PFL 4
Clay Collard vs Alex Martinez
Collard is a guy we were very high on in last years tournament. He is a former UFC alumni who fought the likes of Gabriel Benitez and Max Holloway back in the day. He’s been fighting for as long as I can remember and now a days he stays busy by taking boxing fights during the PFL “off season” last tournament he beat Anthony Pettis and Lutterbach to advance to the semi finals where he ran into Raush Manfio. He lost that fight and Manfio went on to win the entire tournament. Watching that fight back I’m really not sure how collard lost that. He won the first two rounds easy. He throws an excellent jab, rips hard to the body and uses those body shots to set up a nice 1,2 over the top. He throws a ton of low leg kicks and kicks to keep opponents at range. When in tight he does really nice clinch work. His dirty boxing is some of the best in the game and he mixes in knees that often find the mark. A boxer at heart but very well rounded. He was knocked out in his last boxing match, back in December, but it was against a monster in yoelvis Gomez. Collard showed toughness and never stopped throwing punches back despite being rocked hard. It was a standing tko. He was never out cold. His combos against Jeremy stephens were ridiculous. Collard is one of the best strikers in the sport
Martinez had so much hype coming into the pfl and has shown why. He beat one of the toughest guys the pfl has to offer in Loik in his first fight in the organization. He then fought Natan Schulte to a split decision and lost a rematch to Loik. They have been giving him no breaks. He has excellent footwork. Comes from a Taekwondo background. He isn’t scared to grapple. He showed against Loik and Schulte that he doesn’t stop working off his back and when given the chance he can reverse position. He was actively looking for his own takedowns against Loik and landing them. Once on the ground he was able to transition to mount. This kid is no joke and just beat a ufc vet in Stevie Ray
Martinez is good , but collard has looked like a champion. Collard batters Martinez on the feet and defends takedowns. Wouldn’t be shocked if collard gets the finish
Antonio Carlos jr vs Bruce Souto
Shoeface is a guy I tried to fade all last tournament. It didn’t work out for me at all, as he went on to win the entire thing. He’s a grappler by trade, but he is very long with a 79 inch reach. He has a nice jab and does have some power. He’s slow and plodding on the feet. He looks to bring all his fights to the ground. Once it’s on the ground it’s his world. He has excellent subs and showed that against Martin hamlet. He got the fight down with a little over a minute left and got the rear naked. He is willing to stand and strike. Doesn’t rush the takedown. He won his last fight in 28 seconds. That fight was a big mismatch to begin with
Bruce Souto is a Brazilian wrestler. We won some money on him in PFLs challenger series. He hadn’t shown much finishing ability prior to that fight, but he came out and won by flying knee. Dude was on a serious winning streak before getting finished by Wilkinson. He has the athleticism and wrestling to be a problem for a lot of fighters.
Bad matchup for Souto. I can’t wait to fade Shoeface later in the tournament, but this isn’t it. Shoeface by sub
Olivier Aubin Mercier vs Raush Manfio
Mercier is a former UFC fighter. He had some good wins in the UFC including wins over Anthony Rocco Martin and Drew Dober. He then lost 3 in a row and got cut from the organization. He joined the PFL and is 3-0. He beat Held and Horcher and Schulte by split Dec. Three very game opponents. He is a grappler. He is a judo black belt and looks to push opponents up against the cage and drag them down. His striking is a bit herky jerky, but he does come with power. He leaps into his opponents with a long 1,2. He is massive for the division. Uses his cardio and strength to win fights
Manfio is our guy. We interviewed him after his Million dollar tournament win last year and he couldn’t be cooler. His story is incredible and it makes you realize why the guy is as tough as he is. He won his last 4 in a row against all killers. Manfio has a piston for a right hand. He sets it up will with his jab and launches himself into the fire with that right hand. He thrives in the clinch where he utilizes good uppercuts and knees. Manfio is jacked. Almost always has the strength advantage. He was losing his last fight early, but that right Juan’s was consistently finding its mark and eventually it put his opponent away. It was not luck. That punch was set up perfectly and he consistently landed it throughout the fight
This is an interesting fight and you know Raush will want to come out and avenge the loss of his best friend in Schulte. Raush is the dog again and I’ll keep betting him until he starts getting some respect. Raush by Dec
Jeremy Stephens vs Myles Price
Jeremy Stevens is a guy we know very very well. He’s a ball of power. He comes to every fight with intensity. He swings winging hooks with bad intentions. He is constantly moving forward looking to put your lights out. He’s an interesting fighter because he has only ever fought top UFC competition, but he has a TON of losses. He’s lost his last 6 in a row, besides the no contest against Yair and he’s lost 14 of his last 22 fights. Winning at less than a 50 percent clip. Is that because he’s facing the best of the best? Very possibly. Is it because his style is outdated and incredibly bearable? Also very possible. He showed his toughness in his last fight, but it weaknesses also showed itself. His style is not sustainable
Prior to the Pettis fight Price hadn’t fought in 3 years. His last win was a very good fight over Peter Queally. In that fight he continually walked queally down forcing him against the cage. Against the cage he made it a dirty fight. He worked the body really well in that fight. He has put in some work with khabib in the past. His return was not successful. He got choked out by Pettis in the first round
This is a worse matchup for Price than the Pettis fight. Stephens gets his first pfl win by knockout
Omari Ahkmedov vs Teodoras Aukstuolis
We called Ahkmedovs last fight exactly and won a shit ton of money on that card. Teodoras is not good at all. Ahkmedov takes him down early and ends up getting the sub. Love the under in this fight. Big time mismatch
Marcin Held vs Natan Schulte
Schulte is a two time PFL champ. He is training partners and best friends with last years champ Raush Manfio. Schulte didn’t get a shot last year after going 1-1 with a split decision. This did not get him enough points for the playoff. When asked about what happened last year Schulte had this to say “I didn’t fight very well. Not 100%. Not like 2018, 2019. But this year, I’m very angry, for fighting. Like a shark on the ground. [I’m going to] finish my opponents.” Even though he wasn’t happy with the performance against Alexander Martinez, it was a pretty dominant one. I didn’t agree with the split at all. Schulte dominated with his grappling. He has excellent judo trips and throws and is one of the best I’ve seen in a scramble. Never takes bottom, will keep working till he ends up on top. His striking is sharp, however he can be hit. Very well rounded and has fought great competition throughout his career. He lost a very very close fight to OAM in his last fight and I expect him to be looking for a finish here
Held is a guy that’s been around forever. He’s good everywhere and has excellent bjj. He always comes in shape and he owns a win over Schulte back in 2021. Helds striking has come a long way and he’s a hard fight for anyone.
Schulte said he’s looking for a quick finish and states he has confidence from past training with Held “He did a camp [at American Top Team] once, I think he only stayed there for two months and I remember we trained together, we sparred, and that gives me confidence because I remember how we did in training and in the fight.” Love hearing that. Taking Schulte here
Delan Monte vs Emiliano Sordi
Monte didn’t get to show himself in his pfl debut. He got crushed by shoeface, He’s 8-2 with 6 finishes. His other loss was 4 years ago and it was by sub. He hits like a truck, he’s super aggressive and he has looked slick on the ground. He looks for takedowns off of wild scrums. He is hitable. Low level of comp
Sordi looked like dog shit in his last fight. Like real real bad. He looked done. Historically Sordi is a beast, but idk if that guy is still with us. Hard to even breakdown Sordis tape for this fight because I’m not sure his old fights matter too much anymore
The shell of Sordi should still beat Monte, but I won’t bet on Sordi after that last performance
Rob Wilkinson vs Viktor Pesta
Wilkinson is a boxer who is known for getting knocked out by Israel Adesanya. He is a knockout artist himself. Most of his wins coming by tko in the first round. He says he is in a much better spot mentally now than he’s ever been. He admitted to struggling with mental health and burn out. He takes confidence in the fact he’s trained with jimmy Crute and Izzy and feels like he knows what he can do and he proved it by getting the tko win in his last fight.
Pesta was a former ufc heavyweight and got finished by Derrick Lewis, tybura and Oleinik before getting cut. He trains at Sanford mma and at 205 he is massive. He hits hard, but leaves his chin wide open in doing so. We called his last fight exactly
Pesta has major holes in his striking defense and Wilkinson will exploit them. Wilkinson gets another tko
Josh Silveira vs Martin Hamlet
Silveira is one of the best prospects the pfl has. This kid got interest from the ufc and Bellator, but picked the pfl. He has excellent submissions, good striking. Has great kicks and he has a great gas tank. Said he wants to take hamlet to deep waters and finish him. Trains at American top team. Fought at 185 said he’s not worried at all about weight cut.
Hamlet is an ELITE wrestler. He showed that in his last fight against Teodoras and against Cory Hendricks before gassing and getting subbed. He also has a loss in similar fashion to modestas Bukauskas. He’s got heavy hands and wrestling. Meat and potatoes fighter
I like the new guy! Hamlet tends to gas in round 3 and give up. Taking Silveira by late sub
Bruno Miranda vs Nate Jennerman
Canceled