$400,000 On The Line
The PFL Europe 2024 Championships draws to a close this Saturday with four divisional winners set to be crowned PFL Europe Champions and pocket a cool $100,000 (USD) each in prize money.
The event goes down in Lyon, France and will be headlined by a fascinating matchup between one of the company’s biggest French stars Abdoul Abdouraguimov and UFC veteran Laureano Staropoli.
With the finals of the bantamweight, lightweight, welterweight and women’s flyweight tournaments filling out the card, there should be no shortage of excitement during the promotion’s final event of 2024.
Let’s take a look at some of the action taking place at the LDLC Arena this Saturday night during the PFL Europe 2024 Championships.
Lazy King Returns
Abdoul Abdouraguimov (18-1) looks to make it three wins on the bounce since signing with the PFL when he faces Laureano Staropoli (13-6) in Saturday’s PFL Europe 2024 Championships main event. “Lazy King” has quickly become a firm favorite with French fans since winning his promotional debut in Paris, France in September 2023.
The Russian-born, French-based welterweight carved out a fierce reputation fighting in promotions such as Brave Combat Federation and Ares FC prior to linking up with the PFL. With twelve of his eighteen professional victories coming by way of submission, the 29-year-old is easily one of the most exciting fighters plying his trade outside of the UFC today.
His opponent, Laureano Staropoli, made his UFC debut back in 2018. He showed early promise by beating both Hector Aldana and Thiago Alves, but four defeats in a row spelled the end of his time with the world’s leading promotion.
After moving to France and racking up a trio of victories under the Ares banner, “Pepi” linked up with the PFL and now finds himself under a massive spotlight this Saturday night in Lyon.
The Next Big Thing
One of the hottest prospects in the world of mixed martial arts makes his second appearance inside the PFL SmartCage in this Saturday’s PFL Europe 2024 Championships co-main event. Patrick Habirora (4-0), a former IMMAF amateur world champion, joined the professional ranks at the beginning of this year and “The Belgian Bomber” has looked sensational throughout 2024.
The 23-year-old has finished three of his four opponents to date and made his PFL debut in front of 20,000 fans at the Accor Arena in Paris earlier this year. Habirora will face Switzerland’s Catalin Safta who makes his promotional debut in the PFL Europe 2024 Championships this weekend.
Money Talks
Lewis McGrillen-Evans (10-1) is back following his ‘fight of the year’ contender bout against Dean Garnett in September. The 24-year-old Manchester Top Team fighter will face Germany’s Alexander Luster (9-1) who has finished all nine of his professional victories to date in the bantamweight final to see who takes home the $100,000 prize.
In the lightweight final, Connor Hughes (10-1) will look to dethrone last year’s champion, Jakub Kaszuba (13-0).
Italy’s Daniele Miceli (13-5) looks to continue his fine form in the welterweight final where he will face Florim Zendeli (9-1-1). Miceli has finished both Yassin Najid and Ibrahima Mane inside one round en route to the final and he will be aiming to add the Albanian to his list of victims on Saturday.
And finally in the PFL Europe 2024 Championships, Valentina Scatizzi (3-3), a beaten semi-finalist in the women’s flyweight tournament, replaces her injured conqueror Shanelle Dyer and will face Poland’s Paulina Wisniewska (4-0).
Check out the full PFL Europe 2024 Championships fight card below
Abdoul Abdouraguimov (18-1) vs. Laureano Staropoli (13-6) Welterweight main event
Patrick Habirora (4-0) vs. Catalin Safta (5-2) Lightweight co-main event
Mickael Groguhe (5-2) vs. Lamine Sene (5-7) Heavyweight
Lewis McGrillen-Evans (10-1) vs. Alexander Luster (9-1) Bantamweight final
Connor Hughes (10-1) vs. Jakub Kaszuba (13-0) Lightweight final
Mathys Duragrin (3-0) vs. Yassin Chtatou (2-4) Featherweight
Badr Medkouri (7-2) vs. Karrar Hammodi (8-6) Heavyweight
Mehdi Saadi (6-2) vs. Mahio Campanella (6-1) Bantamweight
Salvo Giudice (Debut) vs. Atilla Kobas (2-1) Welterweight
Florim Zendeli (9-1-1) vs. Daniele Miceli (13-5) Welterweight final
Paulina Wisniewska (4-0) vs. Valentina Scatizzi (3-3) Flyweight final
Brice Belghazi (1-0) vs. Eoin Sheridan (1-0) Welterweight
Claudio Pacella (4-2) vs. Oscar Ownsworth (8-3-1) Lightweight
