UAE Warriors 72 Signs Former PFL Champ Renan Ferreira
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES— UAE Warriors has confirmed a heavyweight co-main event for UAE Warriors 72 on 23 July in Abu Dhabi, pairing former PFL heavyweight tournament champion Renan “Problema” Ferreira of Brazil with Russia’s Khusein “Beno” Adamov. The three-round contest sits directly beneath the night’s bantamweight championship main event between Asaf Chopurov (10-0) and Reece McLaren (19-9), and marks a UAE Warriors debut for both heavyweights.
Ferreira arrives in Abu Dhabi with a decorated résumé. In a single 2023 season he won the PFL heavyweight tournament and its one-million-dollar prize, finishing all three of his bracket opponents in the process. The following year he needed just 21 seconds to stop Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in Riyadh. Eleven of his thirteen career wins have ended by KO or TKO despite a recent tough run against established heavyweight opposition. This includes bouts at championship level: a super-fight with Francis Ngannou, and a PFL heavyweight title clash against Vadim Nemkov in Lyon. He makes his UAE Warriors debut looking to turn the page against another devastating finisher.
Adamov brings a different kind of finishing threat. Born in Grozny and fighting out of Akhmat Fight Club, he has ended twelve of his fourteen wins inside the distance, split between seven knockouts and five submissions. Ten of those finishes have come in the opening round. His five submission wins have come five different ways: guillotine, rear-naked choke, kimura, arm-triangle and triangle. Where Ferreira looks to end fights with his hands, Adamov can finish them anywhere they go. Both men come to finish, and at UAE Warriors 72 they share the co-main billing.
UAE Warriors 72 takes place on 23 July at Space42 Arena in Abu Dhabi and will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass. Bouts are subject to change.
