The PFL will host back-to-back events in Saudi Arabia.
During Thursday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants press conference, PFL CEO Peter Murray announced that their annual World Championship card will take place in Riyadh on Nov. 29. Six fighters will walk away with season championships, along with the grand prize of $ 1 million.
It will be the first time the event will be held outside of the United States.
For the women’s flyweight season title, rising star Dakota Ditcheva will face one-time UFC title challenger Taila Santos. Ditcheva earned her spot with a quick knockout of Jena Bishop, while Santos cemented her place in the finals with a decision win over Bellator champ Liz Carmouche.
Brendan Loughnane also looks to cash another $ 1 million check as he faces Timur Khizriev for the featherweight crown.
Check out all of the title fights below.
Dakota Ditcheva vs. Taila Santos – women’s flyweight title fight
Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev – featherweight title fight
Brent Primus vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov – lightweight title fight
Shamil Musaev vs. Magomed Umalatov – welterweight title fight
Impa Kasanganay vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov – light heavyweight title fight
Denis Goltsov vs. Oleg Popov – heavyweight title fight
The full card headlined by Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium just outside Dallas on Nov. 15 has been revealed.
Paul faces Tyson in an eight round heavyweight main event with the card airing live on Netflix for no additional cost to subscribers.
In addition to Paul vs. Tyson, a highly anticipated rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano serves as the 10-round co-main event. Taylor puts all of her super lightweight titles on the line for the rematch after winning a razor-close decision over Serrano in their first encounter.
A WBC welterweight title fight also takes place on the card as reigning champion Mario Barrios takes on Abel Ramos in a 12-round bout. The final fight rounding out the main card pits Neeraj Goyat against Whindersson Nunes in a six-round super middleweight fight.
As for the prelims, Shadasia Green, who counts Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions as her promoter and managers, takes on undefeated contender Melinda Watpool.
Lucas Bahdi clashes with Corey Marskman in a 10-round lightweight fight between two undefeated prospects. Bruce Carrington Jr. rounds out the preliminary card when he faces Dana Coolwell.
The card airs globally on Netflix with the event kicking off at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 15.
The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing spectacle, which streams live on Netflix on Fri., Nov. 15, 2024 from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be a professionally sanctioned bout under Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).
But the rules are going to look a little different on fight night.
That’s because TDLR recently rubber-stamped a pair of rule change requests from promoter Bryce Holden. The contest will now feature 14-ounce gloves — a first for “The Lone Star State” — as opposed to the standard 10 ounces.
That’s according to a new report from USA Today.
In addition, the eight rounds have been shortened from three minutes to two minutes apiece to “create more action.” While it’s not the first time a men’s contest has made that round-change request, representatives from TDLR called the decision “rare.”
“It will take the sting off a little bit,” said pro boxer Nico Ali Walsh, who is also the grandson of Muhammad Ali. “And I believe the glove size is there just as a precaution, since Mike is older than people that are fighting professionally. He shouldn’t be fighting in professionally sized gloves. The combination of the two-minute rounds and the 14-ounce gloves made this fight possible. I don’t think any sanctioning body would allow the fight to happen with Mike if they were 10-ounce gloves and three-minute rounds.”
Raul Rosas Jr. knows he’s ready for ranked competition but he’s also trusting in the UFC to do right by him.
Following a win over Aoriqileng at UFC 306, the 19-year-old prospect immediately called for a top 15 opponent but that’s not a demand. Instead, Rosas just wants the chance to propel his career forward with hopes that he’ll eventually find himself in title contention.
“If I would have went out there and got the finish, I would for sure have a good argument to get a top 15 [opponent],” Rosas told MMA Fighting. “I want a top 15 [opponent] but if my next fight is not against a top 15 fighter, I want somebody that the UFC would be like ‘if you beat this guy, we’ll give you a ranked opponent next.’ But either way, I want to be that close.
“I just want fights that will get me closer to the belt. I don’t want to fight somebody that I’ll just beat and I stay in the same spot. I want to beat somebody that will get me way closer to the belt.”
Rosas has long stated that he wants to become UFC champion but he also acknowledges that he’s got plenty of time to get there.
While beating a ranked opponent would certainly speed along that process, Rosas realizes that there are plenty of UFC veterans without a number next to their name that still count as a quality win.
Facing a veteran like Aoriqileng with nearly 40 fights on his record gave Rosas some valuable experience but now he just wants the chance to step up to the next rung on the ladder when it comes to the hierarchy in the UFC’s bantamweight division.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” Rosas said about becoming UFC champion. “Regardless, I’m still getting more experienced. Every fight I’m getting better and better.
“Like this fight, I took it as a way to get more experience because it was a step up in competition. He was the best fighter that I fought so far. He was like a veteran, he was able to stay relaxed and he’s got power in his hands, good takedown defense so it was a step up in competition but the right step up. If I get another fight like that, the right step up then I’ll take it.”
When it comes to timing, Rosas admits that he would love to get one more fight before the end of the year but he’s not ready to commit to a date just yet with some lingering injuries that need to heal.
“I’m not 100 percent healthy,” Rosas said. “I have a few injuries from the fight, I injured my knee a little bit. It’s getting better. But I had injuries before the fight and they’re still messed up. I’m going to try to heal those up and once I get healed up, I’ll book a fight.
“I do want to fight in December but if I book it right now, I don’t want to risk to have to pull out because I haven’t recovered. So I want to make sure I recover 100 percent and then I’ll book a fight.”
If December doesn’t happen, Rosas revealed that he probably won’t fight again until at least April 2025 because he wants to enjoy some time with his family around the holidays. Like most teenagers his age, Rosas would really love a Christmas break, especially after missing out this past year.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t want to fight January, February or March,” Rosas said. “If I do get one in, I want it to be this year or a little bit after March. Because I want to be able to enjoy Christmas.
“Last year, I didn’t get to enjoy it because I had a fight in February so I had to train all December and January. Even though the fight didn’t happen because I got sick the day of the fight but I had been training since December. I’m not going to lie, it kind of sucked so this year I want to enjoy Christmas.”
Rosas expects to know within a couple weeks whether or not he’ll be healthy enough to fight again in 2024, especially with a potential grappling match on the horizon in October.
“I’m already training,” Rosas said. “I’m already in camp because I think I have a big grappling match coming up, a big name, but obviously I can’t really say [yet], nothing’s signed, nothing’s confirmed yet but I got the offer and I said yes. We’ll see if that goes through and that will happen Oct. 26.”
Daniel Cormier recently pushed back against Donald Cerrone’s plans for a UFC comeback following his revelation of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his retirement.
Earlier this week, “Cowboy”, who retired from the UFC in July 2022, revealed plans to come out of retirement with an ambitious goal—reaching the achievement of 50 total bouts under the Zuffa banner. The 41-year-old fan favorite has racked up 38 UFC fights, placing him third in the promotion’s history—excluding the 10 more bouts he logged in the WEC.
Cerrone also disclosed that he’s been on Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and other PEDs throughout his time away from the Octagon. Now, he’s working to flush these substances out of his system, aiming to rejoin the drug-testing pool and make his return for two more fights.
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However, Cormier isn’t on board with Cerrone’s plan to return to active competition after openly admitting to using steroids during his hiatus. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, the former two-division UFC champion voiced his firm disapproval, stating that “Cowboy” actions could set a troubling precedent.
“DC” argued that it might inspire other fighters to temporarily withdraw from testing protocols, exploit their time off, and return with an unfair advantage.
“For years now, he’s been openly using steroids. I don’t quite know what it is, but he’s not been clean. And even if he can come back, take tests, and pass those tests, for him to get back, he has to do all of those things and all those enhancers to allow him to feel like he can compete at that level again.
So he would test clean, but isn’t that just a loophole? Isn’t it just a loophole like with the guys, when they get hurt, they get out of the testing pool? They recover from the injury; then they re-enter the testing pool.”
– DC on Cowboy Cerrone wanting to fight again
Cerrone last fought at UFC 276, where he suffered a submission loss to Jim Miller. Despite this setback, his career is impressive, featuring 18 post-fight bonuses—the most in UFC history, a record he shares with Charles Oliveira. He is tied for the second-most wins in UFC history with 23, alongside Andrei Arlovski, and holds 16 finishes, second only to Miller.
In recognition of his legendary career, Cerrone was inducted into the modern wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in March 2023.
Read More: Dana White ‘Hates Donald Cerrone’s UFC Comeback Idea
Continue Reading Cormier Opposes Cerrone’s Possible UFC Return Following PED Admission at MMA News.
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