Tag: Timur Khizriev

Timur Khizriev def. Brendan Loughnane at 2024 PFL Championship: Best photos

Check out these photos from Timur Khizriev vs. Brendan Loughnane at 2024 PFL Championship, a featherweight title bout for $1 million.

Check out these photos from [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag]’s unanimous decision victory over Brendan Loughnane to win $1 million at 2024 PFL Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photos by Jose Peñuela, PFL MMA)

 

2024 PFL Championship: Timur Khizriev dominates Brendan Loughnane to win featherweight title

Timur Khizriev spoiled Brendan Loughnane’s fourth attempt at winning gold at the 2024 PFL Championship.

[autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag] spoiled [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag]’s fourth attempt at winning PFL gold.

Khizriev defeated Loughnane in a unanimous decision in the main event of 2024 PFL Championship this Friday at King Saudi University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was almost a flawless performance, as Khizriev (18-0) won 50-45 and two 49-46 scorecards, beating Loughnane (30-6) with no controversy. The undefeated Dagestani wins the 2024 PFL featherweight title and the $1 million prize.

Khizriev pretty much dominated the action from the start to finish. He pressed Loughnane in relentless fashion while picking him apart with his boxing. As the rounds went on, Khizriev battered and bloodied Loughnane’s face. He also began using his wrestling more, and getting ahead even farther in the fight.

With this result, Khizriev maintained his undefeated record. This was the first time Khizriev participated in a PFL tournament. Prior to his 2024 participation, Khizriev competed under the Bellator banner, where he went 3-0. The 29-year-old adds Loughnane to the list of notable fighters he’s beat such as Enrique Barzola, Brett Johns, and Daniel Weichel.

For Loughnane, this was his 15th fight under the PFL banner and fourth season he’s competed in, as he fought in the 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 featherweight tournaments. Out of all those seasons, the Englishman was able to crown himself champion in 2022. Loughnane made his first big waves in the MMA world after defeating Bill Algeo in a solid showing on Dana White Contender Series in 2019, yet, to many’s surprise, not getting a UFC contract while getting criticized by UFC CEO Dana White.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.

Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev prediction, pick, start time for 2024 PFL Championship

Brendan Loughnane would love a second $1 million PFL title, but unbeaten Timur Khizriev stands in his way.

[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] and [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag] meet Saturday for the featherweight $1 million title at the 2024 PFL Championship. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup.

Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev2024 PFL Championship preview

Brendan Loughnane

Brendan Loughnane (30-5) is no stranger to the PFL final. He got an oversized $1 million cardboard check (plus the actual money, we’d presume) in 2022 when he knocked out Bubba Jenkins. He missed the playoffs in 2023, but was back with a vengeance in the regular season this year with knockouts of Pedro Carvalho and Justin Gonzales. He outworked Kai Kamaka III to reach the final.

PFL 9: Washington DC Playoffs at the The Anthem in Washington D.C., Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Cooper Neill / PFL)

Timur Khizriev (17-0) has yet to taste defeat in his pro career, and largely speaking, opponents know what they’re going to get. The 29-year-old Russian wrestling standout has 75 percent of his wins by decision, including all six of his bouts for Bellator and the PFL. This year, he grinded out Brett Johns, Enrique Barzola and Gabriel Braga to reach the final.

Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev 2024 PFL Championship odds

2024 PFL Championships faceoff off between Brendan Loughnane vs Timur Khizriev during the ceremonial weigh-ins at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (Matt Ferris / PFL)

Khizriev is a fairly prohibitive favorite around 3-1 – though that’s the lowest betting line for him since he came onto the Bellator scene in 2022.

Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev 2024 PFL Championship expert pick, prediction

There is a pocket of support from our staff members for former winner Loughnane with three upset picks.

Brendan Loughnane vs. Timur Khizriev 2024 PFL Championship start time, how to watch

As the main card opener, Loughnane and Khizriev are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 5 p.m. ET. The fight will stream on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.

Brendan Loughnane knows what to expect vs. Timur Khizriev in PFL title fight

Brendan Loughnane is confident his game plan will prevail at the 2024 PFL Championship.

[autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] is confident his game plan will prevail against [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag].

Loughnane (30-5) takes on Khizriev (17-0) on Nov. 29 in the 2024 PFL Championship main event at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event streams on ESPN+.

Loughnane is no stranger to facing accomplished grapplers. He beat Chris Wade and NCAA Division 1 wrestler Bubba Jenkins back to back to win the 2022 PFL featherweight championship.

“Listen, he’s going to try to take me down,” Loughnane told MMA Junkie Radio. “We’re not beating around the bush here. You’ve got a Dagestani vs. an English striker. We all know what’s going to happen. Whoever can implement it will be the PFL world champion in 2024.

“It ain’t no different to 2022. Bubba Jenkins coming in, wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. Guess how many takedowns he got fellas? Zero. The fight before that, Chris Wade, another wrestler, guess how many takedowns he got? Zero. Don’t be surprised if this guy does not take me down.”

Loughnane looks forward to the challenge of becoming the first to beat Khizriev but thinks he’s untested. He said their strengths of schedule have been vastly different.

“I think he’s the one stepping up to that level,” Loughnane said of Khizriev. “If you look at our last 10 opponents, my level’s are way higher than his last 10 opponents. So, we don’t know how good he actually is yet, but we’ll find out.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2024 PFL Championship.

Timur Khizriev def. Enrique Barzola at 2024 PFL 6: Best photos

Check out these photos from Timur Khizriev vs. Enrique Barzola at 2024 PFL 6 in South Dakota.

Check out these photos from [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag]’s victory over Enrique Barzola at 2024 PFL 6, which took place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. (Photos by Cooper Neill, PFL)

 

 

Timur Khizriev unhappy with 2024 PFL 3 win, thinks Ramadan affected his performance

Despite defeating veteran Brett Johns, Timur Khizriev is disappointed by his performance at Friday’s 2024 PFL 3.

CHICAGO – [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag] got the win and 3 points in the opening round of the 2024 PFL featherweight season, but he’s convinced there was room for much more.

Friday, Khizriev (15-0) defeated veteran Brett Johns in a unanimous decison on the preliminary card of PFL 2024, Week 3 at Wintrust Arena. Although it was a clean victory, Khizriev doesn’t think he performed at his best against Johns (20-4), and he has an idea as to why that happened.

“To be honest, I’m not fully happy with my performance,” Khizriev said in Russian through a translator in his post-fight interview. “Obviously, a win is a win, but I just feel like I wasn’t fully there. My normal energy wasn’t present, and I think it was partly because of Ramadan. I was fasting, and the last day was specially hard for me. Normally, I don’t have a problem with weight cutting and this time I had a little trouble, so I don’t think I was fully recovered.

“But again, we’re moving on, and hopefully the next fight will be more interesting.”

Johns chose a heavy grappling approach, something that didn’t surprise Khizriev. Khizriev just thought he would’ve been more dangerous on the ground when it came to grappling with Johns, which leaves him with a sour taste despite keeping his unbeaten record and moving on with three points to the final season bout.

“No, I was not surprised with him wrestling,” Khizriev said. “As a matter of fact, I felt that was the only chance he actually had. With striking, I think he realized he didn’t have a chance with me.

“I’m just not really happy with the way I was on the ground today, and I know he has wrestling. I know he has fought good guys like (Aljamain) Streling and you know, I was expecting that. But again, it wasn’t the best performance, but we’ll get another chance.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 3.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 11-17)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Sept. 11-17.

Timur Khizriev: Dagestan-Dublin rivalry doesn’t exist outside Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor was volatile, but Timur Khizriev said the hate stopped with them.

CHICAGO – [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag] will fight an Irishman Friday at Bellator 297, but there’s nothing but respect.

Though one of the most volatile rivalries in MMA history, [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], was between a Dagestani and Irishman, Khizriev (12-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) thinks the bad feelings are limited to those individuals.

“To be honest, you’ve caught me off guard. I hadn’t even thought of such a thing that Dagestan vs. Ireland. I think it’s just a coincidence. Obviously with Conor and Khabib, those are big names. For me, it doesn’t really matter. I know they have a lot of great fighters in Ireland, but I don’t see it as a rivalry necessarily.”

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Khizriev, 27, takes on former UFC fighter [autotag]Richie Smullen[/autotag] (10-2-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) in a preliminary featherweight bout at Winstar Arena. It’s all respect.

“I have nothing against this opponent,” Khizriev said. “I’ve checked him. He’s pretty good. I pretty much prepare myself every time the same way, no matter who the opponent is. Man, I just believe God’s will. Whatever is going to be is going to be.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297’s Richie Smullen ready to climb featherweight rankings with win over Timur Khizriev

Richie Smullen, who’s a huge underdog, is excited by the opportunity in front of him at Bellator 297.

CHICAGO – [autotag]Richie Smullen[/autotag] is excited by the opportunity to start climbing the Bellator featherweight rankings.

Smullen (10-2-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) takes on No. 8 featherweight [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in Friday’s Bellator 297 event at Wintrust Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

The SBG Ireland fighter has won his past five fights in a row and sees a win over Khizriev catapulting him into the rankings.

“I can’t wait,” Smullen told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “It’s time that I climb the ranks now. I’ve got a ranked opponent, so it’s time to beat this guy and go from there, beat the next guy.”

Smullen is not afraid of the ground game of Dagestan-born Khizriev. In fact, he plans on taking the fight to the mat himself.

“I’ll be taking him down,” Smullen said. “I’m taking him down. I’m on top of him, teach him what real grappling is then. … Him on his back, me on top elbowing his face in.”

According to Bet MGM, Smullen is a massive +650 underdog against undefeated Khizriev, who is a -1000 favorite. But Smullen is a little perplexed by the wide odds.

“It doesn’t make a difference,” Smullen said. “Underdog or not, I’m hard to deal with. So I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know why I’m the underdog. We have the same amount of fights. I fought high-level opponents, as well. So, that’s just someone’s opinion underdog or not. I don’t give a f*ck about people’s opinions.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (April 10-16)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from April 10-16