Former UFC fighter David Michaud landed a spot in the Professional Fighter’s League post-season at PFL 4 2019. After the win, he discussed how strategy might change in the playoffs.
Atlantic City, NJ — From 2014 to 2015, David Michaud had a three-fight stint in the UFC, losing to Li Jingliang and Olivier Aubin-Mercier, with a win over Garett Whiteley sandwiched in between. Fast forward four years, and several promotions later, and Michaud has punched his ticket to the PFL playoffs, with a shot at a million dollars on the line.
It’s the perfect example of the opportunity the league has to offer talented fighters who aren’t making top tier money. Sure, the top UFC stars might make millions, but those are few and far between.
Of course, you have to keep winning, as Michaud pointed out following his knockout win against Handesson Ferreira at PFL 4 2019 this week.
“If you don’t make the playoffs, you don’t get paid. I’m here to get paid, I’m here to fight good guys, get good wins,” he told media outlets including Cageside Press.
The fight was a little dirty at times, with Michaud receiving both an eye poke and low blow. He doesn’t hold them against his opponent, although his vision was bothering him after the fight.
“It seems like I get poked in the eye a lot. It does piss me off. I’m not mad at him, just kind of at the situation. I wish guys would close their hands,” Michaud said. “Whenever you’re backing up, those fingers end up coming out. It happens. I’m not going to say nothing bad about him.”
The pair actually bumped into one another ahead of the fight. “We talked to him, he ended up cutting weight in the same sauna. He’s a cool guy. He doesn’t speak English, I don’t speak Portuguese, but he seemed cool.”
While his vision was mostly back to normal by the time he met the media, he’ll get it checked out anyway. And luckily, “one of my sponsors is an Optimologist, Northwest Eye Clinic, I’ll go check them out.”
Heading into the playoffs, the tournament is about to get a lot more interesting. As with last year, the PFL will feature two fights in a night for the quarter and semi-final rounds. The first fight is a quick one. “You know first fight’s two rounds. Some people think ‘I’ve got to save it for the second fight.’ But if you don’t win that first fight, you don’t fight again,” Michaud observed. Which may change up his game plan. “We’ll see, might have to throw in some more wrestling, maybe just take someone down that first round, lay on top of them. Get that first round, make it a 10-9 in my favor then I fight the second round. So we’ll see what happens.”
For those not familiar, the two-round fight that opens the playoffs, in the event of a draw, will be decided by who wins the opening frame. Making round one crucial.
Overall, however, he loves the league’s format. Especially the regular reason, which is merit based, with points for wins, and even more points for finishes. “I love it. You’re rewarded for your aggression. You’re rewarded for going out and getting after it,” said Michaud.
“You don’t want to just be a guy that goes out there, gets a takedown and just humps someone’s leg. Some people want to be that guy, I don’t want to be that guy,” he continued. “That’s not how I live my life. When I wrestled, I always went for the finish. When I played football it was something big, always doing something big. Every sport I’ve done, I’m only trying to be exciting.”
With a smile, he added “maybe I’ve just got bad cardio, so I want to get it over with.”
For more from PFL 4 2019 winner David Michaud, watch the full post-fight press scrum above.
