11/24/23: Joe Pyfer To Headline 2024 UFC Card
The first main event for UFC prospect Joe Pyfer leads the MMA headlines for Friday
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today is a good issue to start off your weekend with. We have a UFC update for you, a preview of tonight’s PFL card, and some other notes from around the MMA world. Let’s begin.
Joe Pyfer To Headline UFC Card For First Time
UFC CEO Dana White provided a series of big announcements for upcoming events on Thursday. In a social media post, White revealed a new opponent for Bobby Green, a new main event for February, and the location of UFC 298.
Pyfer To Compete In First UFC Main Event Next Year
“Dana White’s Contender Series” standout Joe Pyfer will get his first-ever UFC main event assignment next year, facing middleweight veteran Jack Hermansson on February 10th.
Pyfer joined the UFC roster last year after stopping Ozzy Diaz on UFC’s live reality TV show. A video of a fired-up White saying that more fighters should “be like” Pyfer caused him to enter the promotion with some momentum.
Pyfer has earned three finish wins since his UFC debut in September of last year. His most recent win came in October, when he submitted Abdul Razak Alhassan with an arm triangle choke.
Hermansson is a big step-up for Pyfer, as he comes into this bout with 16 previous UFC appearances and four prior main event fights in the promotion. The 35-year-old talent will be trying to bounce back from a stoppage loss that he suffered against Roman Dolidze late last year.
Anaheim Announced As Host For UFC 298
White also revealed the location for UFC 298.
The February 17th pay-per-view card will take place from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, USA. The top fight announced for that show thus far is a clash between UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski and undefeated contender Ilia Topuria.
The event will mark UFC’s first appearance in Anaheim in more than two years. Their previous show in the city was UFC 270, which was in early 2022. UFC’s last California card took place just over a year ago, when Marlon Vera and Dominick Cruz headlined an August 2022 “Fight Night” from San Diego.
Green Given New Opponent, Details December 9th UFC Card Confirmed
White also took time to update fans on the co-main event spot for next week’s UFC “Fight Night” card.
As was mentioned earlier this week on the newsletter, an injury has forced Dan Hooker out of his five-round lightweight bout against Bobby Green. A replacement has already been found, as Green is now expected to meet Jalin Turner in a three-round event contest.
Turner, who is now scheduled for a fight with less than two weeks to prepare, will be attempting to earn his first win in a year. 2023 has been an unsuccessful year for him thus far, dropping split decisions to Matreuz Gamrot and Dan Hooker.
Green will be trying to pick up his third win of the year, coming off finishes against Tony Ferguson and Grant Dawson.
Previously reported changes to UFC’s December 9th card were also revealed by White. The shift of a UFC “Fight Night” card from China to Las Vegas, Nevada is now official, as White stated in his video that the upcoming main event bout between Song Yadong and Chris Gutierrez will take place in their UFC APEX venue.
A Year-Long Season Comes To An End
A year’s worth of PFL events have all built up to this Friday night, when they will have their playoff finals. Six champions will be crowned when the promotion presents a pay-per-view card from The Anthem in Washington, D.C., USA.
The fact that PFL’s card this Friday includes many matchups that took a whole year to build means that there are countless storylines to get into. Here’s a quick rundown of them all.
In the main event, Olivier Aubin-Mercier will try to become a two-time PFL Lightweight Champion when he faces fellow UFC fighter and experienced talent Clay Collard. It will be Collard’s third time chasing a PFL title.
After earning all of their wins via first-round finish this year, Renan Ferreira and Denis Goltsov will compete in the heavyweight finals.
Larissa Pacheco earned the PFL Lightweight Championship last year with a win over Kayla Harrison. This year, she looks to become the inaugural women’s champion in the featherweight class when she takes on Marina Mokhnatkina.
In a clash of two former champs and PFL vets, Magomed Magomedkerimov and Sadibou Sy will meet for the welterweight title. The bout will also be a rematch, with their first meeting being a 2021 decision victory for Magomedkerimov.
After a flawless three wins earlier this year, four-fight UFC vet Impa Kasanganay will challenge former two-division LFA champion Josh Silveira in a light heavyweight title fight.
And in the prelims, undefeated Gabriel Alves Braga and Jesus Pinedo will compete for the featherweight belt.
The card also includes the return of Kayla Harrison and the PFL debut of Derek Brunson, among other things in this 11-fight lineup.
On Thursday, PFL announced that a fight between Bubba Jenkins and Chris Wade departed the preliminary portion of the card. This fight fell through after Wade missed weight for their featherweight contest, and Jenkins declined to compete at a catchweight, per a PFL press release.
Here’s how the card looks:
Main Card (8:00PM EST) (PPV)
Bout 11: Clay Collard (24-10) vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier (20-5) (PFL Lightweight Championship)
Bout 10: Renan Ferreira (11-3) vs. Denis Goltsov (32-7) (PFL Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 9: Larissa Pacheco (22-4) vs. Marina Mokhnatkina (11-3) (PFL Featherweight Championship)
Bout 8: Magomed Magomedkerimov (33-6) vs. Sadibou Sy (16-6-2) (PFL Welterweight Championship)
Bout 7: Impa Kasanganay (14-3) vs. Josh Silveira (12-1) (PFL Light Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 6: Kayla Harrison (15-1) vs. Aspen Ladd (11-4) (Featherweight)
Bout 5: Ray Cooper III (25-8-1) vs. Derek Brunson (23-9) (Middleweight)
Preliminary Card (5:00PM EST) (ESPN+)
Bout 4: Jesus Pinedo (22-6-1) vs. Gabriel Alves Braga (12-0) (PFL Featherweight Championship)
Bout 3: Biaggio Ali Walsh (5-1) vs. Joel Galarza Lopez (3-0) (Amateur Lightweight)
Bout 2: Khai Wu (7-4) vs. Phil Caracappa (9-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 1: Jesse Stirn (15-6) vs. Josh Blyden (9-2) (Featherweight)
Notes On: UFC & Cage Warriors
Veteran Jim Miller (36-17) will face Gabriel Benitez (23-10) at UFC’s January 13th bout, as announced recently by the promotion. Miller scored a 23-second win in June, stopping short-notice opponent Jesse Butler with strikes. Benitez is coming off a near one-and-a-half year layoff, with his last fight being a win against Charlie Ontiveros in August 2022.
Joe Pyfer vs. Jack Hermansson isn’t the only fight that has been revealed for UFC’s February 10th card. The management of welterweight talent Carlos Prates (17-6) announced that he will face Trevin Giles (16-5). Prates earned a UFC contract in August with a finish win over Mitch Ramirez on “Dana White’s Contender Series.”
Many changes have hit Saturday’s Cage Warriors 164 card from Newcastle, England.
Three bouts have departed the card, per an announcement made Thursday. Jack Eglin vs. Enrico Di Gangi (4-1) at bantamweight, Josh Abraham (7-4) vs. Aaron Johnson (7-4) at lightweight, and Sergio Gavinelli (4-2) vs. David Karp (6-7) at welterweight all won’t be happening this weekend.
Leon Armes (0-0) has been given a new opponent for his pro debut. While he was originally scheduled to face Anthony Laurent (1-1), he will now face Simon Cesari (1-1).