Brazilian heavyweights Renan Ferreira and Matheus Scheffel collide on Friday at PFL 5 in Atlanta. Both seek to enter the 2023 playoffs and win a $1 million check, and they still have a chance despite losing their first matches in April.
Ferreira and Scheffel were beaten by Rizvan Kuniev and Bruno Cappelozza, respectively, however they both earned PFL points after Kuniev and Cappelozza failed drug tests. The Nevada Athletic Commission overturned Cappelozza’s win to a no-contest, but has yet to make an official decision regarding Kuniev vs. Ferreira.
Kuniev and Cappelozza were two of 10 PFL fighters who tested positive for banned substances in the first events of the promotion’s 2023 season, and their opponents Ferreira and Scheffel discussed their reaction to the news this week on Trocação Franca.
“I’m 11 years into this professional career, and sometimes we know just by looking at them — and I’ll tell you this, I knew for sure,” Scheffel said. “When we got to the scale, I knew it. I knew he was on the juice. Who am I to judge, man? After our first fight, if I were him, I’d use every means necessary to beat me, and he did that.”
Ferreira said he also felt something “different” during his three-round contest with Kuniev, and “it all made sense” once news broke.
“I was really surprised by the amount of people that tested positive,” Ferreira said. “Ten athletes total. Every single, ‘this one failed, that one failed,’ I was like, what the f*** is going on? It’s good that the commission is alert and managed to hand them [suspensions]. We have to know where we are, what we can or can’t do. May this serve as a lesson to the others.”
Scheffel, who won a decision over Cappelozza in June 2022 to make it to that year’s final, said he had respect for Cappelozza, but “it all fell apart” in the aftermath.
“When I won the first fight, I treated him with the utmost respect, because I’ve always admired him. And when he beat me, the first thing he said was he looked at me and said, ‘Every dog has his day,’ and started laughing a lot,” Scheffel said. “I don’t know if he lacked fair play or what, but it’s all good. I’d want a third fight if we were 1-1, but now I don’t think we’ll have another one because I’m 1-0.”
Ferreira and Scheffel are tied with three points each going into Friday’s event, and both hope a win is enough to secure a spot in the semifinal.
Regardless, they feel safer after so many fighters busted for banned substances.
“This is not a no-man’s land,” Scheffel said. “You can’t use whatever you want. This is serious. Everybody is fighting for $1 million, so it’s very serious.”
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