Clay
Collard is the featured attraction in his main event matchup
with Shane
Burgos at PFL 9. Just ask him.
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“The fans are raving about it because of me,” Collard said at a PFL
media day ahead of their lightweight semifinal matchup. “They want
to see me fight Shane. They don’t want to see Shane fight me. I’m
stoked to fight him. They’ve been putting his face all over
everything. You log into ESPN and you type in PFL, his face is the
first ugly mug you see, and that annoys me. I’m ready to get in
there and punch him.”
PFL 9 takes place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on
Wednesday. The main card airs ESPN and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m.
PT, while prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
Burgos wasn’t initially supposed to make the PFL playoffs, but the
situation changed when the league suspended Natan
Schulte and Raush
Manfio for what was deemed to be a lackluster fight. Without
that ruling, Schulte, not Burgos, would be in the postseason.
Collard isn’t sure why Burgos is the prohibitive favorite in their
semifinal.
“People are delusional,” Collard said. “He’s got three points. He
didn’t even earn a spot to the playoffs. He lucked out.”
After falling to defending lightweight champ Olivier
Aubin-Mercier in his PFL debut, Burgos relied on his wrestling
to outpoint Yamato
Nishikawa at PFL 6 on June 23. It’s possible that the Team
Tiger Schulmann product could adopt a similar approach against
Collard.
“I think I’m better everywhere. He’s a decent striker. I think he’s
gonna try to wrestle me, which is gonna be a mistake because I’m a
better wrestler,” Collard said. “I think I’ve got his number, and
I’m excited to prove it.”
It’s no secret that Burgos has been one of the PFL’s biggest
signings in recent years, and he’s been promoted as such. It’s hard
to blame Collard for feeling a little overlooked.
“I can’t wait until people start saying my name is the big name and
I’m the man to beat, because that’s what I believe,” Collard said.
“Shane’s got me to deal with, I don’t have him to deal with. Put
some respect on it.”