PFL Dubai set for 15-fight card featuring Omar El Dafrawy and Vadim Nemkov

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a 15-fight card for PFL Dubai, headlined by a world heavyweight title bout between Vadim Nemkov and Sergey Bilostenny at Coca-Cola Arena on 14 November.

The event, held in partnership with Dubai Sports Council and Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, will feature five main-card fights and 10 preliminaries. It will be the PFL’s fourth event in Dubai and its first in the emirate since merging with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP).

Nemkov, the Russian champion, has a professional record of 20 wins and two defeats. He will face compatriot Bilostenny, the PFL’s third-ranked heavyweight, who has won 15 of his 19 fights.

The contest carries added significance because both fighters previously trained together under Russian MMA great Fedor Emelianenko. Nemkov enters the bout unbeaten in his past 15 appearances.

The co-main event will be contested at welterweight, over 170lb, with Belgium’s fourth-ranked Patrick Habirora taking on Egypt’s fifth-ranked Omar El Dafrawy.

Habirora has won all nine of his professional fights and will compete outside Europe for the first time. His latest victory came in Brussels, where he knocked out former UFC champion Benson Henderson in 20 seconds.

El Dafrawy, the winner of the first PFL Middle East and North Africa tournament, has a record of 16 wins and six defeats.

The main card also includes an all-heavyweight meeting between Dubai representative Bula Rahmani, who is unbeaten in six fights, and PFL number one-ranked Oleg Popov, who has 23 wins and two defeats.

Abubakar Nurmagomedov, with 17 wins, four defeats and one draw, will meet Australia’s David Martinez, who has 17 wins and six defeats, at welterweight. Former Bellator champion and fourth-ranked Sergio Pettis will face Japan’s Joji Goto at bantamweight over 135lb.

Ten preliminary fights

The preliminary programme includes a heavyweight bout between second-ranked Denis Goltsov and sixth-ranked Maxwell Djantou Nana. In featherweight contests, 10th-ranked Khasan Magomedsharipov meets seventh-ranked Adam Borics, while eighth-ranked Asael Adjoudj faces Movlid Khaybulaev.

Alexey Berkanov, ranked ninth at lightweight, will fight Akhmed Magomedov. The remaining bouts are Shim Rock against Connor Hughes at lightweight, Luis McGrillen versus Nours Abzakh at bantamweight, Ernesto Rodriguez against Rhys McKee at welterweight, and Khabib Nabiev versus Steve Ngounou at light heavyweight.

Khamzat Abaiev will meet Leon Hill at welterweight, while Alexandra Savicheva faces Jacinta Austin in the women’s strawweight division.

MVP chief executive Nakisa Bidarian said Dubai was an important part of the PFL’s development and described the event as the biggest the organisation had staged in the emirate in terms of both the number of fights and the calibre of the participants.

The preliminary fights begin at 18:00 UAE time, with the main card scheduled for 22:00. The event will be shown on STARZPLAY in 25 Middle East and North Africa markets and on the ESPN app in the United States.

The tournament forms part of Dubai’s international events calendar and its programme of major sporting and mass-attendance events.