Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader Tops PFL vs. Bellator Card in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 24

The first Professional Fighters League vs. Bellator MMA card is official for Feb. 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The event will feature four champion vs. champion bouts: PFL 2023 heavyweight king Renan Ferreira vs. Bellator champ Ryan Bader at heavyweight; 2023 PFL light heavyweight champ Impa Kasanganay vs. Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen at 185 pounds; 2023 PFL featherweight champion Jesus Pinedo vs. Bellator featherweight title holder Patricio Freire and 2023 PFL welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson.

A handful of other matchups were also confirmed for the event: Bruno Cappelozza vs. Vadim Nemkov at light heavyweight; Clay Collard vs. A.J. McKee at lightweight; Thiago Santos vs. Yoel Romero at light heavyweight and Gabriel Braga vs. Aaron Pico at featherweight. Boxing champion Claressa Shields is also expected to fight on the card against Kelsey DeSantis, while Biaggio Ali Walsh will make his professional debut against Chris Morris.

The PFL confirmed the card in a release on Tuesday. The event will take place at Kingdom Arena and the seven-bout main card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT. Braga vs. Pico and the fights featuring Shields and Ali Walsh will air on the preliminary portion of the card beginning at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on ESPNNews and and ESPN+. A price point for the pay-per-view was not revealed.

According to a release, newly-designed Super Fight Championship belts will be at stake for the four champion vs. champion matchups. Additionally, elbows will be legal at this event, which is a departure from the usual PFL rule set.

“The Middle East is the fight capital of the world, and the Professional Fighters League is proud to bring the world’s best combat sports stars to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Riyadh Season to host the first-ever PFL pay-per-view Super Fight mega-global event,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said. “PFL Champions versus Bellator Champions is game changing for fighters and fans. I would like to thank HE Turki Alalshikh, the [General Entertainment Authority) and SRJ for this incredible opportunity to grow the sport of MMA in the The Kingdom and around the world.”