Ferreira calls out Ngannou after victory over Bader in Saudi Arabia
Professional Fighters League heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira demolished Bellator rival Ryan Bader and then issued a challenge to the watching Francis Ngannou.
Saturday’s historic clash between Mixed Martial Arts promotions PFL and Bellator staged at the Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, also saw wins for boxing great Claressa Shields and for Biaggio Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali.
In the heavyweight showpiece, Ferreira took just 21 seconds to dispatch Bader. The Brazilian landed a powerful right hand on the Bellator champion in the first exchange to send the American to the canvas before hammering down heavy fists to end the fight.
The victory certainly caught the attention of Ngannou, who was sitting cageside, and increased the prospect of Ferreira defending his title against the Cameroonian later in the year.
“I am the real problem out here,” Ferreira said. “I am the record breaker. I am the record setter. Francis, where you at? I’m waiting for you. Let’s go, let’s do this.”
Ali Walsh made his pro MMA debut in the preliminaries and came through with a unanimous points victory over Emmanuel Palacios by winning all three rounds of the lightweight fight to earn a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 decision.
Competing in her third MMA bout, Shields earned a split-decision victory over Kelsey DeSantis in their catchweight bout, edging the contest 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
It was a historic occasion as the first professional women’s MMA bout to be staged in Saudi Arabia.
In the first bout of the evening, an amateur flyweight contest, Saudi Arabia’s Malik Basahel claimed a unanimous points victory over Brazilian Vinicius Pereira. “The Storm” earned the decision on all three judges’ scorecards 30-27, 29-28, 30-27.
Saudi lightweight Abdullah Al Qahtani thrilled the home crowd with a third-round TKO win over India’s Edukondala Rao.
“The Ripper” got the stoppage with just over 20 seconds left in the fight.
In the first fight of the main event, AJ McKee delivered a swift victory over Clay Collard in their lightweight bout with an armbar submission just 1:10 into the first round.
Heavyweight Vadim Nemkov proved why he is top of the Bellator pound-forpound rankings by defeating Bruno Cappelozza by second-round submission in a battle of former champions.
Bellator welterweight king Jason Jackson obliterated Ray Cooper III with a second-round stoppage and middleweight Johnny Eblen survived a scare against Impa Kasanganay to earn a split-decision victory.