Renan Ferreira to Fight Maurice Greene as Part of Professional Fighters League’s Big Apple Semifinal Fights

Renan Ferreira is preparing for a battle in the Big Apple

The 33-year-old Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter will compete as part of the Professional Fighters League’s final two semifinal dates in its return to New York.

Renan FerreiraFerreira, a knockout artist, will take on Maurice Greene in the August 18 main event, a heavyweight semifinal.

A lightweight semifinal between Shane Burgos and Clay Collard will headline an August 23 card.

Both cards will take place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. The men’s heavyweight and women’s featherweight division semifinals will be August 18, with the men’s lightweight and welterweight semis set for August 23. The August 23 main card will kick off with an amateur bout involving Muhammad Ali‘s grandson, Biaggio Ali Walsh.

The PFL previously announced the men’s featherweight and light heavyweight playoffs, scheduled for August 4 in San Antonio. The winners of the semifinal matchups will fight later this year for the PFL’s $1 million divisional championships.

Ferreira (10-3) is coming off a 50-second knockout of Matheus Scheffel on June 16 in regular-season competition. He has just one loss in eight PFL fights.

Greene (11-8), a training partner of Jon Jones, went 1-1 in the regular season. The 37-year-old New York native is a UFC veteran.

Burgos (16-4) got into the playoffs when the PFL suspended Natan Schulte and Raush Manfio for not fulfilling contractual obligations in a lackluster regular-season bout. Burgos, who is 32 and from New York, is coming off a unanimous decision win over Yamato Nishikawa on June 23.

Collard (23-10, 1 NC), who also has boxing experience, went 2-0 in the regular season, including a second-round TKO of Stevie Ray on June 23. Collard, 30, is 5-2 in the PFL.

Here’s a look at the upcoming PFL cards:

Aug. 18
ESPN card
Heavyweight semifinal: Renan Ferreira vs. Maurice Greene
Women’s featherweight semifinal: Larissa Pacheco vs. Olena Kolesnyk
Heavyweight semifinal: Denis Goltsov vs. Jordan Heiderman
Women’s featherweight semifinal: Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Amber Leibrock
Nathan Kelly vs. Damion Nelson

ESPN+ Card
Chris Mixan vs. Eddie George
Abraham Bably vs. Anthony Wint
Danilo Marques vs. Satoshi Ishii
Laureano Staropoli vs. Ben Egli
Kaytlin Neil vs. Maira Mazar
Louis Sutherland vs. Daiqwon Buckley

Aug. 23
ESPN card
Lightweight semifinal: Clay Collard vs. Shane Burgos
Lightweight semifinal: Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Bruno Miranda
Welterweight semifinal: Sadibou Sy vs. Carlos Leal
Welterweight semifinal: Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Magomed Umalatov
Amateur bout: Biaggio Ali-Walsh vs. TBA

ESPN+ card
Alexei Pergande vs. Shawn Stefanelli
Mostafa Rashed Neda vs. Korey Kuppe
Abigail Montes vs. Michelle Montague
Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. David Zelner
John Caldone vs. Nathaniel Grimard

Marlon Moraes Coming Out of Retirement with Multi-Fight PFL Deal

Marlon Moraes is making a comeback…

The 34-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC bantamweight title challenger  has decided to come out of retirement, and will do so under a new multi-fight deal with Professional Fighters League (PFL).Marlon Moraes In addition to the new deal, Moraes (23-10-1) has agreed to a featherweight matchup against Shane Burgos (15-3) on the promotion’s tournament finals card later this year.

Multiple sources told ESPN contracts haven’t been signed for the bout, but verbal agreements are in place.

The PFL has not announced an official date or location for the event, although it is expected to take place in November.

Moraes walked away from the sport earlier this year following a four-fight skid in the Octagon, but figures to be a prominent new face in the PFL’s season format. He’s actually returning to his former home, in a sense. Moraes was a 135-pound champion at World Series of Fighting, which was rebranded into the PFL in 2017.

Originally from Brazil and now fighting out of Florida, Moraes came within one win of becoming a UFC champion in June 2019, when he came up short in a vacant title bid against challenger Henry Cejudo. He went on to drop four of his next five, although he was fighting the very best of his weight class in the likes of Song YadongMerab DvalishviliRob Font and Cory Sandhagen.

Burgos, of New York, also signed a new deal with PFL this year. The 31-year-old fought exclusively in the UFC from 2106 to 2022. He has fought some of the top names of the division during his career. Following his signing with PFL, UFC president Dana White went so far as to admit the promotion made an error in not keeping Burgos on its roster.

Shane Burgos Reveals Plans to Join the Professional Fighters League (PFL)

Shane Burgos is makin’ money moves….

The 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican professional mixed martial artist has announced plans to join the Professional Fighters League (PFL).

Shane Burgos Burgos, a popular featherweight fighter, announced his plans to leave the UFC on Monday’s The MMA Hour.

Burgos fought out his UFC contract with his win over Charles Jourdain on July 16, becoming a free agent.

He said he’ll likely compete in PFL before the end of the year in an out-of-season fight and then enter either the lightweight or featherweight PFL season in 2023.

It’s a two-season contract with PFL, Burgos said. PFL season champions make $1 million in addition to their fight purses.

“I like the idea of the [season and playoffs] format being black and white,” Burgos told host Ariel Helwani. “There’s no gray area.”

Burgos said PFL offered him a significant raise, a deal where he would make in one fight what it took him multiple fights in the UFC to make. He did not go into specifics on the numbers, but said PFL will also offer him commentary opportunities in the future, which has been a post-career goal of his. Burgos said by the end of next year, he believes here’s a good chance he’ll be a “multi-millionaire.”

“I’m going to make the absolute most out of this deal,” Burgos said. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave the UFC, Burgos said. Being a UFC fighter and potential champion has been a goal of his since he was a child. But Burgos said from a financial standpoint signing with PFL was a “no brainer.”

Burgos (15-3) is on a two-fight winning streak. The New York native has won four $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses in his last 10 fights and is known as an action fighter.

Burgos has won five of his last seven bouts overall.

Edson Barboza Agrees to New Deal with UFC, Sets Fight Against Shane Burgos

Edson Barboza is staying put in the UFC, and he’s lining up his next opponent…

The 35-year-old Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer, a UFC featherweight, has agreed to battle Shane Burgos  in May, according to their teams.

Edson Barboza

The 145-pound bout will take place at UFC 262 on May 15. The UFC hasn’t announced an official venue for the pay-per-view event.

In addition to the bout, Barboza (21-9) has signed a new deal with the UFC. The Brazilian fighter had expressed interest in testing free agency in 2021 but ultimately elected to sign an extension with the promotion he has fought for since 2010.

“We’ve renewed with the UFC, with the understanding Edson wants to be extremely active,” Barboza’s manager Alex Davis told ESPN. “We believe Edson has a good chance to be a contender at featherweight. All the conditions are there now. It’s up to the UFC to give him fights that make sense, and it’s up to Edson to win those fights.”

Burgos (13-2), of New York, shared his excitement on the matchup.

“This is the one,” Burgos told ESPN. “I only want big fights, and this one feels huge. Everyone knows Edson. I’ve been watching him fight in the UFC since I was fighting amateur. I plan on making the absolute most out of this opportunity.”

Burgos is coming off a decision loss to ranked contender Josh Emmett in June, which was his only appearance of 2020. Before that setback, the 29-year-old had won three in a row.