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Check out these photos from Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Brent Primus at 2024 PFL Championship, a lightweight title bout with a $1 million prize.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag]’s knockout victory over Brent Primus to win $1 million at 2024 PFL Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photos by Jose Peñuela, PFL MMA)
At 2024 PFL Championship, Gadzhi Rabadanov crushed Brent Primus with a brilliantly violent combination to earn gold.
The 2024 PFL lightweight championship was claimed in violent fashion Friday.
Khabib Nurmagomedov teammate [autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag] crushed former Bellator lightweight champion [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] with a brilliant and violent combination to win gold (and $1 million) at 2:31 of Round 3.
2024 PFL World Championship took place at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rabadanov (24-4-2) dropped Primus (15-4) twice prior to the finishing sequence. He seemed a step ahead in most of the exchanges, faster and with more power.
FACE FIRST KO! #andNOW 2024 PFL Lightweight World Champion Gadzhi Rabadanov!!#PFLWorldChampionship
LIVE NOW ON ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/g6Ddy1VpMq— PFL (@PFLMMA) November 29, 2024
The victory extended his winning streak to 10. A Bellator import, Rabadanov beat Solomon Renfro, Elvin Espinosa, and Michael Dufort to punch his ticket into Friday’s championship.
Primus’ loss snaps a three-fight winning streak. Also a Bellator import, Primus defeated Bruno Miranda, Renfro, and Clay Collard in succession to solidify his title shot.
Up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL Championship results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.
Can a former Bellator champ shut down the main card’s biggest $1 million favorite?
[autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] and [autotag]Gadzhi Rabadanov[/autotag] meet Saturday for the lightweight $1 million title at the 2024 PFL Championship. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup.
Fans have seen a lot more of former Bellator champion Brent Primus (15-3) in recent years, and an upset win would make him a titleholder in two major promotions. After he dropped the Bellator belt in his first attempted title defense in 2018, it’s been up and down – but lately up since he arrived at the PFL. He submitted Bruno Miranda and Solomon Renfro, then outworked Clay Collard in the semifinals three months ago.
Gadzhi Rabadanov (23-4-2) lost the Eagle FC lightweight title in 2020, but hasn’t looked back. He has nine straight wins, including five for Bellator and three in this current PFL season. Rabadanov is a grinder. Although he knocked out Michael Dufort in the semifinals, seven of his previous eight wins were decisions.
Rabadanov is the biggest favorite on the main card at as much as 6-1. The comeback on Primus is around +400.
Our staff members had Rabadanov as their only unanimous pick on the main card.
As the second fight on the main card, Primus and Rabadanov are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 2 p.m. ET. The fight will stream on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.
Check out these photos from Brent Primus vs. Solomon Renfro at 2024 PFL 5 in Salt Lake City.
Check out these photos from [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag]’ victory over Solomon Renfro at 2024 PFL 5, which took place at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)
Bellator OG Brent Primus showed during Thursday’s PFL event he’s still got it.
Former Bellator lightweight champion [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag], after all these years, still has what it takes to end fights inside the distance.
Thursday at 2024 PFL 5 in Salt Lake City, Primus (14-3) clinched a playoff spot when he submitted [autotag]Solomon Renfro[/autotag] (11-6) at 3:21 of Round 3. The finish concluded a back-and-forth contest during which both men had their moments.
Primus was stunned early in the fight. While he looked uncomfortable in the opening minutes, he found his stride as the fight went on. After a knockdown in Round 3, Primus was eventually able to work his way to a rear-naked choke, which he locked in with less than two minutes left.
Brent Primus is going to MIAMI! #PFLPlayoffs BOUND!#PFLRegularSeason LIVE NOW
🇺🇸 ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/g6cpLWa8py— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 21, 2024
Primus, 39, moves to 3-0 with one no contest in his most recent four outings. He also won his PFL debut by rear-naked choke in his previous outing when he submitted Bruno Miranda.
Renfro, 27, continues his string of close fights with unsuccessful results. He’s 1-3 in the PFL, with losses to Magomed Magomedkerimov, Gadzhi Rabadanov, and now Primus.
The up-to-the-minute 2024 PFL 5 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 5.
Find out how much weight all 32 fighters at Bellator 300 gained from the Friday morning official weigh-ins to Saturday night fights.
In California, fighters have their weights checked on the day of competition – not just when they have to hit their marks on the scale.
In 2017, the California State Athletic Commission put a plan in place to try to cut back on excessive weight cutting. Within those rules was a cap on how much a fighter could gain from the official weigh-ins to the fight.
If a fighter gained more than 10 percent back before the bout, the commission then could make a recommendation that he or she move to a higher weight class. If a fighter gained more than 15 percent, the commission had plans in place to potentially cancel fights.
At Bellator 300, which took place this past Saturday in San Diego, 14 of the 32 fighters on the card gained more than 10 percent of their weight back. Three of those 14 exceeded the 15 percent threshold. MMA Junkie obtained a list of fight-night weights Monday from the CSAC.
Check out the weight gains and percentages for all 32 fighters on the card at Pechanga Arena.
Check out all the facts and figures from Bellator 300, which saw Usman Nurmagomedov, Cris Cyborg and Liz Carmouche exit as champs.
The landmark Bellator 300 event took place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, and all three champions who entered the event left with the belts around their waists.
[autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (18-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) retained his lightweight belt in the main event and advanced to the grand prix final, [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag]’s (27-2 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) continued her dominant legacy to retain women’s featherweight gold in the co-headliner, and women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag]’s (20-7 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) scored a stoppage in the main card opener.
For more on the numbers to come out of the event, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 300.
Cris Cyborg led the list of Bellator 300 fighters who earned six figures.
SAN DIEGO – Five of the six Bellator 300 main-card participants earned a disclosed payout of $150,000, with [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] earning twice that amount.
California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster released a full list of fighter purses Saturday to MMA Junkie. The amounts reflect the disclosed payouts only and do not include any off-contract bonuses, sponsor payments or discretionary bonuses.
Lightweight champion [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag], [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag], [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag], flyweight champ [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag], and [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] each took home $150,000, while women’s featherweight champ Cyborg earned $300,000. All six fighters earned a flat amount as opposed to being paid show money and win money.
Scroll below to see what the 32 fighters to compete at Bellator 300 were paid – disclosed amounts only.
It wasn’t the most pleasing to the eye, but it was still a dominant performance from Usman Nurmagomedov at Bellator 300.
SAN DIEGO – It wasn’t the most pleasing performance of Bellator lightweight champion [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag]’s career, but it still looked effortless.
And it was still a win.
Nurmagomedov won a five-round unanimous decision against former champ [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] on Saturday night at Bellator 300 from Pechanga Arena. The victory means Nurmagomedov remains undefeated and advances to the final of the $1 million lightweight grand prix.
Nurmagomedov will meet the winner of next month’s Bellator 301 fight between Patricky Freire and Alexander Shabliy.
A nasty elbow from @Usmannmgdv!#Bellator300 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/xtikX4BioN
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) October 8, 2023
Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) was simply better than Primus (12-4 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) all around for 25 minutes, both in the standup and on the mat. Primus did his best to mount attacks throughout the fight, but Nurmagomedov was too quick and evaded damage. All the while, Nurmagomedov was stiff with his punches, which showed on Primus’ bloodied face by the end.
The crowd inside the arena booed at various points because of the lack of excitement – not that it should matter to Nurmagomedov, who keeps his title and now has a shot at winning $1 million.
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Complete Bellator 300 results:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.
Bellator 300 is down to two title fights in San Diego.
SAN DIEGO – Bellator 300 is down to two title fights.
Ahead of Bellator 300, which takes place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, women’s featherweight champion [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) and challenger [autotag]Cat Zingano[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) stepped on the scale at the official weigh-ins. So, too, did lightweight champion [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and challenger and ex-champ [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA).
They hit their marks, but former women’s bantamweight champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane missed weight, making her bout against friend and former teammate Liz Carmouche a non-title fight.
Check out the video from their trips to the scale above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.
