Image credit: UAE Warriors
Will Fleury vs Anthony Salamone added to PFL Cardiff Show on August 13
A light heavyweight fight between Ireland’s Will “F’n” Fleury (10-3) and France’s Anthony “Ours Blanc” Salamone (7-0) is set to take place on PFL’s August 13th card in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. Multiple sources with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MyMMANews.com.
The Welsh event marks the first UK show for the American-based MMA promotion, who recently announced their expansion into Europe. London’s Copperbox Arena will play host to a second event on Saturday August 20th, with undefeated UK prospect Dakota Ditcheva making her promotional debut.
Though PFL and multiple outlets initially reported that Fleury was set to square off with Norwegian light heavyweight Kenneth Bergh (9-1), this matchup was never agreed upon, and ultimately didn’t come to fruition.
OFFICIAL: All bouts are confirmed for our 2022 #PFLPlayoffs Cardiff Fight Card going down Saturday, August 13th!
— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 12, 2022
🎟️ https://t.co/mikaXbcMoS pic.twitter.com/3IVgx5KukT
Both Fleury and Salamone usually compete at middleweight, but the pair will tip the scales for a light heavyweight bout under the Professional Fight League banner.
SBG Ireland’s Fleury enters the contest off the back of winning the UAE Warriors middleweight title in March, with a dominant performance over the former light heavyweight champion Tarek Suleiman (12-7). The 33-year-old brings a wealth of experience having fought for a number of promotions, including a 6-fight spell with Bellator. Fleury has competed once before at light heavyweight, losing an EFM championship fight to Maciej Różański in 2020. The Tipperary native will be aiming to extend his 3-fight win streak when he locks horns with Salamone.
Undefeated French prospect Anthony Salamone fights out of Team AFC in Roubaix, France. Salamone is a multiple-time French champion in greco roman wrestling, and “Ours Blanc” or “White Bear” in English was recently promoted to blue belt in BJJ. Though he began his pro career in 2012 aged 17, Salamone has notched just 7 pro fights in the past decade. His most recent victory came in September 2021, defeating Kevin Del (3-5-1).
The main card of PFL 8 will feature a set of welterweight and heavyweight playoff bouts from the promotion’s current season. (#1) Rory MacDonald and (#4) Magomedov Umalatov will face off in the welterweight semi-finals at the top of the main card, which will air on ESPN. Fleury vs Salamone will air on ESPN+.
