PFL 3 highlight videos: Clay Collard wins scrappy war with Yamato Nishikawa

The PFL 3 main card is underway, and the co-main event of the evening just witnessed ‘Cassius’ Clay Collard land a plethora of strikes in a scrappy war with Yamato Nishikawa. It was the boxing of Collard that was his key weapon, unloading a ridiculous amount of volume to both the head and body. Nishikawa had his moments, landing several buckling leg kicks, but the output of Collard proved to be too much. Collard now advances in PFL’s lightweight tournament, and moves one step closer to a huge $1M payday.

Clay Collard vs. Yamato Nishikawa play-by-play breakdown

The fighters started to exchange right away. Collard was connecting with his hands, while Nishikawa was finding most of his success with leg kicks. We got an accidental cup check to Nishikawa, but after a short break the bout got going again. Nishikawa went right back to his leg kick attack, but Collard quickly crowded him and began unloading a ton of volume. The body work of Collard was sensational. He was mixing up his levels so well that he had Nishikawa biting on almost every feint he threw. Nishikawa basically devolved into a human heavy bag.

Collard went right back to pressuring in the second act. He backed up Nishikawa to the cage, and continued on with his body work. Nishikawa was still sneaking in his leg kicks, but the volume of Collard was downright absurd. Credit to Nishikawa for being tougher than a $2 steak, because he stood there and absorbed a bunch of strikes. He started hunting for the takedown, but couldn’t solidify the position. Towards the end of the round, Nishikawa started to batter the leg of Collard, buckling him on several occasions.

Nishikawa returned to his leg kicks to open up the final round, which significantly reduced the movement of Collard. The fight drifted to the clinch, and Nishikawa went for the takedown, but Collard is the one that came up with top position. Collard was looking to drop some ground and pound, while Nishikawa was launching triangle attempts. Back on the feet, Nishikawa got hit with another cup check with just under 30-seconds to go, bringing the second pause to the fight. Down the stretch, Nishikawa kicked at the legs while Collard pushed forward behind his boxing.

The highlights

Eddie Mercado

Eddie Mercado is a writer and content creator for Bloody Elbow, and has covered combat sports since 2015. Eddie covers everything from betting odds and live events, to fighter interviews and co-hosting the 6th Round post-fight show and the 6th Round Retro. He retired at 1-0 in professional MMA, competed in one Muay Thai match in Thailand, and is currently a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu under the great Diego Bispo.

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