PFL 4: Clay Collard Would Love Second Fight with Jeremy Stephens

Atlanta, GA — Clay Collard stole the show at this year’s PFL 1 card, winning a Fight of the Year candidate against Jeremy Stephens.

Collard returns Friday in his second straight main event, taking on Alex Martinez at PFL 4.

Wednesday’s PFL 4 media day had an upbeat Collard (21-9, 1NC) saying that “I feel too good for it to be weight cut day, I’ve been telling coach that all day. I feel, like my body feels amazing, so I’m ready to get in there and get it done.”

Collard has said ahead of his second main event that he plans to unleash his inner Ninja Turtle. If you’re curious as to who that is, well, here’s your answer. “My favorite Ninja Turtle hands down in the party dude, Mr. Michelangelo.”

That makes sense. Michelangelo wields nunchaku, which Collard has been seen trying his hand at (so, too, has Nick Diaz), though he’s also been pictured with the twin Sai of Raphael.

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Asked who would perform better in a nunchaku fight, himself or Diaz, Collard laughed. “He’s probably a little better at spinning them around and looking cool, but give me a weapon and I’m a deadly man.”

There’s a more serious task at hand, of course. Collard actually sits at 3rd place in the division thanks to the three points he earned from the Stephens fight. A playoff berth is by no means a certainty. Collard appears to recognize this, and sees Martinez as a tough customer.

“I really enjoy Alex Martinez, he’s a really good kid. He’s tough, he’s gritty, he hangs in there. But I think he’s young in the sport, and I think I have an advantage in that aspect,” said Collard. “I’ve been in this a long time, and I’ve been doing this a long time. I feel like that will give me the edge, but I think he’s one of the toughest guys in the division for sure.”

If he gets past Martinez and makes the post-season, Collard doesn’t have too much of a preference as to who meets him down the line, save one name.

“We’ll see if Raush [Manfio] makes it past this guy. I’d love to fight Jeremy Stephens again, man. That was a banger. His fighting style and my fighting style match up very well, we just like to slug it out. That’s who I’d like to fight again.”

Over the years, Collard has turned heads as one of the better mixed martial artists to take up boxing. But that is on the backburner for the time being, it appears.

“I think I’m going to step away from boxing for a while. Anymore now, they want me to fight these top, top dudes and unless I’m just training boxing, that’s tough to do— to switch back-and-forth, back-and-forth. So I think right now my sole focus is on mixed martial arts for sure.”

Could a Jake Paul match-up lure him away? Only if it were in MMA. “Jake Paul? I’d tell him, ‘let’s MMA fight’ so I can kick that fool in the head.”

Watch the full PFL 4 media day appearance by Clay Collard above. The event goes down this Friday, June 17, 2022 in Atlanta, GA.