Pete Murray is worked up to kick off a brand new format for PFL’s championships.
Two new superfight belts will probably be launched at PFL: Battle of the Giants Oct. 19 at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ESPN+ pay-per-view, DAZN).
In the primary occasion, former UFC champion Francis Ngannou (17-3) takes on 2023 PFL champion Renan Ferreira (13-3). Within the co-main occasion, Cris Cyborg (27-2-1) will look to gather her fifth belt in a serious group when she faces two-time PFL champion Larissa Pacheco (23-4).
“The PFL superfights belt, first time we as an organization and group have a belt the place it have to be received, nevertheless it additionally have to be defended on an ongoing foundation,” Murray instructed MMA Junkie Radio. “Usually, our world season belts, they acknowledge these champions for the yr, they usually’re perpetually that yr’s champion. However it is a totally different belt, a unique format for us. So each Francis and Cris need to be the primary ones to boost these belts, however Renan and Larissa, two Brazilians, they’re going to deliver it.”
The PFL CEO sees Ferreira and Pacheco as the way forward for MMA.
“Larissa, two-time PFL champion, girls’s 155 then she took on 145,” Murray mentioned. “She’s girls’s 145 champion, two belts. She’s fierce, she’s actually grown into being a bonafide world champion. She’s needed this battle for a extremely very long time. So when you consider the GOATs in Francis and in Cris, up in opposition to Renan and Larissa, that’s actually the longer term.
“These youthful fighters of their prime – once more, Francis nonetheless in his prime, Cris in her prime, not many can dance with both of them, however they’ve had a storied profession, each of them. Renan and Larissa, they’re the longer term. They’re trying to make their mark now, they usually deserve this battle. These are each professional opponents for each Francis and Cris.”
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