Renan Ferreira Blasts Ryan Bader in ‘PFL vs. Bellator Champs’ Headliner

Renan Ferreira entered the cage Saturday night with Professional Fighters League’s honor riding on his shoulders. His response: No “Problema.”

By the time the main event of PFL “PFL vs. Bellator Champs” rolled around on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, PFL’s representatives were down 0-5 against their Bellator MMA counterparts. Ferreira represented PFL’s last chance to pick up a win over the promotion it acquired in a headline-making sale late last year, and standing in his way was Ryan Bader, a former two-division Bellator champ who had looked largely dominant in going undefeated at heavyweight. None of that mattered once referee Kerry Hatley motioned the two men into action, however. The 6-foot-8 “Problema” caught Bader on the way in with a crushing left hand that dropped him. Ferreira followed up with a salvo of massive ground strikes, some of which may have strayed to the back of Bader’s head, but once Hatley jumped in for the stoppage at just 21 seconds, there was no talk of replay or review. The quick and brutal win brought Ferreira’s record to 13-3 with three no contests, while the 40-year-old Bader fell to 31-8 with one no contest.

The co-main event saw Bellator middleweight champ Johnny Eblen (15-0) eke out a narrow win over PFL light heavyweight tournament winner Impa Kasanganay (15-4) in a closely contested 185-pound affair. Eblen got the better of a competitive Round 1 with a combination of takedowns, sporadic but effective ground strikes, and pressure that kept Kasanganay from being able to mount much offense of his own. That changed in a flash in Round 2, however, as “Tshilobo” rocked Eblen with punches, fought off desperation takedown attempts, and poured on the punishment. Things looked to be headed toward a stoppage for Kasanganay, or at least a 10-8 round, but Eblen recovered, finally secured a takedown and got off enough offense before the bell to win back a measure of momentum, though it was still a clear Kasanganay round. With both men clearly fatigued going into the final round, and the outcome still very much in the balance, neither champ was able to truly take over until late, when Eblen secured a takedown, moved to back mount, locked up a body triangle and punched away until the final bell. The judges were divided, with two seeing the fight 29-28 in favor of Eblen, while the other scored it for Kasanganay by the same tally.

In a battle of welterweight standouts—though it took place at a 182-pound catchweight—Bellator champ Jason Jackson (18-4) outclassed two-time PFL tournament winner Ray Cooper III (25-10-1) from the get-go, keeping the shorter man on the outside and brutalizing him with calf kicks en route to a second-round stoppage. Jackson was clearly aware of the knockout power of “Bradda Boy,” but Cooper was unable to navigate the disparity in reach, and his failure to check or counter Jackson’s steady stream of low kicks spelled trouble quickly. By the midpoint of the first round, Cooper was visibly favoring his left leg, and he found himself in serious peril at the end of the round, when Jackson threw a flurry of blows from top position, similar to those with which Aaron Pico had gotten a buzzer-beating TKO earlier in the evening. Cooper made it to the bell, but it was only a momentary reprieve: Jackson went right back to work on the calf in Round 2, Cooper’s left leg gave out and “The Ass-Kicking Machine” swarmed with punches for the TKO finish at the 23-second mark. Jackson’s win, his eighth in a row, left him in possession of a shiny gold belt and the status of one of PFL’s top fighters; Cooper’s third straight loss left him looking increasingly like a fighter whose best days are behind him.

Bellator light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov (17-2-1, 1 NC) made a successful foray into heavyweight, throttling Bruno Cappelozza (15-7, 1 NC) unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their main card feature. It was not without intrigue, however, as Cappelozza, despite being the lighter man in the cage, pushed the Russian around a bit and more than held his own in clinch exchanges. After a back-and-forth first round, Cappelozza was off to an excellent start in Round 2, hurting Nemkov with a high kick and a clean short right hand, when Nemkov changed levels for an easy takedown. From there, the Fedor Emelianenko disciple applied an arm-triangle, moved to side control and squeezed until the Brazilian went limp. Referee Kerry Hatley moved in to rescue the snoozing Cappelozza at 2:13, marking a 13th straight win (12 wins, one no contest) for Nemkov since his last loss. The victory certified Nemkov as a top contender in his new promotion, whether he elects to compete at heavyweight, light heavyweight or both.

In a battle of ex-UFC contenders and longtime former teammates, Yoel Romero (16-7) outlasted Thiago Santos (22-12). The fight was contested completely on the feet and, true to both men’s recent tendencies, played out mostly as a slow-paced exchange of kicks at range. What appeared to be a fairly even matchup proved less so, however, as Santos’ oft-injured knees began to betray him. As the fight wore on, Santos became less and less capable of returning fire, and by the end of the fight was having trouble moving laterally. There was not much suspense during the fight, nor afterward, as the judges rendered a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in favor of the Cuban. The win put the 46-year-old “Soldier of God” back in the win column after his unsuccessful title bid last summer, while Santos’ winless streak was extended to four straight and seven of his last eight.

In the main card opener, A.J. McKee (22-1) short-circuited any potential clash of dazzling strikers, grounding Clay Collard (24-12-1) with ease and tapping him out in the first round. Much of the talk ahead of their bout had centered on which man was the better standup fighter, with PFL representative and former bare-knuckle boxing standout Collard insisting it would prove to be him. Once the fight began, however, McKee took Collard down with a fast single-leg, and from there, the rout was on. McKee threatened with a tight guillotine choke, then transitioned to a triangle choke and finally an armbar, which elicited the tap from Collard at 70 seconds of Round 1. McKee’s fourth win in a row since moving up to 155 pounds certified him as an immediate person of interest in his new promotion—even more so than before—while Collard suffered his second consecutive loss.

Prelims: Pico Buries Short-Notice Foe Corrales

Aaron Pico (13-4) salvaged a win out of a disastrous fight week and exacted a measure of revenge on a former tormentor, pounding out Henry Corrales (21-8) in the first round of their lightweight clash. Pico, who had been scheduled to face Gabriel Alves Braga in a featherweight affair, found himself in Riyadh without a dance partner when Braga was drafted to face Patricio Freire, then fell off the card entirely. Pico briefly lobbied for a shot at Freire but ended up taking on Corrales in an ultra-short-notice lightweight bout. The two had fought previously, with Corrales knocking Pico out in their first meeting at Bellator 214 five years ago. This time, Pico was all over “OK” from the jump, dragging him to the ground on a second-effort takedown and swarming all over him. Corrales got back up, but Pico got the better of the action on the feet as well, landing some hard body kicks before taking him down again. Pico was well on his way to winning a one-sided round, but decided to step on the gas at the 10-second clapper, pouring on the punishment and spurring referee Bryan Miner into action for the TKO stoppage at 4 minutes, 53 seconds. The win, Pico’s third in a row, left him 9-1 in his last 10 since dropping back-to-back fights to Corrales and Adam Borics in 2019. The loss was Corrales’ second in a row, representing his first such streak in over four years.

Before that, Biaggio Ali Walsh (1-0) made a successful professional debut, taking three dominant rounds from Emmanuel Palacio (1-1) in their lightweight feature. It may not have featured much of the fireworks promised by Walsh’s torrid closing run as an amateur, but the grandson of Muhammad Ali leveraged his clear advantages in size, strength and technique to pitch a near no-hitter against the Argentinean striker. The bout was characterized by two elements: Palacio’s complete inability to stop Walsh’s takedowns, and Walsh’s failure to truly capitalize on that inability. Referee Kerry Hatley stood the two up several times for inactivity, only to have Walsh effortlessly dump Palacio to the canvas again seconds later. While the result may not have been aesthetically pleasing, it was also a showcase in that Walsh appeared to win every minute of the bout. That was borne out by the judges, who scored the fight for Walsh via unanimous 30-27 scores.

Meanwhile, Claressa Shields (2-1) continued her gradual matriculation as a mixed martial artist with a narrow win over Kelsey De Santis (1-3). In a bout that was pushed from 155 to 165 pounds, Shields was forced to show she had made strides in the ground game, as De Santis took her down, moved to mount and worked for an armbar. Shields survived and escaped, however, and De Santis looked to be the more tired fighter by the end of the round. That was borne out in Round 2, as Shields had her best round, catching De Santis with clean punch combinations and several hard right crosses, while De Santis struggled to bring the fight to the floor. Shields clearly had the momentum going into the final frame, but De Santis managed to make things interesting, securing a takedown late in the round and mounting the former boxing champ. From there, however, De Santis was too tired to do much damage, and the round could easily have been scored for either woman. The official judges saw it that way, scoring the fight for Shields by split scorecards of 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29.

In other action, Abdullah Al-Qahtani (8-1) left Edukondal Rao (5-2) in the dust, teeing off on his increasingly exhausted foe on the way to a third-round TKO win in their featherweight prelim showcase. For about three minutes, local favorite Al-Qahtani and India’s Rao appeared to be on their way to a “Fight of the Night”-worthy scrap, as each man hurt the other in a series of wild exchanges on the feet and on the ground. However, late in the first round Rao became visibly fatigued, while Al-Qahtani picked up momentum, hoisting Rao and slamming him to the canvas, eliciting a roar from the crowd. The second round continued the trend, as Al-Qahtani threatened to take over completely, with Rao rallying periodically with just enough offense to stave off a complete rout. Referee Bryan Miner called in the cageside physician before allowing Rao to come out for the final frame. The doctor acquiesced, but the finish was not long in coming. With Rao staggering around, scarcely defending himself as Al-Qahtani poured on the punches, punctuated by a final head kick, Miner stepped in for the mercy stoppage at 23 seconds of Round 3.

In the opening bout, a 129-pound amateur affair, Saudi prospect Malik Basahel edged out Vinicius Pereira across three hard-fought rounds. The bout, which was forced up to a catchweight when Pereira missed the flyweight limit, played out as an energetic wrestler vs. grappler affair. Basahel grounded Pereira with apparent ease in each round, but nonetheless found himself in trouble in the middle frame when the Brazilian swept him, took back mount and spent much of the round working for chokes. The bulk of the fight saw Basahel in control, however, and the judges awarded him the victory by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).