Towering Brazilian heavyweight Renan “La Problema” Ferreira lived up to his moniker with a blistering 21-second finish to book himself a huge clash with Francis Ngannou later this year.
Ferreira steamrolled through Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader inside the opening 30 seconds of their main event bout at the PFL Champs vs. Bellator Champs event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to score the biggest win of the night, and send a clear message to Ngannou in the process.
PFL takes home the Main Event win!#PFLvsBellator pic.twitter.com/LseKR2WOCu
— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 24, 2024
“I am the real problem out here,” Ferreira told Dan Hardy after his victory.
“I’m the record breaker, I’m the record setter. Francis! Where are you at? I’m waiting for you. Let’s go. Let’s do this!”
Ferreira’s victory over Bader was the night’s lone success inside the SmartCage for PFL fighters on the main card, as Bellator fighters dominated the night to win five of the six promotion-versus-promotion matchups.
PFL
The main card opened up with a quickfire submission from former Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee, who made short work of PFL lightweight contender Clay Collard. Then Yoel Romero chalked up a second win for Bellator as he defeated Thiago Santos on the scorecards in their light heavyweight matchup.
Former Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov then delivered a hugely impressive display on his heavyweight debut to submit former PFL heavyweight champ Bruno Cappelozza and immediately put himself in the championship picture. That was followed by Bellator welterweight champ Jason Jackson, who chopped down former PFL welterweight king Ray Cooper III with leg kicks and finished him off with ground strikes to claim a dominant second-round TKO victory.
PFL
The night then moved to the co-main event, where Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen had to dig deep to earn a split decision victory over PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay in their 185-pound clash.
After a closely contested opening round, Kasanganay made the breakthrough in the second when he dropped Eblen with a flurry of punches, then swarmed the Bellator man in search of a finish.
Eblen looked in big trouble as he shipped some big shots, but he turned to his wrestling to shut down Kasanganay’s attack and give himself priceless time to recover. By the end of the round, it was Eblen on top as he looked to punish Kasanganay in the closing stages.
It set up a potential deciding round in Round 3, and Eblen bossed the action to clearly win the final frame and edge the split-decision verdict on the scorecards.
The PFL needed a compelling story for Ngannou's first MMA opponent in the SmartCage. Thanks to that performance from Renan Ferreira, they now have one. #PFLvsBellator
— Simon Head (@simonheadsport) February 24, 2024
It meant that Bellator stood at 5-0 heading into the final fight, but the PFL’s biggest heavyweight delivered a huge performance to ensure that the PFL bosses had the best possible storyline for Ngannou’s first bout inside the PFL SmartCage.
Against Ferreira, “The Predator” will be shorter, and possibly lighter, than his rival. And, following the Brazilian’s quickfire finish of Bader, “La Problema’s” knockout power is now very much part of the storyline, too.
PFL
PFL Champs vs. Bellator Champs: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Renan Ferreira def. Ryan Bader via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:21
- Johnny Eblen def. Impa Kasanganay via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jason Jackson def. Ray Cooper III via TKO (leg kick and punches) – Round 2,
- Vadim Nemkov def. Bruno Cappelozza via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:13
- Yoel Romero def. Thiago Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- AJ McKee def. Clay Collard via submission (triangle armbar) – Round 1, 1:10
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Aaron Pico def. Henry Corrales via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:53
- Biaggio Ali Walsh def. Emmanuel Palacio via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Claressa Shields def. Kelsey DeSantis via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Abdullah Al-Qahtani def. Edukondala Rao via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:23
- Malik Basahel def. Vinicius Pereira via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
