Clay Collard appears to have an inside track to a Professional Fighters League playoff berth, though the events that unfold in the coming days figure to have the final say.
“Cassius” will do battle with two-time Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Steven Ray in a three-round PFL 6 lightweight showcase on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Collard has won six of his past eight fights. He last competed at PFL 3, where he laid claim to a unanimous decision over 20-year-old Japanese prospect Yamato Nishikawa. Ray, meanwhile, enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back losses. He last appeared on April 14, when he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous verdict against Natan Schulte.
As Collard and Ray approach their high-stakes confrontation at 155 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
30: Years of age for Collard, who was born on March 10, 1993 in Payson, Utah.
10: Collard wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 45% of his career total (22). Dustin Collins, Steve Sharp and Lucas Montoya highlight his list of victims. Collard holds three other wins by submission (14%) and nine more by decision (41%).
44: Seconds needed for Collard to put away Steve Walser with punches at a Showdown Fights event on May 4, 2012. More than 11 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
248: Significant strikes landed by Collard during his four-fight stay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He absorbed 294 in return.
169: Combined victories between the 10 opponents—Alex Martinez, Raush Manfio, Darrick Minner, Tiago dos Santos e Silva, Gabriel Benitez, Max Holloway, Justin Buchholz, David Castillo, Oliver Parker and Jose Salgado—who have defeated Collard. They sport a cumulative .686 winning percentage at 169-77-1.
33: Years of age for Ray, who was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on March 25, 1990.
9: Ray victories by submission, accounting for 36% of his career total (25). His methods of choice: three rear-naked chokes, one brabo choke, one heel hook, one arm-triangle choke, one triangle armbar, one armbar and one twister. Ray owns six other victories by knockout or technical knockout (24%) and 10 more by decision (40%).
57: Rounds completed by Ray as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 15 different occasions and carries a 10-5 record in those bouts.
10: Organizations for which Ray has plied his mixed martial arts trade. In addition to his 2-3 mark in the PFL, he has gone 7-4 in the UFC, 4-2 in Cage Warriors, 4-1 in On Top, 4-0 in the Scottish Fight Challenge, 1-1 in the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts, 1-0 in Caledonian Combat, 1-0 in MMA Total Combat, 1-0 in Brawl at the Bay and 0-1 in Honour.
.749: Cumulative winning percentage between the 12 opponents—Martinez, Schulte, Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Leonardo Santos, Kajan Johnson, Paul Felder, Alan Patrick, Ivan Buchinger, Curt Warburton, Assan Njie, Nicholas Musoke and Dan Hope—who have beaten Ray. They boast a combined record of 221-73-3.
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