Clay Collard is not a fan of infamous YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul.
Collard makes his second appearance of the 2022 PFL season on June 17 in his second straight main event. He faces Alexander Martinez, who is coming off a unanimous decision over Stevie Ray in April.
Collard thinks that Martinez is one of the toughest fights in the PFL’s lightweight division.
“I think he’s one of the toughest guys in the division right now. He hangs in there, he’s gritty. He’s got a lot of fight in him,” Collard told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview. “I think I’m a little more technical than he is. But, man, they keep giving me the tough guys, you know? … You keep lining them up, and I will keep knocking them down.”
“Cassius” plans on being more technical and cruising to a win.
“[I’m going to] go in there and do my thing, man and stay technical. I think I’m a little quicker, and I’m just going to be putting my hands on him. I’m gonna keep it at boxing range and not let him throw the long kicks that he likes to throw. I’m going to stay in his face and just stay working. We’re gonna beat him up,” Collard said.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Collard turned a lot of heads in the boxing world by knocking off some tough prospects. He initially started boxing to hone his skills to become a better mixed martial artist. And he did, because now he has some of the best boxing in all mixed martial arts.
When asked why his name hasn’t been thrown into the Jake Paul sweepstakes, Collard ripped the YouTuber turned boxer.
“Yeah, he don’t want to fight me. He’s a big dude. He keeps doing these matches where he’s fighting guys a lot smaller than him, and he outweighs. I don’t know— f*ck that guy. Pardon my language,” Collard said. “I’ve been in this sport since I was 18 years old. I’ve been fighting since I was six. The fact that people are paying him what I should be making kind of irks me a little bit. Like that guy hasn’t got hasn’t done half, not even a quarter of what I’ve done in this sport. So, he can keep taking on MMA dudes and boxing and all this and that, but in my opinion, f*ck the guy.”
Watch the rest of our exclusive interview with Clay Collard above. PFL 4 goes down Friday, June 17, 2022 in Atlanta, GA.
