Legendary boxer Mike Tyson will be on hand for Saturday’s PFL vs. Bellator: Champs to present a customized belt to the winners of the three championship fights.
“I called Mike two weeks ago, because I thought there was nobody more fitting to award the first ever in combat sports belt that goes to a champion beating a champion than the greatest champion of all time in Mike Tyson,” PFL chairman Donn Davis said to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.
The PFL announced in November it acquired Bellator MMA and envisioned staging events pitting the starts from both promotions against one another. Saturday’s super-show will be the first joint venture since the deal.
Renan Ferreira will carry the PFL banner when he faces off with Bellator’s Ryan Bader in the main event. PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay will take on Johnny Eblen. Patricio Freire (Bellator) and Gabriel Braga (PFL) cross paths in the third bout with gold on the line.
In the case of Ferreira and Bader, the stakes will be raised. Davis told Raimondi the winner will jump to the top of the list for a headliner against Francis Ngannou down the line.
Having Tyson present will help add to the grandeur of the spectacle. Even though he has been retired since 2005, the 57-year-old remains one of the most recognizable names in boxing.
“I’m really looking forward to this because this is the unification of the two champions of different divisions and different organizations,” he said to Raimondi.