Tag: PFL 2023

Clay Collard doesn’t fully agree with PFL season points system: ‘Two wins should outweigh a knockout’

Does Clay Collard have a point about this potential flaw in the PFL regular season scoring system?

[autotag]Clay Collard[/autotag] is very much enjoying what the PFL brings to MMA, but that doesn’t mean he thinks the system is perfect.

The veteran lightweight fighter is all for the unique season format and points system that comes with fighting under the PFL banner, contrary to the traditional matchmaking model for most promotions. Yet, despite the politics being somewhat stripped out of the PFL, Collard doesn’t fully agree with the allocation of points throughout the season.

“I think two wins should outweigh a knockout just because it’s win-win (vs.) win-loss,” Collard told MMA Junkie Radio. “In my opinion, two wins should outweigh the one win, because anybody can get lucky and catch somebody. It takes more to win (twice), you know. That I kind of have a question with.

“Other than that, I do like the point system. I like that there are no politics. The only problem people and I have to watch out for is the judges.”

It doesn’t happen often, but if there’s a tie at the end of a PFL season, the fighter that qualifies is determined by head-to-head – meaning if one has lost to the other previously in the season. And if they haven’t, the fighter with the most finishes goes through, something Collard doesn’t agree with.

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Collard (22-10) returns to the cage this Friday at 2023 PFL 6 at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. He takes on Stevie Ray (25-12). The main card of the PFL event airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

Ray currently has zero points after losing his first bout of the season. The Scottish fighter needs a first-round finish if he wants to keep stay alive to potentially qualify for the playoffs.

Collard, who has three points, is well aware of the position his opponent finds himself in, but he isn’t intimidated by the urgency Ray should bring.

“Zero points, so he’s definitely going to be coming at me,” Collard said. “I’m a durable guy. I’m hard to finish. I’m hard to put away. I think my skill set is better than his. We’re looking for the finish, we’re looking for the six points, and I’m not really worried about that, you know. He’s locked in that cage with me.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 6.

PFL’s Josh Silveira thankful for first professional loss: ‘It was the best thing that happened to me’

Josh Silveria sees a bright side to his first professional defeat.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] is feeling great as he returns to the cage coming off his first professional loss. You read that correctly.

The PFL light heavyweight is thankful to have come up short in a unanimous decision against American Top Team teammate Omari Akhmedov this past August. It was a tough pill to swallow at first because it was Silveira’s (9-1) first professional defeat. But now days away from a return at PFL 2023, Week 1 on Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Silveira is thankful to have experienced defeat.

“After my loss, I sat there and tried to analyze a bunch of reasons of how and why I lost,” Silveira told reporters at Thursday’s media day. “We could sit there and cry about it over and over again. I even blamed the mullet, like, ‘Oh, the mullet was flying everywhere, and I wasn’t getting hit.’ There were these moments where I almost had to appreciate the downfall a little bit to appreciate the uprising to get back on my feet.

“I always tell people, ‘Don’t stay too high in the highs, (and) don’t stay too low on the lows – always try to keep yourself in the middle.’ Unfortunately, for the first time in my MMA career, I was in the lows. I had to take time and literally pick myself up little by little. It sounds cliché, but it was the best thing that happened to me, that loss. … I’m happy Omari was the guy to give me the wake-up call, and I love that guy still till today. It was good for me. The loss helped me put things into perspective.”

Moving forward, Silveira won’t focus too much on the future or past. He wants to live in the present and take things fight by fight.

“I think the pressure is always going to be there,” Silveira said. “It’s a fight. I always tell the guys I try to approach a fight like I’m 0-0. Unfortunately, this is a very glorious sport and it’s a rough sport. People kind of remember you for your last fight. The success is good, but I tell my dad when I’m an old guy and I’m done with the sport, I’ll sit and reminisce on the memories. MMA is like, OK, you won – all right, buddy. Just keep on moving. You lost? Same concept – just keep on moving, one fight at the time until you do something for yourself. You build a future.”

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