Atlanta, GA — Entering his second fight of the 2022 PFL regular season, two-time lightweight champion Natan Schulte is on the outside looking in.
Schulte (21-5-1) dropped a split decision in his first fight of the year, against Canadian Olivier Aubin-Mercier. That’s left the Brazilian on the outside looking in under the Professional Fighters League’s points-based system.
He was no fan of the decision back in Texas, not surprisingly.
“In my opinion, I won this fight against Olivier, because I won, in my opinion, the second and third round. But the judges, that commission is a little bit crazy,” Schulte told Cageside Press during Wednesday’s PFL 4 media day. “I don’t know what happened, but in my opinion— I talked to all the coaches, not just my team but another coach. And I [asked] ‘what’s your opinion about this fight,’ and maybe all the coaches, the fighters told me ‘no, you won the fight.’ But it is what it is.”
The lesson learned, he added, is that “I need to finish. Try to finish a little bit more fast. Since the start, the first minute in the first round.” It’s not easy, Schulte admitted. Sometimes, fights just go to the judges.
For his second fight of the season, with a spot in the playoffs on the line, Schulte is facing Marcin Held. The pair also fought last year, with Held winning a unanimous decision.
“I’ve trained with him in American Top Team, and fought with him. In this second fight, I want to start a little bit more fast. Not [be] lazy, because sometimes I start to [get] lazy in the first, second, third minute in the first round,” Schulte explained. “But in this fight, I’m going to try to finish this fight before the end, and go to the playoffs.”
Noting the fight week is “very hard for all the fighters,” with everyone cutting weight, Schulte told us that he’s become accustomed to the process. The set schedule of the PFL helps with that. “Fighting in PFL, [you get] the first fight, after [comes] the second fight one month and a half, two months [out]. I control my weight,” he stated. “This is the hard part for the fighters, cutting the weight. After cutting the weight, check the scale, that’s it. Just fight.”
Last weekend, one of Schulte’s teammates at American Top Team, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, announced her retirement. Schulte offered his support to the retiring “Joanna Champion.”
“I’m happy about her career, because she’s very strong. I have the same coach,” he said. “I [told] her ‘congratulations, you’re amazing, an amazing fighter.’ I’m very happy for her career.”
Watch the full PFL 4 2022 media day appearance from Natan Schulte above.
