Clay Collard Eyes Two-Time Promotional Champion Nathan Schulte for His PFL Debut

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Clay Collard (18-8, 1 NC) is arguably one of the most red-hot prospects in the fighting world at the moment.

Besides riding a two-bout winning streak in his mixed martial arts career, he has also scored five consecutive victories in the boxing ring in 2020. Until testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, he was days away from his sixth ring appearance against Quincy LaVallais on the upcoming Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez card. That bout will not go on as planned.

Back in March, Collard, who appears in Thursday’s edition of the YouTube series “Prep Point” with Lilian Garcia, signed with the Professional Fighters League and should have competed in the PFL 2020 season before COVID-19 forced the promotion to cancel its schedule.

“I'm excited to get back to MMA, it's where I started my career, and I do love it,” Collard said. “I love mixed martial arts. I love being able to use all my tools, not being limited to just my hands.”

And when he steps into the cage again, Collard wants to get his hands on Nathan Schulte -- who claimed the PFL championship two years in a row -- as soon as possible.

“I want to take him out first. I hope I'm the last seed, and he is the first seed so that I can knock him out of the way real quick.”

Eventually, he also reflected on his stint in the UFC, which ended after "Cassius" went 1-3 in the Las Vegas-based promotion, including a defeat by the hands of the future UFC featherweight kingpin Max Holloway. Nevertheless, Collard has learned some precious life lessons from that experience that he is still carrying with him today.

“That first time with the UFC, I was a kid, and I was a wild kid. I've matured so much since then, mentally and physically. I would like to fight Max Holloway again one day. He promised me a rematch after the first fight. Fighting on that level is definitely going to help you, those are the best guys in the world. I think the PFL takes some of the best guys in the world as well. It builds confidence, fighting on that level. It helped a lot with me regaining my focus.”