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.
Ferreira, 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