It’s not usually all through a calendar yr the place you get a championship battle pitting two titans of MMA in opposition to each other. This one is a battle that’s thought-about a must-see contest. Saturday night time, the PFL and Bellator MMA head to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Kingdom Area for the second Tremendous Fights pay-per-view of 2024.
Dubbed “Battle of the Giants,” this marquee card options three title fights on the high of the bout order. Motion begins at 12:30 pm ET/ 9:30 am PT with the prelims on ESPN+ and DAZN forward of the primary card at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT on pay-per-view.
On linear tv, ESPNNEWS will carry the undercard. If there aren’t any Eleventh-hour postponements forward of Battle of the Giants, Saturday’s card options 9 bouts on the docket.
Girls’s Featherweight Championship At Stake Saturday in Battle of the Giants Co-Important Occasion
Championship battle quantity two within the tripleheader sees the motion shift to 145 lbs. for a battle between two opponents who’ve a historical past of scoring victories when the stakes are at their highest. Incumbent Bellator MMA Girls’s Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg (27-2, 1 NC MMA, 6-0 Bellator) battles 2022 PFL Girls’s Light-weight Champion and 2023 PFL Girls’s Featherweight Champion Larissa Pacheco (23-4 MMA, 12-2 PFL.)
At stake: The PFL Tremendous Fights Girls’s Featherweight Championship. This title battle is an marketed most of 5 rounds at 5 minutes per spherical.
Episode 2 of Battle Of The Giants | PFL Struggle Week is out now!
Get behind the scenes entry as Francis Ngannou, Cris Cyborg, Renan Ferreira and Larissa Pacheco undergo Struggle Week
Watch now
https://t.co/sYNO2bXNgX #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact pic.twitter.com/kPD0qXPuqI
— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 16, 2024
Battle of the Giants Co-Important Occasion Fighter Comparability and Betting Odds
Heading into the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion on Saturday night time, each of those combatants stand stage at 5-foot-8. As well as, they personal an identical 69-inch reaches.
At the moment, the oddsmakers have Larissa Pacheco put in as a -148 betting favourite on the cash line, whereas Cris Cyborg counters as a +124 underdog. When you plan on betting on this or every other battle taking place this weekend in MMA and/or fight sports activities, please wager responsibly.
Cyborg Stays Busy Throughout MMA Hiatus
Cris Cyborg enters the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion having posted an ideal 5-0 in her final 5 fights. Most lately within the cage, she defended her championship for the fifth time with a first-round knockout (punches) in opposition to Cat Zingano (14-5 MMA, 4-1 Bellator) final October throughout Bellator 300 from San Diego
Within the interim, the PFL purchased Bellator MMA simply days after Bellator 301 aired on Showtime from Chicago. Subsequently, Cyborg wasn’t supplied a battle contract for the entrance finish of this calendar yr, with the champion turning her consideration to the squared circle of boxing.
With no alternatives to return to @PFLMMA or @BellatorMMA throughout the first half of 2024 I will likely be asserting my return to the game of Boxing with a battle announcement subsequent week.
pic.twitter.com/oOtnsOiHgY
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) February 8, 2024
She’s continued to impress when contained in the ring this yr, successful each of her pugilism bouts, together with a second-round knockout (overhand proper) in a showcase contest versus Aria Wild simply earlier than the summer season solstice again in June.
While you’re a fighter and have a championship caliber like Cris Cyborg has had over the course of a profession, not having the ability to safe battle contracts is MMA is the toughest tablet to swallow. She’s been retaining sharp in boxing, so can her successful streak proceed?
Pacheco Returns for First Time in 11 Months
Within the different nook, Larissa Pacheco has posted a mark of 5-0 in her final 5 fights. At current, she’s received 10 fights in succession.
Final November, she scored a unanimous resolution after 5 rounds over Marina Mokhnatkina (11-4 MMA) throughout PFL 10 in Washington, DC to win the ladies’s featherweight title. She hasn’t fought since, one thing that was introduced up in a latest interview with Sean Sheehan.
“The anticipation just isn’t ultimate,” Pacheco mentioned, by means of her translator. “I’ve been build up and ready for this battle for some time. After I final fought in November final yr, I used to be informed ‘Good likelihood this battle occurs in February’. It didn’t occur. We’ve been form of going backwards and forwards, altering on dates. I miss it, I’m hungry and it’s a type of issues the place you simply form of lose the bullseye and the goal for a bit.”
How a lot ring rust does Larissa Pacheco have going into the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion? Tune in and discover out.
Evaluation, Movie Examine, and Prediction
Stylistically, the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion seems to favor Cris Cyborg. Whereas each contestants are versed in Muay-Thai, Cyborg owns a black belt in that self-discipline along with Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Cyborg Can Get it Completed With One Blow
Cris Cyborg is understood for her one-punch energy, which was on full show in her battle versus Aria Wild. Throughout the second spherical of a scheduled 4, she pieced Wild up with a wide range of pictures, together with a mixture capped off by a right-handed punch to knock her opponent all the way down to the canvas.
The referee administered the 10-count for Wild, nevertheless it proved inconsequential. She was solely in a position to crawl again to her nook earlier than the battle was waved off.
Search for Cris Cyborg to land punches in bunches throughout the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion. If she will come out like a home on fireplace on Saturday, this contest is hers.
Pacheco Can Work Shortly, Too
Within the different nook, Larissa Pacheco sings “Something you are able to do, I can do higher.” She’s bought the proclivity to attain the knockout in her personal proper.
Simply have a look at the tape of her playoff battle from final yr in opposition to Olena Kolesnyk. Proper after the command to battle was issued, Pacheco scored with repeated proper arms, ending Kolesnyk in solely 14 seconds out of a potential quarter-hour.
Pacheco’s key within the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion: Beat Cris Cyborg to the punch.
Closing Ideas
Very similar to the Bellator Middleweight Championship that can precede it, the Battle of the Giants co-main occasion seems prefer it’ll be an amazing scrap. Don’t miss it.
Prediction: Cris Cyborg by Second-Spherical Knockout.
