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.
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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.
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The opening night of the PFL's 2021 season saw three upsets led by Collard, Marcin Held and Bubba Jenkins.
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Here's how PFL 1 went.Â
PFL 1 cardÂ
- 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)