Ex-UFC Champion Anthony Pettis to Make PFL Debut on April 23 vs. Clay Collard
February 23, 2021
Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will make his PFL debut on April 23 vs. Clay Collard in the PFL 1 main event, per ESPN's Brett Okamoto.
Pettis (24-10) spent 10 years as a fighter for the UFC, where he defended the lightweight title once after winning it in 2013.
Pettis fought three times in 2020, going 1-2 in those matchups (a loss to Carlos Diego Ferreira before wins over Donald Cerrone and Alex Morono). After starting his career 18-2 as a professional fighter, however, Pettis has gone just 6-8 since, including losses to Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz.
The 34-year-old Pettis will face the 27-year-old Collard (18-8), who spent parts of 2014 and 2015 in the UFC and the past two years as a professional boxer.
Other lightweight matchups for the April 23 event will include Natan Schulte vs. Marcin Held; Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Joilton Lutterbach; Johnny Case vs. Loik Radzhabov; and Akhmed Aliev vs. Mikhail Odintsov.
Featherweight matchups will include Lance Palmer vs. Bubba Jenkins; Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Jason Soares; Brendan Loughnane vs. Sheymon Moraes; and Sung Bin Jo vs. Tyler Diamond.
The promotion will air on ESPN2.