Collard vs McKee Jr.

Who won Collard vs McKee Jr.?

AJ McKee Jr beat Clay Collard by submission in the 1st round during the main card of PFL vs. Bellator, on Saturday 24th February 2024 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

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 McKee Jr. stats

Clay Collard stepped into the octagon with a record of 24 wins, 11 losses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

AJ McKee Jr made his way to the cage with a record of 21 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by knock out and 7 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 AJ McKee Jr's came in at 1-0-0.

The stats suggested Collard had an advantage in power over McKee Jr, with a 46% knock out percentage over McKee Jr's 29%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested McKee Jr had an advantage over Collard, with a 33% submission rate over Collard's 13%.

Clay Collard was the older man by 2 years, at 31 years old.

Collard had a height advantage of 1 inch over McKee Jr. Despite this, McKee Jr had a 1-inch reach advantage.

Collard was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 13 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 4 years earlier than McKee Jr, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 41 more professional rounds, 89 to McKee Jr's 48.

Collard vs McKee Jr. form

Collard had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Olivier Aubin Mercier at PFL 10: 2023 PFL World Championship on 24th November 2023 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at The Anthem, Washington, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Shane Burgos at 2023 PFL Playoffs: Welterweights & Lightweights on 23rd August 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Stevie Ray at PFL 6 on 23rd June 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta.

Before that, he had defeated Yamato Nishikawa at PFL 3 on 14th April 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Theater at Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas.

He had been beaten by Alex Martinez at PFL 2022 #4 on 17th June 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta.

AJ McKee Jr had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he was victorious against Sidney Outlaw at Bellator 301 on 17th November 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Wintrust Arena, Chicago, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza at Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN on 31st December 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Spike Carlyle at Bellator 286 on 1st October 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, Long Beach, United States.

Before that, he had been defeated by Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 277 on 15th April 2022 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Featherweight championship fight at SAP Center, San Jose.

He had defeated Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 263 on 31st July 2021 by submission in the 1st round in their Bellator Featherweight championship fight at The Forum, Inglewood.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Clay Collard had been fighting more than AJ McKee Jr.

Going to this contest, Clay Collard had last fought 5 months and 14 days ago, while AJ McKee Jr's last outing had been 5 months and 21 days ago.

Collard's last 5 fights had come over a period of 1 year, 10 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 4 months and 18 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 16 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.2 rounds on average.

McKee Jr's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 9 months and 7 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 21 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 McKee Jr.?

Clay Collard was a 2/1 (+200) underdog going into the contest, while AJ McKee Jr made his way into the ring at 4/11 (-280) with oddsmakers.