Clay Collard made sure to turn "Showtime" into a tough time Friday night.
Collard brought the fight relentlessly en route to spoiling Anthony 'Showtime' Pettis' PFL debut. By the time Collard's forward-fighting onslaught ended, judges saw it 29-27, 29-27 and 29-28 all in his favor at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. With the victory, Collard earns three points in the lightweight division.
After Pettis came on strong in the final minute of the first round, Collard clubbed him with a crunching body shot that dropped the former UFC lightweight champion in a heap of pain.
Following that near finish, Collard dropped Pettis again a minute later — this time with a body shot followed by a stinging right hand to the face.
Pettis did stun Collard badly with a devastating head kick in the third round, but the last-minute burst couldn't make up for the damage that Collard doled out in the first two rounds, as judges made sure that his hand was raised.
The opening night of the PFL's 2021 season saw three upsets led by Collard, Marcin Held and Bubba Jenkins.
Here's how PFL 1 went.
PFL 1 card
- Clay Collard def. Anthony Pettis (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
- Marcin Held def. Natan Schulte by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Movlid Khaybulaev def. Lazar Stojadinovic via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bubba Jenkins def. Lance Palmer by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)