
It is official: Patricio Freire is not joining the PFL vs. Bellator Champs card. The reason? Gabriel Braga, who replaced his original opponent, also withdrew at the last minute of the event.
The two were supposed to face each other on the main card of the event. The match was arranged after Braga replaced Jesus Pinedo, who withdrew from the fight due to an undisclosed injury. However, after Braga did not weigh in Friday, reports about the fighter pulled out of the bout without disclosing the reasons. Meanwhile, Freire made the weight, registering at 145.9 pounds in the ceremony.
With all this, not only is Braga not appearing in the event, but so is Freire. Needless to say, with the last-minute withdrawal, the promotions wouldn’t be able to find replacements and had to scratch the match from the lineup.
As for Pico, who was supposed to face Braga originally, will remain in the event. The fighter will now fight Corrales for a rematch to redeem himself after losing to the fighter back in 2019 at Bellator 214.
With all this, the event will now only present 11 fights this weekend.
Here is the list of fights joining the event, alongside the result of the fighters’ weigh-ins.
- Renan Ferreira (263.2) vs. Ryan Bader (231.1)
- Impa Kasanganay (185.8) vs. Johnny Eblen (185.5)
- Ray Cooper III (182.4) vs. Jason Jackson (182.1) *182-pound contract weight
- Bruno Cappelozza (236.2) vs. Vadim Nemkov (238.1)
- Thiago Santos (205.2) vs. Yoel Romero (205)
- Clay Collard (155.5) vs. A.J. McKee (154.8)
- Henry Corrales (155.7) vs. Aaron Pico (155.7)
- Biaggio Ali Walsh (155.4) vs. Emmanuel Palacio (152.6)
- Claressa Shields (164.4) vs. Kelsey De Santis (164.6)
- Abdullah Al-Qahtani (146) vs. Edukondala Rao (145.7)