A heavyweight showdown between Vadim Nemkov and Ante Delija will function the co-main occasion of the inaugural card of PFL’s Champions Collection Dubai present on Jan. 25 within the United Arab Emirates, the corporate introduced Friday.
The lineup shall be topped by a beforehand introduced Bellator light-weight title combat between champion Usman Nurmagomedov and rising challenger Paul Hughes.
Nemkov (18-2, 1 no contest) is a former Bellator mild heavyweight king who now competes within the heaviest of the divisions. In his debut combat at heavyweight for PFL, Nemkov tapped out Bruno Cappelozza within the second spherical.
Unbeaten since 2016 and ranked No. 11 on the MMA Combating rankings, the 32-year-old Russian expertise reigned at 205 kilos with Bellator victories over Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Corey Anderson and Yoel Romero.
Delija (24-6) gained the 2022 season of the PFL at heavyweight to say a $1 million prize with 4 wins that yr, together with a first-round knockout over Renan Ferreira. The Croatian fighter solely competed twice ever since, defeating Maurice Greene through resolution in 2023, and shedding by knockout to Valentin Moldavsky earlier this yr.
