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A key title fight was noticeably missing during the recent announcement of the first-ever Professional Fighters League (PFL) vs. Bellator MMA championship mega event, which is set to go down inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sat., Feb. 24, 2024.

PFL’s Light Heavyweight champion, Impa Kasanganay, was not matched up against Vadim Nemkov, who was the last man to wear the 205-pound strap for Bellator MMA. Instead, Kasanganay will drop down to face Johnny Eblen for the Middleweight title, while Nemkov will move up to Heavyweight to battle Bruno Cappelozza.

One day removed from the announcement, it was later revealed that Nemkov has vacated his 205-pound title. During a previous conversation with MMA Junkie, the hard-hitting Russian expressed his interest in pursing gold at 265 pounds, citing his previous success at 205 pounds and his comfort level fighting at a higher weight.

“I’m getting older and every fight is getting harder for me to cut weight,” Nemkov said. “Let’s say that before I felt comfortable when I was training at 103kg (227 lbs). Now, I feel even more comfortable at 106-108kg (233-238 lbs).

“When I train right now, it’s 103kg. I feel less strong and dangerous. It’s not the same as I am at 106-108kg. It’s a new challenge for me. I’ve done everything I can at light heavyweight. Now, it’s a new challenge to go up in weight and get another title. At 205, I don’t see anything new for me.”

Nemkov went undefeated as a Bellator Light Heavyweight, amassing a 9-0-1 record. He won the title at Bellator 244 in Aug. 2020 by knocking out Ryan Bader in the middle of round two (see it here). He then went on to enter the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix and successfully defended his title three times, winning the tournament with a solid performance over Corey Anderson. He was last seen defending his title a record-breaking fourth time by defeating Yoel Romero at Bellator 297 back in June 2023.

Nemkov’s decision could prove to be a fruitful one. While Ryan Bader currently holds Bellator’s title, the landscape could chance drastically in 2024. Should Bader successfully defend his belt in the main event of the “champions vs. champions” card against PFL champion, Renan Ferreira, it could set up a rematch between the two big men.

Of course, the big prize all heavyweights under the PFL/Bellator banner are gunning for is one against Francis Ngannou, who has put his MMA pursuits on hold to continue his boxing career, which has proven to be monetarily fruitful.

Ngannou will face off against Anthony Joshua on March 8, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the winner possibly getting a title fight against the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for professional boxing’s undisputed Heavyweight title later in the year. That means that “The Predator” likely won’t return to the MMA cage until late 2024 or early 2025. For now, however, all Nemkov can do is focus on the task at hand, which is a showdown against a hard-hitting big man with a 5-1 record under the PFL banner.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Israel Adesanya understands how ugly things can get when involved in a fight with Sean Strickland.

In the days and weeks leading up to their bout this past September, Strickland launched all sorts of personal attacks aimed at Adesanya when promoting the fight. Of course, Strickland seems to spew wild and outlandish remarks at just about everybody, often times with personal jabs such as his ongoing feud with UFC welterweight Ian Machado Garry and his wife, Layla.

The tables turned on Strickland after his next opponent Dricus du Plessis returned the favor, mentioning abuse and other childhood trauma the reigning UFC middleweight champion suffered growing up. That led to Strickland actually threatening to stab du Plessis if the South African born fighter goes that low again when they come face-to-face ahead of UFC 297 on Saturday.

Adesanya admits he never listened to the specific comments made but he understands now that Strickland has no problem with comments that go out of bounds — as long as he’s the one making them.

“I heard that Sean got triggered,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel previewing UFC 297. “I saw the brawl and I thought ‘that’s out of character’ but then again, he can dish it but can’t take it.

“Look, we all have our own code and we all do whatever we have to do to win. Some people do anything to win even if it’s fabricating lies, if it’s taking things out of context, if it’s going after a loved one, anything to get the win. Some people take steroids to get the win. They’ll do anything to win. But some people have a code. When it comes to building a fight or whatever as well, I have a code where I won’t stoop to certain levels but sometimes codes can be broken or rewritten.”

In a separate interview with comedian Theo Von, Strickland was brought to tears while offering insight on the severe trauma he suffered as a kid.

Adesanya actually had his own interaction with Strickland getting emotional in the immediate aftermath of their fight. Even though he didn’t seriously mock Strickland for crying after becoming UFC champion, Adesanya knew in that moment that the always outspoken middleweight was showing a potential chink in his armor.

“The whole thing with him crying, you know what’s funny? When you roll the clip back and he’s crying in the cage, I was like ‘quit crying like a b****’ and he hugs me,” Adesanya revealed. “I’m joking obviously but it’s kind of ironic. I was like ‘quit crying like a b****’ cause he’s making fun of me ‘he’s such a soy boy’ and this and that. It’s just funny. I find it funny how he can dish it but can’t take it. That’s very telling for me.”

As far as du Plessis is concerned, Adesanya doesn’t really hold him in very high regard either, at least when it comes to the public persona he puts out there when promoting his fights.

Adesanya engaged in a nasty war of words with him as well after they were originally expected to clash this past year but an injury prevented du Plessis from competing.

“Dricus is fake,” Adesanya said. “I’ll put it this way, he’s fake on camera. He’s a real person. A real n**** but he’s fake when the cameras come on. When you meet him in person, he’s real.”

When it comes to the fight, Adesanya actually favors du Plessis to get the job done, especially if he varies his attacks and doesn’t just stand in front of Strickland for five rounds.

Adesanya suffered a one-sided decision loss to Strickland mainly due to his own inability to get out of the way of a slick lead jab and relentless pressure, although he puts that more on himself than his opponent.

“Dricus is going to try to wrestle him,” Adesanya said. “Stand up in the beginning, do his off-beat rhythm, all that stuff. He might get jabbed in the first round by Sean and then have to really switch to the grappling because Sean’s jab is underrated. I never underestimated it but it’s underrated and I figured it out.

“It didn’t take me long to figure it out after the fight. In the fight, I had some other s*** going on that I wasn’t able to figure it out, I was worried about some other stuff self-consciously to do with me, not to do with him.”

After Adesanya lost his title to Strickland last year, UFC CEO Dana White hinted that an immediate rematch could be in the works. Adesanya ultimately decided to take some time off following a very busy schedule these past few years but it’s still entirely possible that he’ll end up facing the winner of the UFC 297 main event sometime in 2024.

With that said, who does Adesanya see holding the belt?

“I’m going to go with Dricus,” Adesanya said. “Is it going to go the distance? I’m going to say no. Not that I don’t respect Sean or his skills, the guy beat me. Of course, I respect his skills. I’ll say [submission]. He’ll submit him.”

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Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Julianna Peña has issued a warning to both Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva – ahead of the pair’s vacant title outing at UFC 297 this weekend, as well as bizarrely, surging flyweight contender, Maycee Barber.

Peña, the current number one ranked bantamweight contender, has been sidelined from the Octagon since she suffered her title loss in a rematch against former two-division champion, Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 back in July 2022.

Slated to make her comeback in a June title trilogy rubber match against the Brazilian queen last year, Washington native, Peña was forced from the bout due to an injury setback, and was replaced by Mexican challenger, Irene Aldana. 

Yet to make her return to active competition in the time since Nunes’ retirement and vacating of the title back in June, Peña missed out on a vacant championship fight in Canada this weekend at UFC 297 – with Pennington taking on the surging, Bueno Silva over the course of five rounds for vacant spoils.

Julianna Peña plots incoming Octagon return

Maintaining she will challenge for spoils in her immediate return, Peña, the first female Ultimate Fighter winner, has sent a warning to the pair – as well as flyweight contender, Barber ahead of the UFC 297 card.

“Don’t worry, mama’s coming home soon,” Julianna Peña posted on her official Instagram account. “#Baddestf*ckingmother #BFMchamp #thepeñapower #ufc.” 

Over the course of her tenure with the Dana White-led UFC, Peña has turned in notable victories over the likes of former championship challengers, Jessica Eye, Cat Zingano, and Sara McMann, as well as former undisputed gold holders, Nicco Montaño – and the aforenoted, Nunes in arguably the greatest upset in the antiquity of the Octagon.

Would you like to see Julianna Peña fight for the title after UFC 297? 

LowKickMMA.com

Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will be watching the UFC 297 main event with keen interest.  Champion Sean Strickland, who won the title by defeating Adesanya, put his belt on the line for the first time against second-ranked Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday.  

Looking back at the previous press conference where Strickland and Du Plessis had words, Adesanya thought it was funny.  

“I find it funny how he can dish it but can’t take it, and that’s very telling for me.  I’m glad they’re fighting, an interesting clash of personalities,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel.  “Dricus is fake.  I’ll put it this way, he’s fake on camera.  He’s a real person, a real n***a, but he’s fake when the cameras come on.  When you meet him in person, he’s real.”

As far as the fight goes, Adesanya believes Du Plessis will try to out grapple Strickland.    

“Dricus is going to try to wrestle him.  Stand up in the beginning of course, do his offbeat rhythm, all that kind of stuff.  But the problem is he might get jabbed by Sean in the first round and have to really have to switch to the grappling because Sean’s jab is underrated.  I never underestimated it, but I’ll say it’s underrated,” said Adesanya.  

“Dricus is just weird.  It’s weird the way, the way he strikes is so ugly but it’s effective,” Adesanya continued.  “I think Dricus has to take a backward step first.  Sean’s pressure.  I don’t know if Dricus knows how to fight off his back foot.  He likes to fight forward.  Sean can kind of fight on his back foot.  Sean can.  He’s defensively sound.”

Grappling is the key for Du Plessis’ success, according to the former champion.  

“To the ground, I think Dricus can handle him on the ground if it gets there,” Adesanya said.  “Sean can scramble but I don’t think he’s going to out-scramble Dricus.  Sean, definitely striking advantage.  I’ll give Dricus the grappling advantage.  

“I’m going to go with Dricus.  Does it got the distance?  I’m going to say no.”     

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann are no strangers to living their lives in front of cameras. Now the pair of UFC veterans will do that on a more full-time basis after scoring a reality show from the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Paddy & Molly: Show No Mersey has been ordered to series at BBC Three with the UFC fighters allowing a deeper look at both their personal and professional lives.

Pimblett and McCann — who hail from Merseyside in the U.K., which explains the unique spelling of their shared reality series — are best friends who also happen to compete at the highest level of combat sports in the UFC. The series aims to take a “journey inside and outside of the cage as they take on the biggest fights of their lives, which will determine their legacy in the MMA world, all whilst juggling their relationships with friends and family.”

“We can’t wait for you all to see what a day in the life for us both entails,” Pimblett and McCann said in a joint statement. “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows and a lot goes into what we do. You won’t believe it until you see it so get watching!”

The new series will follow both fighters as they get ready for upcoming bouts, which will include appearances from Pimblett’s wife Laura as she prepares to give birth to twins. Meanwhile, McMann and her fiancée Ellis also appear in the series along with the restaurant they run near home in Liverpool.

Paddy & Molly: Show No Mersey will be produced by Hello Mary with the series set to air on BBC Three in the U.K., although no exact debut date has been announced just yet.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time.

1 p.m. ET: All of your questions are answered on the latest edition of On The Nose.

1:20 p.m.: Top UFC contender (and esteemed Parlay Boys member) Julianna Peña discusses her next move and the UFC bantamweight title picture.

1:45 p.m.: PFL executive Donn Davis deep dives into the announcement of the PFL vs. Bellator mega-card on February 24.

2:10 p.m.: Xtreme Couture headman Eric Nicksick talks Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis, Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Johsua, and more.

2:35 p.m. Rose Namajunas previews her March 23 return against Amanda Ribas.

3 p.m.: Jim Miller looks back at his latest win over Gabriel Benitez and looks ahead to his UFC 300 showdown against Bobby Green.

3:30 p.m.: The Parlay Boys make their best bets for the UFC 297 weekend.

For the latest episodes of The MMA Hour, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.

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