- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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Fights!
note the early saudi start time
 B-League Round-Up
PFL vs Bellator: CHAMPS - Saturday, February 24, 2024
Main Card - 3:00 PM ET, PPV
Heavyweight - Ryan “Darth” Bader vs Renan “Problem” Ferreira
We’ve seen all two ways this fight could play out from both guys. For Bader, look at him shooting the most terrified double leg of all time against Rumble Johnson and get punched to oblivion. For Ferreira, literally any time someone has tried to take him down, it has been successful. This is truly a fight to determine which man’s shortcomings will come shorter harder.
I will say I think a Bader win is more likely to be attrition-based, while Ferreira has the power to one-tap guys much bigger than the former 205 lb champ. That being said, I see Bader grinding away at Ferreira and getting a TKO.
Middleweight - Johnny “Pressure” Eblen vs “Tshilobo” Impa Kasanganay
Last year, Kasanganay ran up a 5-0 record against the motley assortment of end pieces and congealed trimmings that is PFL’s Light Heavyweight division. He’s a solid puncher and grappler. Perfectly acceptable fightin’ from ol Impa.
Eblen’s 10-0 Bellator record doesn’t really get impressive until 2022, when he beat John Salter in a number one contender bout. Then he’s got the win over Mousasi for the belt, and defenses against Anatoly Tokov and Fabian Edwards. Also perfectly acceptable.
Eblen’s probably a more well-rounded fighter, but Kasanganay has Big Guy power, which can definitely change things quickly. I’ll still take Eblen to take this one.
Featherweight - Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs Gabriel Alves Braga
This is the first Featherweight bout Patricio has had since the end of 2022. This is also the first time he’s lost two in a row in his whole 20-year career.
Braga lost in the PFL championship finals, but since Jesus Pinedo got hurt, he’s stepping in to face Pitbull.
Short notice against one of the best non-UFC featherweights is a tough ask, it’s even tougher when your best wins are split decisions against Jesus Pinedo and Chris Wade. On the other hand, Pitbull is 36, and I’m not trying to compare his situation as one to one with Alex Volkanovski, nor would I ever insinuate that Gabriel Alves Braga is a comparable analogue to Ilia Topuria, but he’s an older featherweight, and older small guys don’t fare super great. All that being said, I’ve got Pitbull winning this one.
182 lb Catchweight - Jason “The rear end-Kicking Machine” Jackson vs “Bradda Boy” Ray Cooper III
Jackson is currently riding a 7-fight win streak, with one finish in that run. So while he is a machine that kicks rear end, he doesn’t kick it very efficiently.
Cooper most recently missed weight for a 186 lb catchweight fight with Derek Brunson, losing a decision. Will he make weight for this bout? He doesn’t have a great track record for it!
Jackson will have about 6 inches of height and around 8 inches of reach on Cooper, so I better see some distance rear end kicking. Also, I realize Cooper is a former two time PFL champ, but this feels like a letdown compared to the originally intended bout of Jackson versus Magomed Magomedkerimov. I want my Magomeds!
Heavyweight - Bruno Cappelozza vs Vadim Nemkov
Cappelozza’s last official win was in 2022 after his 2023 bout with Matheus Scheffel was overturned to a no contest because Big Bruno failed a drug test. Nemkov hasn’t lost since 2016, back in Rizin. This is also his first fight above 205 lb since 2016, also in Rizin (The heavyweight bout came after his loss, at 205). How will Nemkov fare against a normally larger lad? How will Bruno fare against someone more skilled than the average heavyweight? I’m seeing Nemkov using his sambo skills to grapple and groundedly pound Cappelozza all throughout the fight.
Light Heavyweight - Thiago “Marreta” Santos vs Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero
Thiago Santos has not won consecutive fights since his 2018 - 2019 run where he rattled off four wins in a row, culminating in a title fight against Jon Jones. Following the loss to Jones and getting all of his knee ligaments replaced, Santos has gone 1-4 with a no contest thrown in for good measure, overturning what would have been his fifth loss to Rob Wilkinson, but Rob’s hormone levels were too high. He also failed a drug test himself, putting the kibosh on a scheduled fight with Mohammed Fakhreddine.
Yoel Romero is fresh off a decision loss to Vadim Nemkov in a Belaltor title bout. He earned that by beating Eazy Polizzi and the shambling corpse of Melvin Manhoef. Yoel Romero is also 76 years old.
This fight would have been awesome like ten years ago. It would have been two guys who look like action figures smashing into each other. Now, it’s two old men who will tentatively poke and prod at each other, with very short, sporadic bursts of activity.
Lightweight - “Cassius” Clay Collard vs AJ “Mercenary” McKee
Oh heck! Ohhhh heck! This fight should be rad. Clay Collard is the human personification of volume punching, as he has never yet met a situation that cannot be improved or eradicated by a judicious dispersal of fists. Every button on Collard’s controller is Punch. Hell, he doesn’t walk, he feetpunches the ground in order to move.
AJ McKee is a fun grapple man who rebelled against his father Antonio’s lay and pray style by actively seeking submission finishes. McKee’s striking is fine, but his grappling is where his real advantage resides. That doesn’t mean I expect him to use that advantage, because fighters are very silly people.
Prelims - 12:00PM ET, ESPN+
Featherweight - Henry “OK” Corrales vs Aaron Pico
I’ve mellowed slightly on Aaron Pico. He’s 16 fights in and coming up on his eighth year of active competition, and I can finally admit he’s a solid fighter. He’s certainly not the godking phenom I was told he was by Scott Coker, but he’s pretty good. He’s probably going to beat Corrales. Also, this is just a Bellator vs Bellator fight, which is disappointing.
Lightweight - Biaggio Ali Walsh vs Emmanuel Palacio
Walsh should win this because PFL really wants him to, so I imagine Palacio is A Guy they found in a drainage ditch last weekend. However, as Aaron Pico’s pro debut showed, sometimes the really funny thing happens instead. Never underestimate the ability for Punch Go Boop.
Lightweight - Claressa Shields vs Kelsey DeSantis
Diggin’ thru the scrap heap, lookin for a can. Hoping she won’t wrestle (If she knows what’s good for her). Also, I realize this card is built heavily around the alleged Bellator vs PFL super fights, but it still feels surprising that Claressa is so far down on the prelims.
Featherweight - Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs Edukondala Rao
Nah.
Flyweight (Amateur) - Malik Basahel vs Vinicius Pereira
I don’t think either of these guys is the grandson of a former boxing champion, so why should I care?
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Feb 24, 2024 18:07
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May 13, 2024 23:33
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- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
-
"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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DeSantis has never learned "throw punch"
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Feb 24, 2024 19:54
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- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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If this entire night is just the Bellator guys completely blowing out the PFL guys it'll be very funny.
Maybe we should have done PFL vs Rizin to make it fair
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Feb 24, 2024 21:20
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- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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That's one effective rear end kicking machine
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Feb 24, 2024 22:37
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- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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lol and lmao
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Feb 24, 2024 23:27
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- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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this has been one of the better espn+ cards of the year
cuz its not at the apex
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Feb 25, 2024 03:02
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 13, 2024 23:33
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- LobsterMobster
- Oct 29, 2009
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"I was being quiet and trying to be a good boy but he dialed the right combination to open the throw-down vault and it was on."
"Walter Foxx is ten times brighter than your bulb at the bottom of the tree merry xmas"
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RAONI RAONI RAONI
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Feb 25, 2024 03:56
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Feb 24, 2024 18:07
