Clay Collard Believes He’s ‘Man to Beat’ in PFL Lightweight Field

Clay Collard is coming off an entertaining slugfest with Jeremy Stephens at PFL 1, but the Pit Elevated Fight Team representative isn’t feeling too many negative effects from that bout.

“I didn’t take too many lumps or bruises in the Jeremy Stephens fight. I got hit a couple times, but I wear them well,” Collard said at PFL media event on Wednesday.

Collard will attempt to punch his ticket to the postseason when he locks horns with Alex Martinez in the featured bout of PFL 4 on Friday night at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Collard earned three points for his win over Stephens, but he’s planning on making a more significant statement against Martinez.

“We’re hoping to put him away,” Collard said. “We needs some points for the tournament and a spot in the playoffs. I’m gonna be putting some shots on him and hopefully he doesn’t stand up to them.”

It will mark the second consecutive time that Collard is in the main event position on a PFL card. The UFC veteran and former professional boxer isn’t surprised by the prominent placement.

“It’s well deserved. I’m a main event fighter,” he said. “I’ve been that way since the beginning of my career. Ninety percent of my time I’m the most exciting fighter on a card. It’s my fighting style and who I am as a person.”

Collard also believes he’s the favorite at 155 pounds going forward, particularly with recent wins over the likes of Stephens and Anthony Pettis on his resume.

“I feel like I’m the man to beat in the tournament,” he said. “…I’m beating the top guys, so I feel like I’m the man to beat.”

Collard also weighed in on the perceived special treatment of Pettis, who has fought on a different schedule than the rest of the lightweights and was paired with Myles Price — a journeyman who hadn’t fought since 2019 — in his first regular season bout. Pettis would go on to win that fight via first-round submission. Regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, Collard is confident he can do damage in the postseason. All he has to do is get in.

“We’re just trying to win fights, man. I feel like they gave Anthony Pettis the easy man. He got his quick six,” Collard said. “Props to him for doing that. It doesn’t matter how the playoffs line up. If I’m in there, I’m winning fights.”