Why Irish fight fans need to watch the ‘very unique’ PFL Europe Championship Finals

Why Irish fight fans need to watch the ‘very unique’ PFL Europe Championship Finals

PFL Europe Championship Finals to hit Dublin on December 8th.

PFL Europe 4 takes place on Irish soil in just over two weeks where four European champions will be crowned at Dublin’s 3Arena.

The inaugural European tournament has been a success for the promotion, with great events in Newcastle and Berlin followed by an unforgettable event in Paris.

PFL Senior Vice-President James Frewin described Dublin as ‘the epicentre of European MMA’ making it a no brainer to host the final card of the 2023 European series.

Pundit Arena asked James about the card earlier in the week: ‘We are happy with the card. I think it’s very strong, top to bottom.

I think the PFL Europe cards were always meant to be featuring the most exciting rising talent from Europe as we try and identify future world champions from Europe. It’s as stacked as it gets!’

James explained that what PFL are doing in Europe is unique and should really excite fight fans and fighters, as there is now a clear pathway to a European title, which then leads to a shot at world success.

PFL Europe comes to Ireland.

‘You win PFL Europe you go on into PFL global, you win four fights in PFL global, you win a million dollars and you become a world champion.

If you’re a rising Irish mixed martial artist, it can take you five or six years in other promotions to even come into the top five equation. That’s what we’re creating and that’s what I think the fans in Ireland should be most excited about!’

There is Irish interest in two of the four title fights as Cork man John Mitchell takes on Jakub Kaszuba in the final of the Lightweight Tournament, while fan favourite Frans Mlambo faces German bantamweight Khurshed Kakhorov for the 135lbs title.

The other two title fights on the card see Italian Valentina Scatizzi face unbeaten finisher Dakota Ditcheva for the Women’s Flyweight championship, and Jakob Nedoh fights Simeon Powell in a mouth-watering Light-Heavyweight title bout.

Nathan Kelly headlines the event in a non-title fight, showing the faith the promotion has in him to sell the event and they expect Kelly to have a big future in the promotion.

The SBG Ireland man is looking to extend his current win streak to nine, and James spoke about just how good Kelly can be: ‘He is the future of Irish mixed martial arts.

He now has a platform with the PFL to compete in the US, to compete in Dublin, to compete around the world, and he will soon become a face of the PFL.’

Nate The Great.

Irish fans will remember his namesake Nate “The Great” Kelly from the famous Conor McGregor press conference in Dublin all those years ago.

The young man has put together a big fanbase since then and is looking to shine as he fights in the 3Arena in just his fourth amateur MMA bout.

I asked James about the idea behind amateur bouts featuring on the PFL cards: “You see amateurs like Nate Kelly featuring.

That’s something we did in the US with Muhammad Ali’s grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh, who’s an amateur that’s competed, starting at the bottom of the card, but now features quite high up at the top because of his rich heritage in combat and the interest in him as an athlete.

We focus on storytelling. Nate is an amateur. We’re looking forward to watching Nate’s career develop with the PFL.”

The card is full of intriguing and exciting matchups throughout, which is a big compliment to the matchmaker Dan Hardy.

Pundit Arena hope to speak to Dan before the event to give a fully deserved breakdown of each and every fight on the card before the event on December 8th.

‘If you’re an Irish MMA fan, you know where to be on December 8, because you’ve got something that’s very unique and every fight matters.’