The Professional Fighters League has announced the full line-up for PFL Dubai, which will take place at Coca-Cola Arena on 14 November in partnership with Dubai Sports Council and Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.
The fourth PFL event in Dubai will feature 15 fights – five on the main card and 10 preliminary bouts – and will be the organisation’s first event in the emirate since its merger with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP).
The headline contest is a world heavyweight title fight at 265lb between Russian champion Vadim Nemkov and compatriot Sergei Bilostenniy.
Nemkov has a professional record of 20 wins and two defeats, while Bilostenniy is ranked third in the PFL and has won 15 of his 19 fights. The champion is unbeaten in his past 15 appearances.
The bout has added significance because both fighters previously trained in the team of Russian mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko.
Belgian Patrick Habirora will make his first professional appearance outside Europe when he faces Egypt’s Omar El Dafrawy in the co-main event at welterweight.
Fourth-ranked Habirora has won all nine of his professional fights. El Dafrawy, ranked fifth, is the winner of the inaugural PFL Middle East and North Africa tournament and has a record of 16 wins and six defeats.
Habirora’s most recent victory came against former UFC champion Benson Henderson, whom he stopped by knockout after 20 seconds in Brussels.
The main card also includes a heavyweight contest between Dubai representative Buya Rahmani, who has six wins from six fights, and the PFL’s top-ranked heavyweight Oleg Popov, who has recorded 23 victories and two defeats.
Abubakar Nurmagomedov, with 17 wins, four defeats and one draw, meets Australia’s David Martinez, who has 17 wins and six defeats, in a welterweight bout.
Former Bellator champion and fourth-ranked Sergio Pettis faces Japan’s Joji Goto at bantamweight, with the division contested at 135lb.
Preliminary card
The preliminary programme includes a heavyweight meeting between second-ranked Denis Goltsov and sixth-ranked Maxwell Djantou Nana.
In the featherweight division, 10th-ranked Khasan Magomedsharipov takes on seventh-ranked Adam Borics, while eighth-ranked Asail Azhagudzh faces Movlid Khaybulaev.
Alexei Pergande, ranked ninth at lightweight, will fight Akhmed Magomedov.
The remaining preliminary bouts are Shamil Rock against Connor Hughes at lightweight; Luis Macgrillen against Nurs Abzakh at bantamweight; Ernesto Rodriguez against Rhys McKee at welterweight; Khabib Nabiev against Steve Ngounou at light heavyweight; and Khamzat Abaev against Leon Hill at welterweight.
The women’s strawweight contest sees Alexandra Savicheva meet Jacinta Austin.
Nakisa Bidarian, chief executive of Most Valuable Promotions, said Dubai was a major stop on the PFL’s journey and that the event would be the organisation’s biggest in the emirate in terms of both the number of fights and the quality of the participants.
He added that he was proud to be working with Dubai Sports Council and Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism to stage the event at Coca-Cola Arena, strengthening Dubai’s position on the global mixed martial arts map.
The preliminary fights are scheduled to begin at 18:00 UAE time, with the main card starting at 22:00. The event will be shown on STARZPLAY in 25 markets across the Middle East and North Africa, and on the ESPN app in the United States.
The tournament forms part of Dubai’s international events calendar, supporting the emirate’s role as a global host for major sporting competitions and public events.
