Collard vs Nishikawa

Who won Collard vs Nishikawa?

Clay Collard beat Yamato Nishikawa by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the co-main event of PFL 3, on Friday 14th April 2023 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Clay Collard.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

Collard vs Nishikawa stats

Clay Collard stepped into the octagon with a record of 21 wins, 10 losses and 0 draws, 10 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Yamato Nishikawa made his way to the cage with a record of 21 wins, 3 losses and 6 draws, 14 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

This was Clay Collard's 11th fight in the PFL, having made his debut for the promotion in 2021.

Clay Collard's PFL record stood at 7-4-0, while Yamato Nishikawa's came in at 0-2-0.

The stats suggested Nishikawa had an advantage in power over Collard, with a 67% knock out percentage over Collard's 48%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Nishikawa had a slight advantage over Collard, with a 19% submission rate over Collard's 14%.

Clay Collard was the older man by 10 years, at 31 years old.

Collard had a height advantage of 4 inches over Nishikawa.

Collard was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 1 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 4 years and 11 months earlier than Nishikawa, whose first professional fight was in 2016. He had fought 24 more professional rounds, 89 to Nishikawa's 65.

Collard vs Nishikawa form

Clay Collard had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Alex Martinez at PFL 2022 #4 on 17th June 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Jeremy Stephens at PFL 2022 #1 on 20th April 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Raush Manfio at PFL 2021 #7 on 13th August 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood.

Before that, he had beaten Joilton Lutterbach at PFL 2021 #4 on 10th June 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City.

He had defeated Anthony Pettis at PFL 2021 #1 on 23rd April 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City.

Activity check

Collard's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years and 12 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Collard vs Nishikawa?

Clay Collard was a 2/5 (-250) favourite going into the contest, while Yamato Nishikawa made his way into the ring at 7/4 (+180) with oddsmakers.