PFL kicks off their 2024 this weekend in Riyadh on their PFL vs Bellator Champs event. This is a historic night for the sport as this will be the first major MMA event held in Saudi Arabia.
After Riyadh, the PFL will head to Paris in March for a huge event headlined by superstar Cédric Doumbé. The event will also kick off the European lightweight tournament. The regular season for PFL begins in April with the first event being in San Antonio, but the second falls on April 12th the day before UFC 300.
PFL Regular Season
April 4th is the start date of the regular season and the event will have Heavyweights and Women’s Flyweight featured. Former PFL Heavyweight Champion Ante Delija will enter the season aiming to claim gold once more. Coming from Bellator, Valentin Moldavsky will be stepping into the PFL Regular season for the very first time. In Women’s Flyweight, one of the hottest talents in female MMA Dakota Ditcheva looks to build on her successful 2023 PFL Europe Tournament win, this time on a global scale. Her competition will be the likes of Bellator Champion and former UFC veteran Liz Carmouche.
The Las Vegas event is due to feature the Light Heavyweight Kings, 2023 PFL Champion Impa Kasanganay, PFL Europe Champion Jakob Nedoh, and former Bellator Champion Phil Davis. Alongside the 205lb division the Lightweight division will be on display, Bellator icon Patricio Pitbull will feature in addition to last year’s tournament finalist Clay Collard.
Finally, on April 19th Chicago hosts Welterweights and Featherweights. Undefeated Russians Magomed Umalatov and Timur Khizriev will feature in their respective divisions with champions like Andrey Koreshkov and Peruvian PFL champion Jesus Pinedo. The latter shocked the world by winning the tournament last year.
With the merger of both organizations, the talent pool and divisions of PFL have grown exponentially and they will now attempt to compete with the premier organization the UFC. However, an event the night before UFC 300 in Las Vegas is an incredibly brave move.
CEO Peter Murray claimed, “This promises to be the biggest regular season in history, with the PFL heading to 10 top markets around the country and distribution to 160 countries around the world.”
Quotes via ESPN
What do you think of the regular season schedule? What matchups are you looking forward to seeing?
Featured Image Credit to PFLMMA.com
