-
Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer
The opening round of the PFL’s 2024 regular season is officially set.
Heavyweights Ante Delija (24-5) and Valentin Moldavsky (12-3) will headline the first event on April 4 in San Antonio. The following week, former Bellator MMA light heavyweight champion Phil Davis (24-7) will meet 2022 PFL champion Robert Wilkinson (17-2) in a main event in Las Vegas.
The opening round matchups conclude on April 12 in Chicago, headlined by former Bellator champ Andrey Koreshkov (24-7) and PFL standout Magomed Umalatov (14-0). PFL announced all of the pairings on Monday.
There are many notable matchups in all six divisions beyond the main events. PFL acquired Bellator in a landmark deal at the end of last year. One of the results of that deal is its deepest roster ever for regular season events.
Bellator champion Liz Carmouche (20-7) will face Juliana Velasquez (12-2) for the third time on April 4. She defeated Velasquez twice under the Bellator banner in 2022.
On the April 12 card, feteran PFL lightweight Clay Collard (24-12) will take on Patricky Pitbull and former PFL middleweight champion Sadibou Sy (16-7-2) will move up to 205 pounds this year and meet Josh Silveira (12-2).
Brendan Loughnane (27-5), who won a featherweight championship in the PFL in 2022, will take on Pedro Carvalho (13-8) on April 19.
One notable exception in the announcement is 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Fereira, who knocked out Bellator champion Ryan Bader in a special pay-per-view event last month. Fereira decided to forego the 2024 season in order to wait for a pending matchup against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in his second professional boxing appearance last week.