Clay Collard Bests UFC Vet Jeremy Stephens At PFL 1; 2021 Champs Win Big

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) opened its 2022 season on Wednesday, April 20, which saw Clay Collard defeat former UFC star Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision.

The fans at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas were treated to a three-round back-and-forth battle between Collard and Stephens.

In the end, it was Collard who walked away with the unanimous decision victory.

It was a bit of repeated history for Collard, who topped another former UFC fighter in Anthony Pettis during last year’s season opener.

Collard earned three points in his 2022 PFL Lightweight campaign.

Reigning PFL lightweight Champion Raush Manfio took an explosive first step towards a second championship run in the co-main event, knocking Don Madge out in the third round.

Manfio bucked a slow start in the first two rounds and got the job done in the final frame, blasting Madge with a vicious overhand right and ending things with ground-and-pound.

With the win, the Brazilian remains unbeaten in PFL as he attained four points to sit atop the 2022 PFL lightweight standings.

2021 PFL light heavyweight champion Antonio Carlos Jr. also got his campaign for a repeat championship off to a strong start, choking out newcomer Delan Monte in just 29 seconds.

Carlos Jr. locked in a d’arce choke to force the tap from Monte in just under half a minute into the opening round.

Like his fellow Brazilian Manfio, Carlos Jr. remains undefeated under the PFL banner and moves to the top of the 2022 PFL light heavyweight standings with six points.

Wednesday night’s fights also saw a pair of former PFL champions go down as two-time lightweight titlist Natan Schulte dropped a split decision loss to veteran Olivier Aubin-Mercier, while former light heavyweight king Emiliano Sordi absorbed a second-round TKO defeat to Cory Hendricks.

Complete PFL 1 Results:

MAIN CARD

Lightweight:

Clay Collard def. Jeremy Stephens by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Lightweight:

Raush Manfio def. Don Madge by KO (Punches) at 2:42 of Round 3

Light Heavyweight:

Antonio Carlos Jr. def. Delan Monte by Submission (D’arce Choke) at 0:29 of Round 1

Lightweight:

Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Natan Schulte by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Light Heavyweight:

Cory Hendricks def. Emiliano Sordi by TKO (Punches) at 2:13 of Round 2

Lightweight:

Alexander Martinez def. Stevie Ray by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

Light Heavyweight:

Marthin Hamlet def. Teodoras Aukstuolis by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Light Heavyweight:

Omari Akhmedov def. Vitor Pesta by KO (Punch) at 1:25 of Round 1

Light Heavyweight:

Rob Wilkinson def. Bruce Souto by TKO (Punches) at 0:46 of Round 2

Light Heavyweight (Non-Season Bout):

Simeon Powell def. Clinton Williams by KO (Knee) at 4:38 of round 3

PFL 2022 Standings

The organization returns on Thursday, April 28th with PFL 2, still set for the Esports Stadium, with heavyweights and featherweights taking center stage.

Headlining the card will be 2021 PFL heavyweight king Bruno Cappelozza taking on Stuart Austin, while 2021 featherweight finalist Brendan Loughnane faces Ryoji Kudo.