7/1/25: A Look At The Week Ahead
A preview of a quieter-than-usual fight week
Welcome to a Tuesday edition of the Knockdown Daily! Today’s issue is the usual weekly preview, providing a quick rundown of all the notable MMA and combat sports events going down over the next few days.
Truth be told, it’s a quiet week in the sport. American MMA promoters tend not to do anything during the 4th of July weekend, meaning there’s almost nothing happening in America from the UFC all the way down to the regional level.
This will be a quick little newsletter - We have two smaller PFL cards to highlight, plus a few other events happening in the coming days. We’ll be back later this week with a news catch-up, going over all the latest headlines in the sport.
Let’s begin!
A Look At The Week Ahead
Friday
PFL MENA 2025: 2
For over two years, PFL’s global expansion has suffered greatly due to one issue: Many of their regional events, presenting cards under their Europe and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) brands, weren’t airing in their biggest market, America.
Cedric Doumbe’s larger-than-life MMA fights, a big Paul Hughes appearance, and half a dozen championship moments were all unavailable, unless you were sneaky enough to maneuver some sort of VPN system, or find a bootleg feed.
By my calculations, 150 fights in total have gone unseen by the U.S. audience, taking away a significant fraction of the programming that PFL has paid to put on over the past couple of years.
However, that issue is expected to change this weekend. For the first time ever, regional PFL events will stream in the United States this week. Inside the promotion’s new app, not only will regional PFL events be available to stream, but they’ll be completely free to watch.
Worth the wait? Let’s not go that far. But absolutely an overdue change.
The new streaming era for PFL’s local promotions will kick off this Friday, when the second PFL MENA card of the year takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where all PFL MENA events have taken place since the tour was launched in 2024.
After quarter-final tournament action at lightweight and featherweight took place in May, the welterweight and bantamweight divisions will be the focus of this weekend’s card.
There are a few interesting names in the lineup at 170, some returning and others new. Those who watched last year’s season will remember 25-year-old AKA gym member Mohammad Alaqraa, a rising prospect who suffered his first pro loss when he was stopped in the grand finals. Back with redemption on his mind, he’s fighting in the bracket once again.
Also competing will be Badreddine Diani, a former UAE Warriors champ who made it to last year’s semi-finals but had to withdraw before his second bout of the year took place.
A third name worth mentioning is Rostem Akman, a former UFC fighter who will try to put his name back on the map by showing out in the upcoming tournament. He snapped a multi-fight losing streak in his last appearance, but is notably ending a two-year absence from competition when fighting this Friday. He’s starting his bracket run against the returning Amir Fazli.
Admittedly, the bantamweight tournament is a little less enticing, as it’s without either finalist from the 2024 tournament. Nonetheless, stand-out names in the lineup include past UAE Warriors champ Xavier Alaoui, 2024 semi-finalist Elias Boudegzdame, and Moktar Benkaci, who, after having an unsuccessful run in the 2023 PFL Europe tour, has rebounded with four consecutive finish wins on the regionals.
The main event of the night will see last year’s PFL MENA Welterweight Champion Omar El Dafrawy return in non-tournament action against Italy’s Daniele Miceli. El Dafrawy had a highly impressive 2024, winning three consecutive bouts on the tour, including two via finish.
Unlike Saturday’s PFL Europe card, this is a lineup primarily focused on bracket action. There are a few other non-tournament attractions, notably another appearance from amateur atomweight prospect Hattan Alsaif.
Here’s how the card looks:
Main Card (11:00AM EDT / 6:00PM AST) (PFL App)
Bout 12: Omar El Dafrawy (13-5) vs. Daniele Miceli (13-6) (Welterweight)
Bout 11: Omar Hussein (11-6) vs. Mohammad Alaqraa (7-1) (Welterweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 10: Hattan Alsaif (3-0) vs. Nour Al Fliti (1-1) (Amateur Atomweight)
Bout 9: Mohamed Zarey (9-1) vs. Ayman Galal (4-1) (Welterweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 8: Xavier Alaouis (15-6) vs. Ziad Ayman (4-1) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 7: Moktar Benkaci (24-9) vs. Marcel Adur (19-7) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 6: Badreddine Diani (8-3) vs. Ahmed Abdel Basel (1-0) (Welterweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 5: Rostem Akman (7-4) vs. Amir Fazli (6-3) (Welterweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 4: Nawras Abzakh (12-6) vs. Ali Yazbeck (5-0-1) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 3: Elias Boudegzdame (19-9) vs. Mehdi Saadi (6-2) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 2: Abdelrahman Alhyasat (5-0) vs. Anthony Zeidan (5-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Abdulaziz Bin Moammar (0-0) vs. Hassan Ahmed (0-0) (Amateur Catchweight 160 lbs)
Saturday
PFL Europe 2025: 2
Just over a month ago, PFL Europe was in a sorry state.
The tour’s second show of the year, a May 24th appearance in Paris, France, was suddenly cancelled, leaving the fate of 11 matchups in question. While it announced amid the cancellation that PFL Europe would host a show in early July, it was unclear what that meant for the opening round of a bantamweight bracket, a promotional debut for Taylor Lapilus, or the MMA debut of 44-year-old ex-Manchester United footballer Patrice Evra (Sometimes I can’t believe what I’m typing..)
To their credit, PFL has done a pretty good job at rescheduling the crucial fights that were previously booked for Paris in May. This Saturday’s card at the ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium, a debut for PFL in the country, includes all four of the previously booked tournament bouts, plus many other notable attractions.
The main event of the night will see Belgian prospect Patrick Habirora try to get past 14-fight UFC veteran Danny Roberts.
Habirora has shown promise since his 2024 pro debut, including a pair of past wins in the PFL cage. But his wins have come against fighters with little experience, his most seasoned opponent having seven bouts on their record.
Roberts, a fighter who has made the cage walk 26 times in his career, half of which have been walks to the UFC cage, is a real veteran test for him. A big question this weekend is how the 37-year-old Bristol-based fighter will look, appearing for the first time in nearly two years and attempting to bounce back from a couple of finish losses that emerged near the end of his UFC run.
The co-main event includes Taylor Lapilus trying to stop the momentum of PFL MENA 2024 Bantamweight Champion Ali Taleb.
Lapilus made a somewhat shocking move a few months ago, exiting his second UFC run to sign with the PFL. The 33-year-old is riding the momentum of a solid run in the promotion, winning three of his four fights since 2023, including victories over veterans Vince Morales and Cody Stamann.
In his way is Taleb, who put together a three-win 2024 to capture PFL MENA gold. The Swedish fighter has been a prospect to watch on the regionals for years, putting his name on the map after dethroning Vinicius Olivira at UAE Warriors 30 in 2022 (Oliveira would sign onto the UFC roster a year later). While his MENA fights were good tests, arguably no fight has been this big for Taleb before.
The bantamweight tournament set to kick off this Saturday is notably without 2024 runner-up Alexander Luster, who was initially booked for the bracket before an injury forced him out of the lineup. Some intriguing names who remain set to fight this weekend include undefeated Polish prospect Jan Cieplowski, rising French talent Mahio Campanella, gritty English vet Dean Garnett, who arguably had a “Fight of the Year” contender against Lewis McGrillen in 2022, and SBG Ireland’s Matiss Zaharovs are all expected to compete.
Saturday’s show at the 15,000-capacity ING Arena has a lengthy 16 fights booked up for it. There are many other interesting European prospects set to appear, with two big names on the card, in my opinion, being 2024 PFL Europe Flyweight Champion Paulina Wisniewska and undefeated featherweight Ibragim Ibragimov. This card doesn’t have Patrice Evra’s MMA debut… No word on if that will ever happen.
Here’s what to expect on Saturday:
Main Card (11:00AM EDT / 6:00PM CEST) (PFL App)
Bout 16: Patrick Habirora (6-0) vs. Danny Roberts (18-8) (Welterweight)
Bout 15: Taylor Lapilus (21-4) vs. Ali Taleb (12-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 14: Mahio Campanella (7-1) vs. Matiss Zaharovs (7-3) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 13: Anas Azizoun (5-1) vs. Gustavo Oliveira (10-2) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 12: Julien Pierre Lopez (7-4-1) vs. Jan Cieplowski (8-0) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 11: Boris Mbarga Atangana (5-0) vs. Bruno Santos (3-3) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 10: Ibragim Ibragimov (9-0) vs. Mathys Duragrin (4-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 9: Nicolas Di Franco (10-4-1) vs. Catalin Safta (6-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Gatano Pirrello (16-7-1) vs. Salvatore Liga (5-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: Fahdi Khaled (2-0) vs. Levi Batchelor (1-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Adam Meskini (9-3) vs. Tiziano Ferranti (10-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 5: Khamzat Abaev (5-0) vs. Chequina Noso Pedro (9-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 4: Movsar Ibragimov (6-0) vs. Gerardo Fanny (14-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Dean Garnett (12-3-1) vs. Toumas Gronvall (12-8-1) (Bantamweight Quarter-Final)
Bout 2: Paulina Wisniewska (5-0) vs. Jessica Cunha (9-4) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: Salvo Giudice (1-0) vs. Brice Belghazi (1-1) (Welterweight)
Like I said, it’s a quiet week, with little to no action happening in the U.S. With that being said, here are a few other events I found in the upcoming schedule…
This year’s welterweight tournament on “The Ultimate Fighter” will continue with its quarter-final round on Tuesday night, when Mexico’s Alex Sanchez (15-3) takes on American prospect Matt Dixon (11-1). After getting his sole pro loss on the 2020 season of the “Contender Series” and dropping out of a fight on the show last year due to injury, Dixon will try to take the longer path of working through a “TUF” bracket to earn a UFC contract. The 29-year-old Oklahoma-based prospect will try to overcome Perez, who has gone on an impressive run of seven wins since 2021, including title fights in Combate Global and A1 Combat, as well as victories around the Mexican regional scene. This year’s “TUF” has honestly been a season full of entertaining fights with notable prospects. We’ll see if this week can deliver like past episodes have. (Watch: ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Undefeated Australian prospect Marwan Rahiki (5-0) will try for his second regional MMA title this Saturday when he faces Gabriel Schlupp (6-1) for the Beatdown Promotions Featherweight Championship in Queensland. Rahiki has won all five of his past pro fights via stoppage, including a title victory at HEX Fight Series 35 just over a month ago. Past wins also include a 28-second body shot stoppage and a spinning back kick knockout. Brazil’s Schlupp is returning for the first time since suffering his sole pro loss to “Road To UFC” competitor Sebastian Szalay. (Watch: DAZN)
Former Bellator fighter and ex-BAMMA champ Ryan Scope (10-4) will return for the first time in nearly five years this Saturday when he fights Aron Leo (3-0) in the main event of Caged Steel 40. Scope signed with Bellator back in 2018 following a highly impressive run on the U.K. regionals. He went 0 for 3 in Bellator, albeit getting matched against big names like Patricky Pitbull and Alan Omer. Back in the cage for the first time since October 2020, he’ll try to stop the momentum of Leo, an Icelandic fighter who earned a trio of wins in his rookie year as a pro. (Watch: Millions.co)
Boxing update: Harlem Eubank (21-0), cousin of Chris Eubank Jr., will get the biggest matchup of his career thus far when he headlines a card this Saturday at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, against former welterweight world champ Jack Catterall (30-2). Eubank will be defending his IBF Inter-Continental title, which he obtained earlier this year with a 10th-round knockout of Tyrone McKenna. He now takes a significant step-up test by facing Catterall, who is returning after losing an interim world title fight to Arnold Barboza Jr. in February. (Watch: DAZN)