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Professional Fighters League and Bellator champs to face off in Riyadh in 1st PFL Super Fight

Riyadh Season has revealed that the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) will host an unprecedented pay-per-view mega event – PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on February 24. (Supplied)
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Updated 17 January 2024
Arab News
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Professional Fighters League and Bellator champs to face off in Riyadh in 1st PFL Super Fight

  • ‘Riyadh Season is putting on some of the biggest fight events … the PFL champions vs. Bellator champions certainly belongs in that category,’ says Saudi General Entertainment Authority chief
  • PFL CEO Peter Murray describes the pay-per-view event, at the Kingdom Arena on Deb. 24, as a game changer for fighters and fans
Updated 17 January 2024
Arab News

RIYADH: As part of Riyadh Season, the Professional Fighters League and Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority will host what is described as an unprecedented pay-per-view mega event, in which PFL champions will take on Bellator champions in a Super Fight at the capital’s Kingdom Arena on Feb. 24.
The card features four main fights in which current PFL and Bellator champions will face off. It also features two compelling match-ups of previous PFL and Bellator title challengers.
The first-ever PFL pay-per-view Super Fight event will feature a total of seven fights, beginning at 11 p.m. Saudi time, and be available to buy on ESPN+ PPV and DAZN.
GEA Chairman Turki Alalshikh said: “Riyadh Season is putting on some of the biggest fight events around and the PFL champions vs. Bellator champions certainly belongs in that category.
“We are delighted to be the host for this first-of-its-kind event, which will see some of the most exciting match-ups and break new ground in the world of combat sports.”
PFL CEO Peter Murray said: “The Middle East is the fight capital of the world, and the Professional Fighters League is proud to bring the world’s best combat sports stars to the Kingdom for Riyadh Season to host the first-ever PFL PPV Super Fight mega-global event.”
An event in which PFL champions take on their Bellator counterparts is a game-changer for fighters and fans, he added.
Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group, said: “We are delighted to once again partner with Saudi Arabia and Riyadh Season for the PFL champions vs. champions event.”
Before the main card, three major showcase bouts will take place on a preliminary card that will be broadcast on ESPNews and ESPN+, starting at 8 p.m. Saudi time.
The event follows PFL’s recent acquisition of Bellator. Newly designed Super Fight Championship belts will be awarded to the winners of the three-round fights in which elbows are legal and winner takes all.
In the main event, heavyweights will collide when PFL’s Renan Ferreira (12-3), fresh off an emphatic second-round technical knock out victory at the 2023 PFL Championship meets the first fighter in Bellator history to become champion in two weight divisions simultaneously, Ryan Bader (31-7).
Newly crowned PFL light heavyweight kingpin Impa Kasanganay (15-3) returns to 185 pounds for the first time since joining the organization as he challenges the man many fans consider the best middleweight on the planet, undefeated Johnny Eblen (14-0).
Two-time PFL champion Magomed Magomedkerimov (34-6), currently on a six-fight unbeaten streak, will put his run of success on the line against Bellator welterweight titlist Jason Jackson (17-4). The Jamaican recently put an end to the longest winning streak in mixed martial arts (27) when he won the title from Yaroslav Amosov.
At featherweight, the pride of Peru, Jesus Pinedo (23-6-1), returns to action fresh from his 2023 PFL Championship victory to take on one of Bellator’s most successful fighters of all time, Brazil’s Patricio Pitbull (35-7), the current Featherweight Champion and former Lightweight Champion.
In addition to the four bouts featuring current PFL and Bellator champions, former heavyweight champ Bruno Cappelozza (15-6) will welcome former Bellator light heavyweight title holder Vadim Nemkov (17-2) to the 265-pound limit.
A pair of former No. 1 contenders are also set to square off at 205 pounds, when Brazil’s Thiago Santos (22-11) takes on former Olympian Yoel Romero (15-7).
Rounding out the PPV bill, the always exciting Clay Collard (24- 11) will challenge former Bellator Featherweight Champion A. J. McKee (21-1) in a special lightweight showdown of striking specialists.
On the preliminary card, top PFL featherweight contender Gabriel Braga (12-1) will face off against his Bellator counterpart, Aaron Pico (12-4). Biaggio Ali Walsh, grandson of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, makes his pro debut at 155-pounds in a bout against Chris Morris, also making his pro debut.
The event also marks a return to the PFL SmartCage for Claressa Shields, considered by many the world’s greatest women’s boxer.

Pay-per-view Card (available on ESPN+ PPV and DAZN from 11 p.m. Saudi time):
Heavyweight Champion vs. Champion Bout: Renan Ferreira (PFL world champ) vs. Ryan Bader (Bellator champ)
Middleweight Champion vs. Champion Bout: Impa Kasanganay (PFL light heavyweight world champ) vs. Johnny Eblen (Bellator champ)
Welterweight Champion vs. Champion Bout: Magomed Magomedkerimov (PFL world champ) vs. Jason Jackson (Bellator champ)
Featherweight Champion vs. Champion Bout: Jesus Pinedo (PFL world champ) vs. Patricio Pitbull (Bellator champ)
Heavyweight Showcase Bout: Bruno Cappelozza (former PFL world champ) vs. Vadim Nemkov (former Bellator champ)
Light Heavyweight Showcase Bout: Thiago Santos (PFL title contender) vs. Yoel Romero (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight Showcase Bout: Clay Collard (PFL title contender) vs. AJ McKee (former Bellator champ)

Early Card (available on ESPNews and ESPN+ from 8 p.m. Saudi time):
Featherweight Showcase Bout: Gabriel Braga (PFL title contender) vs. Aaron Pico (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight Showcase Bout: Biaggio Ali Walsh (pro debut) vs. Chris Morris (pro debut)
Lightweight Showcase Bout: Claressa Shields vs. Kelsey DeSantis
Featherweight Showcase Bout: Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Edukondal Rao
Amateur Flyweight Bout: Malik Basahel vs. Vinicius Pereira

Topics: Riyadh S eason Professional Fighters League General Entertainment Authority

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‘Bright is an understatement’ says Golf Saudi CEO about the sport’s future in the Kingdom

Updated 17 November 2024
Ali Khaled
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‘Bright is an understatement’ says Golf Saudi CEO about the sport’s future in the Kingdom

  • Noah Alireza speaks to Arab News about the Aramco Team Series, the GoGolf programs and producing homegrown talent
Updated 17 November 2024
Ali Khaled

On a weekend that included the start of the WTA Finals in Riyadh, WWE Crown Jewel, as well as the Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam derbies in the Saudi Pro League, you could be forgiven for thinking there was any space left for any other sporting event to shine.

But golf’s Aramco Team Series — Riyadh, however, more than held its own and even drew in higher crowds than some of the rival events. The aim, said Golf Saudi CEO Noah Alireza, is to spread the golfing gospel.

“Our focus on global events comes with a primary objective of growing the game locally,” Alireza said. “(At Aramco Team Series) we (saw) a really vibrant crowd thatwas really getting into it.

“It’s all about creating the right environment and with this crowd being here as a captive audience, we, as much as possible, push towards them signing up for GoGolf, the program, and converting them into future golfers.” 

As the 2024 golf season draws to a close, Alireza said that his federation’s mandate is to act as an “catalyst and incubator” to create a golf industry.

“For us in Saudi, we have a blank canvas,” Alireza told Arab News. “We’re starting from scratch, and that provides an opportunity not to catch up, but hopefully to leapfrog because as is everything (in the Kingdom) today, Saudi doesn’t look at things in terms of just taking what was there and bringing it here. It’s taking and learning from what was, and doing it better.

“So for us to grow the game in Saudi Arabia, our primary focus today is on the development of innovative supply and infrastructure, and hopefully when we build it, the demand will catch up and that’s how we're going to hopefully be creating a viable ecosystem for golf.”

One of the ways that Golf Saudi is looking to increase participation in the game, in accordance with Vision 2030, is through its GoGolf programs.

“GoGulf is for us a complete product from end to end to get people from Saudi and living in Saudi Arabia to get into Golf. So we’re starting with a program that answers the question why golf? What is golf? And then a call to action is GoGolf. GoGolf is a three-month (program), maybe you can look at it as getting a license to drive.”

Alireza appreciates that taking up golf comes with a significant sporting and financial dedication, and GoGolf aims to give budding players an early advantage.

“Golf is not an easy game to play. In order to break that barrier, three months’ worth of free lessons, or a package of 12 free lessons, will get you the license to be able to play on golf courses and other areas. So it’s a teaching methodology, but beyond the teaching phase, there is other infrastructure under the GoGolf brand that we will be deploying in addition to other things we’ve launched outside golf courses, like Top Golf — a project that’s going to be taking place over the next year and a half.”

Alireza has a message for parents looking to introduce their children to new sports and activities: “The choices are plenty to get kids into sports, and all sports will teach kids certain traits,” he said. “Whether it is discipline, motivation and so many other traits.

“Growing up around golf, I had the opportunity to see it first hand, and golf is slightly different from other sports in that it takes up so much time and you’re moving an object, you’re not reacting to a ball, you’re having to impart impact on to a ball and a lot of time in between there are so many things that you have to exercise. Patience, resilience, determination, the seeking of perfection and getting better every day, and I believe those traits are really good traits to start to ingrain into kids, and hopefully one day from that some of the kids will specialize in golf and create those future champions that we’re looking to create.”

Alireza is bullish about golf’s trajectory in the Kingdom over the coming years.

“Bright is an understatement,” he said. “With the incredible support that we’re seeing in Saudi Arabia today across all the sectors, we have an incredible opportunity to bring the world of golf here to co-innovate with us on creating a platform that defines what future golf will be in terms of the infrastructure, golf courses, practice facilities and beyond.”

While there are several Saudi golfers already making moves in the professional game, Alireza’s aim is to see a whole generation of golfers emerging from the Kingdom over the next decade.

“I think it's important that we focus on building that generation for two important reasons,” he said. “No.1 is that creating champions is an element that we’ve seen as a story throughout history that helps generate future generations of champions.

“So when Saudi beat Argentina in the World Cup, that was a generational moment that not only created future football stars but athletes in general,” Alireza said. “Everyone could now believe if somebody that I know of that is from my city, my country can do it, then so can I. And that element, that barrier, as a threshold is extremely important. So for us, the focus on creating those champions is really important because then it goes to the second reason.”

“The second reason is that that tipping point, when that champion is created, inshallah, and our goal is to have that happen within the next five to 10 years, is that it creates a whole new generation of golfers that sustains the golf economy that we’re seeking to create.”

 

Topics: Golf Saudi

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Brazil crowned champions at NEOM Beach International Cup

Updated 17 November 2024
SALEH FAREED
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Brazil crowned champions at NEOM Beach International Cup

  • Spain defeated Germany 2-1, while Japan won 8-2 against England to finish fifth
Updated 17 November 2024
SALEH FAREED

NEOM: Brazil were crowned NEOM Beach Soccer Cup champions for the third time in a row at Gayal Beach after a 6-1 win over the UAE in the final on Saturday night.

The Samba Boys dominated the first period, scoring four goals and the one-sided affair continued in the second period, with the UAE struggling to find their footing.

The defending champions’ relentless pressure paid off in the third period, as they extended their lead to 6-0 with a late consolation goal for the UAE.

In the match to decide third and fourth places, Spain defeated Germany 2-1, while Japan won 8-2 against England to finish fifth.

Saudi Arabia grabbed sixth after beating China 5-3.

In the women’s competition, Spain were crowned 2024 NEOM Beach Soccer Cup champions after a 5-1 win against Brazil.

 

Topics: NEOM Beach Soccer Cup 2024 Brazil

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‘Zurdo’ Ramirez beats Billam-Smith by unanimous decision in Riyadh

Updated 18 November 2024
Aisha Fareed
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‘Zurdo’ Ramirez beats Billam-Smith by unanimous decision in Riyadh

  • Mexican southpaw’s win improves his record to 47-1, including 30 knockouts
  • Saudi boxer Ziyad Almaayouf earns hard-fought draw against Mexico’s Juan Garcia on the undercard
Updated 18 November 2024
Aisha Fareed

Riyadh: WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defeated WBO champ Chris Billam-Smith by unanimous decision on Saturday in the main event at Riyadh’s “Latino Night” to become the undisputed world champion in the division.

The Mexican southpaw improved his record to 47-1, including 30 knockouts, while the British champ’s record slipped to 20-2, with 13 knockouts, after three straight title defenses.

Ramirez showed his power and precision before a packed crowd at The Venue, Riyadh, headlining an unforgettable evening that celebrated Latin American culture and the global appeal of boxing.

Ramirez took control of the fight from the opening bell, using his size advantage and sharp combinations to pin Billam-Smith on the back foot. The British fighter displayed immense heart, landing counter shots and working the body, but Zurdo’s power and precision proved overwhelming.

In his post-fight interview, Ramirez dedicated his victory to his fans and the Latino community. “I’m a proud Mexican and Latino — I will represent the Latino Night very well,” he told Arab News before the fight. And he did.

The evening began with an undercard packed with talent and exciting matchups. Fighters from across Latin America displayed skill and determination, thrilling the crowd with breathtaking rounds, technical displays, and a few dramatic comebacks. Each bout built anticipation for the night’s culminating showdown.

 Saudi boxer Ziyad Almaayouf delivered a spirited performance in the opening fight, earning a hard-fought draw against Mexico’s Juan Garcia. 

The bout was characterized by Almaayouf’s sharp boxing skills and Garcia’s relentless pressure, with both fighters trading heavy shots and testing each other’s endurance across all 12 rounds. 

Almaayouf, backed by a passionate home crowd, landed cleaner combinations early in the fight, but Garcia’s aggression in the later rounds allowed him to claw back on the scorecards, leading to a split-decision draw.

The result left fans buzzing, with many praising Almaayouf’s resilience and composure under Garcia’s constant attacks.

In a post-fight interview with Arab News, Almaayouf, known as “Zizo”, said that he won the fight tonight despite what the judges decided. “I’m always going to think that I did enough to win the fight. This is just the opinion of two judges.

“If you go back 10-15 years ago and you ask the world: would they see a Saudi professional boxer standing in the middle of the ring with a tough Mexican fighter, they wouldn’t believe it,” he added. “But tonight, we showed that can happen.”

He said that a rematch is his next target.

For Garcia, the result was a testament to his durability and fighting spirit, earning him respect as a worthy opponent in a thrilling opener to an unforgettable night.

Latino Night in Riyadh was another milestone in Saudi Arabia’s emergence as a global destination for sports and entertainment. By blending cultural celebration with world-class boxing, the event left a lasting impression on fans and participants alike.

As the arena emptied and the lights dimmed, one thing was clear: Gilberto Ramirez had won not only a fight, but had also solidified his position as a global ambassador for the enduring legacy of Latino boxing.

Topics: Riyadh Season 2024 Latino Night Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez Chris Billam-Smith

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UAE to face Brazil in NEOM Beach Soccer Cup 2024 final

Updated 16 November 2024
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UAE to face Brazil in NEOM Beach Soccer Cup 2024 final

  • The UAE team will play the final on Saturday night, against the Brazilian team, while the Spanish team will face the German side for third and fourth place
Updated 16 November 2024
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NEOM: Defending champions Brazil and UAE are through to the final of the NEOM Beach Soccer Cup 2024, after winning their last matches of the group stages against Japan and Saudi Arabia on Friday.

In group A, the UAE team succeeded in overcoming the Saudi side with a 6-5 result, raising their score to 9 points, while the Green Falcons finished with 2 points in last place.

In the same group, the German team achieved their first victory in the tournament, after defeating the English side 6-3, to rise to second place with 3 points, ahead of the Three Lions, who are in third place on goal difference.

Meanwhile, in group B, the South American side beat Spain comfortably 9-1, while Japan beat China 9-0. With these results, the Brazilian team topped the group with 9 points and reached the final for the third year in a row, followed by Spain with 6 points, Japan with 3 points, while the Chinese team came last in the group without any points.

The UAE team will play the final on Saturday night, against the Brazilian team, while the Spanish team will face the German side for third and fourth place.

The match for fifth and sixth place will bring together Japan and England, and the Saudi team will face the Chinese side in the contest for seventh and eighth place.

UAE defender Waleed Abdullah spoke to Arab News after the match against the hosts, Saudi Arabia.

“It is difficult to predict what will happen in the match,” he said. “The Brazilian team is very strong and ranked first in the world, and we have all respect for them. We will enter the match with high focus and do our best. In the end, it is an opportunity to face the world champion, and this is not the first time we compete with them.”

In the women’s group, a late goal from Brazilian striker Dani Barboza led to the team overcoming Ukraine 5-4 to reach the final against Spain, who put in a great performance and finished with a 4-1 victory over England.

Topics: NEOM Beach Soccer Cup 2024

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Tamam team defeats Casa Riyadh in Silver Cup tournament

Updated 15 November 2024
Arab News
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Tamam team defeats Casa Riyadh in Silver Cup tournament

Updated 15 November 2024
Arab News

RIYADH: The Tamam Polo Team claimed victory over rivals Casa Riyadh on Thursday, beating them 5-4 in the Silver Cup Championship.

Taking place at Nofa Equestrian Resort in Riyadh, this is the third edition of the tournament, which continues until Nov. 16.

Taking place at Nofa Equestrian Resort in Riyadh, this is the third edition of the tournament. (SUPPLIED)

The Tamam team included Hashem Al-Alawi, Abdulmohsen Al-Hokair, Faisal Abu Nayan and Marcelo Antonio. Representing Casa Riyadh were Prince Salman bin Sultan, Ibrahim Al-Harbi, Salman bin Haif and Muhammed Naveed.

The Silver Cup is the first tournament of the season, played in a points system where the team with the most goals wins in the event of a tie.

Friday will see Casa Riyadh face Tuwaiq in the second round.

Topics: polo

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