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

Collard had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Patricky Pitbull at PFL 2: 2024 Regular Season on 12th April 2024 by knockout in the 2nd round at The Theater at Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to AJ McKee Jr at PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS on 24th February 2024 by submission in the 1st round at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by 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.

Before that, he had beaten 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.

He had defeated Stevie Ray at PFL 6 on 23rd June 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round at Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta.

Activity check

Collard's last 5 fights had come over a period of 10 months and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 2 months and 2 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 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.