Clay
Collard
feels motivated to go for the gold yet again in his
fourth
Professional Fighters League season.
“I’m focused on getting that belt,” he told Sherdog.com. “It’s
eluded me a few times. In my first year, I feel like I got the rug
pulled out from under me after winning a fight and not getting a
chance to fight for it. In the second year, I lost a real close
split decision. In the third year, we made it to the championship
and came up short once again [against
Olivier
Aubin-Mercier]. I’m really focused on getting that belt. That’s
the main goal. The [$1 million] prize is a bonus.”
Collard faces
Patricky
Freire in a
PFL 2 lightweight showcase this Friday inside The Theater at
Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. Freire, a former lightweight champion,
joined
Bellator
MMA in 2011. The promotion was absorbed into the Professional
Fighters League in 2023. Collard embraces the challenge.
“I think it’s great news for mixed martial arts,” he said. “It
definitely makes my job a little tougher to win that million
dollars. I think only one [lightweight] guy from last year is
coming back, and that’s
Bruno
Miranda. We got a whole bunch of new talent, a bunch of tough
guys, and it’s really exciting news. I think it’s going to put on
some great shows.”
Collard and his team have taken the time to break down Freire’s
style. He already envisions his win over the dangerous
Brazilian.
“He claims he’s a striker, but I bet after the first round, he’s
trying to take me down. I bet we see him trying to wrestle first.
He does have a little bit of power in his hands,” Collard said.
“From what I’ve seen, he’s not super active. He just looks for
those big shots. He looks for counters. He looks to try to catch
you and put you away with one big one, so I plan on getting in his
face and being more active than him, winning the rounds in that
sense, and just putting my hands on him. Hopefully, he’s down to
stand there and bang with me because everybody that’s tried that so
far has gotten beaten up.”
Primarily based out of Four7 Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts in
Lehi, Utah, Collard trains under coaches Jason Mertlich and
Rad
Martinez. Added to grueling training sessions are hundreds of
miles on the road to Idaho for additional work at Family Boxing in
Twin Falls and Colossal Fight gym in Pocatello.
“As far as preparation goes,” Collard said, “I’m doing every single
thing possible to be well-rounded and get the win.” He expects a
friendly crowd in Las Vegas, even though he does not believe it
will impact the result of the fight. “I think I’m a fan-favorite
kind of fighter. We definitely love having the fans on our side,
for sure. Does it really matter for the outcome of the fight? No,
not in my opinion. Noise is noise to me. Whether they’re booing or
cheering, it’s still noise, but we definitely like when they’re
cheering for us a lot more. That’s for sure.”
In the end, all thoughts of winning come back to home and
family.
“You know, the money will help to take care of my family and set me
up,” Collard said. “I got four kids, and they’re expensive. That’ll
definitely help the cause, but fighting is my passion. Since the
start of this, I’ve wanted to be a world champion, so that’s what
I’m working towards. We’re just excited to get in there and do it
again.”