Nemkov defends the heavyweight title against Bilostenniy

Vadim Nemkov defends the PFL heavyweight title against Sergei Bilostenniy on Saturday, November 14, at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. It is a 15-fight card, the promotion’s fourth in the city and the first there since the merger with Most Valuable Promotions.

The matchups

Nemkov is 20-2, with one no contest. Nemkov submitted Renan Ferreira with an arm-triangle choke at 4:00 of the first round at PFL Lyon and won the title on December 13, 2025, and Nemkov has not fought since. Nemkov has ten knockouts and six submissions. Nemkov is unbeaten in his last 15 appearances, and PFL lists him at No. 2 pound-for-pound. All three of his heavyweight bouts ended by choke.

Bilostenniy is 15-4. He is 4-1 in the PFL and ranked No. 3, and he is the first fighter to stop Karl Williams, a punch at 4:11 of the second round on August 21, 2025. He finished Ferreira, the former champion, with a right hook at 1:56 of the third round on May 2, 2026, in Sioux Falls.

The co-main is at welterweight. Patrick Habirora meets Omar El Dafrawy, the inaugural PFL MENA welterweight champion. Habirora is 9-0, and El Dafrawy is 16-6. Habirora knocked out former UFC champion Benson Henderson with a leaping left hook at 0:20 of the first round on May 23, 2026, in Brussels, and Henderson fell to 30-13. This is Habirora’s first professional fight outside Europe. PFL lists Habirora at No. 4 and El Dafrawy at No. 5. Popov is ranked No. 1, and Pettis is ranked No. 4.

The rest of the main card, in the order PFL posted it: Pouya Rahmani vs. Oleg Popov at heavyweight, Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. David Martinez at welterweight, and Sergio Pettis vs. Joji Goto at bantamweight. Rahmani is 6-0, and Popov is 23-2. Nurmagomedov is 17-4-1, and Martinez is 17-6. Pettis is 25-8, and Goto is 21-9-1. Heavyweight is 265 pounds (120 kg), and Nurmagomedov is back after three years away.

The prelims

PFL posted ten more fights:

• Lightweight: Shem Rock (12-3-1) vs. Connor Hughes (12-3)
• Bantamweight: Lewis McGrillen (13-2) vs. Nawras Abzakh (15-6)
• Featherweight: a fighter still to be named vs. Movlid Khaybulaev (23-0-1). The October 27 list had Asaël Adjoudj.
• Lightweight: Alexei Pergande (8-0) vs. Akhmed Magomedov (11-2)
• Featherweight: Khasan Magomedsharipov (11-0) vs. Adam Borics (20-4)
• Heavyweight: Denis Goltsov (37-9) vs. Maxwell Djantou Nana (9-2)
• Welterweight: Ernesto Rodriguez (11-2) vs. Rhys McKee (15-7-1)
• Light heavyweight: Khabib Nabiev (12-0) vs. Styve Ngono (8-1)
• Women’s strawweight: Aleksandra Savicheva (8-2) vs. Jacinta Austin (9-2)

Khamzat Abaev vs. Leon Hill was on the October 27 list. It is not on the current page.

Start times

Gulf Standard Time is four hours ahead of UTC and stays there through November, and Sydney is on daylight time, eleven hours ahead of UTC.

Prelims at 6 p.m. Gulf Standard Time, main card at 10:

• Dubai: 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• London: 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
• Sydney: 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday

In New York that is 1 p.m. Eastern, and in Las Vegas it is 10 a.m. Pacific. Five fights are on the main card, with Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy at the top of the list PFL posted. The United States broadcast is the ESPN App, and STARZPLAY has the card in the Middle East and North Africa.