’Malley instead called for a fight against Marlon “Chito” Vera, who is the only person to hold a win over him in the UFC, and that wish was ultimately granted.

It didn’t matter that Vera had only won a single fight in a row or that he already owned losses to Aldo and Cory Sandhagen. Vera’s past victory over O’Malley and the simmering rivalry between them trumped everything else, so Dvalishvili was left sitting on the sidelines and hoping that a 10th consecutive win would finally allow him the same opportunity.

Truth be told, Dvalishvili wasn’t all that surprised. O’Malley didn’t hold a win over anybody on the active UFC roster before he was placed in a marquee fight against Yan, and then was granted a title shot after his first and only victory over a ranked opponent.

“He was fighting people outside the top 15, and the only people in the top 10 he fought [was] Petr Yan,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “Me and so many people thought Petr Yan won this fight. A split decision, a couple people think O’Malley win, and after this, they just save O’Malley and they let him wait, come here and fight for the title. He used his chance good and became champion. They gave him time again [before fighting Vera].

“I destroyed Petr. I dominated him, but nobody gave me this chance. It’s all good. I just have to focus on myself and that’s all I can control is myself.”

Time and time again, the ability to grab attention with the potential to sell pay-per-views often puts bigger names in title fights while more deserving contenders are left waiting. Belal Muhammad experienced that recently when his 10-fight unbeaten streak was ignored in favor of Colby Covington, who sat out for nearly two years, held a 2-2 record in his past four fights, and whose recent wins came against opponents no longer on the UFC roster.

Dvalishvili isn’t necessarily surprised or angered by the way the UFC picks and chooses fights, although he certainly wishes he got that same kind of consideration.

“Let’s put it this way — they push [Alex] Pereira,” Dvalishvili explained. “Pereira is a good fighter but we all know he doesn’t have wrestling. If Pereira fights anybody with good wrestling, everybody will beat Pereira. But they pushed Pereira and Pereira becomes champion.

“If somebody gave me the chance five years ago to fight for the UFC title, maybe I would become champion five years ago, but nobody gave me [that] because I don’t have the hype. Just because somebody has hype, they should not give them a chance at the title. I don’t like when they push fighters who only have a couple fights and they let them fight top contenders.”

Regardless of how the past played out, Dvalishvili won’t lose sight on what’s directly in front of him — and that’s a former two-division UFC champion in Cejudo.

Of course, the 33-year-old bantamweight allowed himself a few minutes of frustration after learning that Vera would get the title shot ahead of him, but he hasn’t lost sight of the bigger picture ahead of his fight on Saturday.

“I was upset,” Dvalishvili said. “It’s hard for me because when I was fighting Jose Aldo, I knew that it was that was a No. 1 contender fight. If Jose Aldo beats me, he was supposed to fight for the title because he was coming [from a] three [fight] win streak. He beat ‘Chito’ and two other contenders. After that, I understand my friend [Aljamain Sterling] was champion and nobody offered me the fight. I don’t want to fight him but nobody offered me the fight. That’s OK, that was fine. I was waiting. I knew Aljo was going up and everything was fine. After that I beat Petr Yan, and I proved again [that] I deserved a title shot.

“In the end, O’Malley called out the No. 6 [ranked] guy and it was hard, so now I guess they’re looking for numbers. It’s a more favorable match for O’Malley. I’m guessing that’s why it’s happening. I moved on, I’m a fighter. Who am I to complain about it? I’ve always been fighting whoever is in front of me and that’s what I’m going to do.”

That being said, Dvalishvili made it clear that there’s no other option for him after beating Cejudo than fighting for UFC gold. He’s been a team player this entire time, but he’s looking out for No. 1 after UFC 298.

“After this, that’s it,” Dvalishvili said. “Title fight is next. I’m not going to look at any other bulls*** fights. I’m just going to take what is mine. I deserve it. After I fight Henry Cejudo, I will be the No. 1 contender for the title and I’m not fighting any other bulls*** fight.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

UFC

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has a live stream watch party for Saturday’s UFC 298 event, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. In the main event, Alexander Volkanovski will defend his featherweight title against the undefeated Ilia Topuria.

Join MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Conner Burks, and other special guests to watch along with UFC 298 as the main card happens.

In the co-main event, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will face one-time title challenger Paulo Costa, who returns to the octagon for the first time since August 2020.

UFC 298 also features a welterweight matchup between surging contender Ian Machado Garry and Geoff Neal, and a bantamweight tilt between Merab Dvalishvili and former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.

The UFC 298 main card opens up with a battle between exciting 185-pounders Anthony Hernandez and Roman Kopylov.

Watch MMA Fighting’s UFC 298 Watch Party at 9:45 p.m. ET / 6:45 p.m. PT.

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