The Professional Fighters League (PFL) returned this evening for their first event of 2021 with PFL\u00a01.<\/p>\n
The fight card featured featherweights and lightweights and in the main event<\/a>, Anthony Pettis battled Clay Collard.<\/p>\n Anthony Pettis (24-10) was riding a two-fight winning streak ahead of tonight\u2019s headliner. He\u00a0signed with the PFL<\/a> after fighting out his UFC contract.<\/p>\n The former UFC<\/a> lightweight champ had recently earned decision wins over Alex Morono and Donald Cerrone, this after being submitted by Diego Ferreira and losing a decision to Nate Diaz.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Clay Collard (18-8) was returning to MMA for the first time since April of 2019. During his time away from the sport, the UFC veteran was\u00a0a professional boxer under the Top Rank banner<\/a>. He had six boxing fights in 2020 and eight in 2019.<\/p>\n With that said, in his MMA career, Collard went 1-3 in the UFC including having his debut against Max Holloway where he lost a third-round TKO.<\/p>\n Early on in tonight\u2019s fight, Collard used his pace and pressure to frustrated Pettis. After clearly winning the first round, he dropped Pettis twice in the second and nearly finished him. However, in the third round, “Showtime” landed a beautiful head kick that dropped Collard and followed it up with a flying knee. Yet, it wasn’t enough as “Cassius” got the decision win.<\/p>\n PFL 1 Result: Clay Collard defeats Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision (29-27 x2, 29-28)<\/p>\n Check out how the pros reacted to Collard defeating Pettis below.<\/p>\n It\u2019s bout to b showtime @Showtimepettis<\/a><\/p>\n — Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) April 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n