'Game-changing' Professional Fighters League in Saudi Arabia ready to revolutionise MMA

The chief executive of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) says next week’s “game-changing” inaugural event in Saudi Arabia will provide a launch pad to “building out a world-class ecosystem” for mixed martial arts in the kingdom and throughout the region.

Heavyweight: Renan Ferreira v Ryan Bader
Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay v Johnny Eblen
Featherweight: Jesus Pinedo v Patricio Pitbull
Catchweight: Ray Cooper III v Jason Jackson

Showcase Bouts
Heavyweight: Bruno Cappelozza (former PFL World champ) v Vadim Nemkov (former Bellator champ)
Light Heavyweight: Thiago Santos (PFL title contender) v Yoel Romero (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight: Clay Collard (PFL title contender) v AJ McKee (former Bellator champ)
Featherweight: Gabriel Braga (PFL title contender) v Aaron Pico (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight: Biaggio Ali Walsh (pro debut) v Emmanuel Palacios (pro debut)
Women’s Lightweight: Claressa Shields v Kelsey DeSantis
Featherweight: Abdullah Al Qahtani v Edukondal Rao
Amateur Flyweight: Malik Basahel v Vinicius Pereira

The organisation, which in November acquired fellow MMA promotion Bellator, will stage its opening fight night in Saudi with “PFL Champions vs Bellator Champions” on February 24, at the new Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

The event comes after the PFL announced in August it had signed an investment agreement with SRJ Sports Investments, an entity owned by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund.

As part of the partnership, SRJ acquired a minority equity ownership in the PFL. The deal, reported to be $100 million, sees SRJ become an investor in PFL Mena, a new regional league set to launch this April.

PFL and SRJ will also work together in putting together and staging PFL PPV Super Fights “mega-events” in Saudi Arabia