“He Heard Ngannou Is Paying Out $1million for Punching Bags”: Fans Up in Arms Against PFL Heavyweight After He Missed Weight and Ruined Ex-NBA Star’s MMA Debut

Since its launch in 2018, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has been making waves in combat sports. And to compete with the top MMA promotions, PFL has been proactively broadening its roster. 

The promotion has signed talents from both conventional and unconventional backgrounds. It includes names like former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and YouTuber-boxer Jake Paul under its roster. The promotion recently re-signed world champion boxer Claressa Shields in a multi-year deal contract.

With that being said, PFL’s latest event has met with a twist. PFL heavyweight fighter Daiqwon Buckley has missed weight by 6.4 pounds. And as the news spread, fans started reacting. 

Fans react strongly as Daiqwon Buckley misses weight

With this news going viral among the MMA community, fans took to various platforms to voice their reactions. A fan called Buckley a ‘Fat T-Rex,’ while another fan reacted, “Bullsh*t. I saw this mf riding a hoveround at Walmart last week.”

PFL heavyweights 😆 Francis is in trouble
by u/hungfit123 in ufc

The 27-year-old heavyweight has only fought once under the PFL banner. Buckley, in his PFL debut in March 2022, defeated Jon Cunningham in the second-round via TKO (punches). Prior to making headlines for missing weight, Buckley, in his first MMA fight, fought against ex-NBA star Royce White, who was also making his MMA debut. 

Buckley ruined the ex-NBA star’s MMA debut by securing a unanimous decision win. Currently, the heavyweight has a professional MMA record of 4-1, including two wins by knockout.

Read More: “Actually He Inboxed Me…”: Claressa Shields Reveals Conor McGregor’s Texts to Her Days After She Signed a Multi-Year Deal With Jake Paul’s PFL

Here are some fans’ reactions: 

• Fat T-Rex
• Bullsh*t. I saw this mf riding a hoveround at Walmart last week.
• This guy is known to eat good opponents alive
• Rumour has it, he was a career middleweight guy who didn’t stop eating once he heard Ngannou is paying out $1million for punching bags.

A fan even compared the heavyweight fighter to a ‘melted ice cream cone.’

• he’s built like a melted ice cream cone
• I mean with how terrified of Derrick Lewis Ngannou was this might be the worst thing for him.
• This guy vs Francis on another tanking pfl ppv

Daiqwon Buckley fined 20% of purse for weight miss

The 27-year-old heavyweight has been fined 20 percent of his purse for missing weight. Additionally, Louie Sutherland vs. Daiqwon Buckley will now be contested at Super Heavyweight.

The PFL heavyweight fighter is not the only fighter who missed weight for the August 18 event. Olena Kolesnyk, who is headling the co-main event against Larissa Pacheco, missed weight by 1.8 pounds. Pacheco is last year’s champion. They both will clash in the women’s featherweight semifinals.

In a shocking turn of events, Chris Mixen, a lightweight prospect scheduled to fight Eddy George on the preliminary card, allegedly didn’t show up for the weigh-ins. This led to the cancellation of the bout.

Considering the recent developments in PFL, do you think the promotion stands a chance against well-established organizations like UFC, Bellator, and ONE Championship? Comment below.

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