On February 24, Saudi Arabia held its inaugural international pro MMA event in Riyadh, adding to the country’s program of mega boxing shows and furthering its reputation as the new Las Vegas for combat sports.
Promoter, Professional Fighters League (PFL), used its first event in Saudi following the $100 million investment from the nation’s Public Investment Fund to showcase seminal title matches, historic firsts for the sport, and significant announcements, including the launch of its regional league, PFL MENA.
Having recently acquired US promoter Bellator, PFL used the event “PFL vs Bellator Champs: Seize the Throne” to unify its titles with championship clashes in the heavyweight and middleweight divisions. The heavyweight headliner saw PFL’s Renan Ferreira beat Bellator’s Ryan Bader with a stunning 21-second victory via technical knock-out to face Francis Ngannou next.
The announcement came as Ngannou prepares for his boxing showdown against Anthony Joshua on Friday (March 8), also in Riyadh. The action played out at the city’s open-air Kingdom Arena, following a venue switch to utilize the facilities built for boxing’s recently postponed Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight.
But it was the other end of the card that excited home fans most as two Saudi fighters opened the night: Amateur medallist Mishal Basahel secured a win against Brazilian Vinicius Pereira by decision in the sole amateur bout. He was followed by Abdullah Al-Qahtani, a veteran of Bahraini promotion BRAVE CF, competing on home soil for the first time to seize a TKO win in a lethal performance that culminated in a devasting body kick.
