Preview: PFL 4 ‘Collard vs. Martinez’

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The second leg of the Professional Fighters League season kicks off on Friday with elevated stakes—namely, playoff positions and seeding—for the lightweights and light heavyweights on the card. PFL 4 will take place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, topped by a 155-pound clash between Clay Collard and Alex Martinez. Meanwhile, defending light heavyweight champion Antonio Carlos Jr. squares off against Bruce Souto in the co-feature. The main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while prelims air on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Now to the PFL 4 “Collard vs. Martinez” preview:

Lightweights

Clay Collard (21-9, 3-1 PFL) vs. Alex Martinez (9-2, 2-2 PFL)

Collard delivered on all expectations in an entertaining slugfest with fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens at PFL 1, winning a unanimous decision behind punching combinations to the head and body, kicks and the occasional takedown. Collard also absorbed his share of punishment against “Lil Heathen” in what will likely go down as one of the organization’s best bouts of the year. With his striking skills honed in professional boxing, few can match Collard’s volume on the feet, and his ability to mix head and body strikes often takes a toll as bouts progress. A sturdy chin enables him to exchange willingly, and his gas tank allows him to maintain a high pace. As he showed against Stephens, Collard is quite capable of throwing kicks and landing takedowns, though boxing remains his bread and butter. Martinez is an interesting—if underrated—foil. The Paraguay native has faced a difficult road in the PFL thus far, with two bouts against two-time finalist Loik Radzhabov, one against two-time champ Natan Schulte and, most recently, a clash with 11-time UFC veteran Steven Ray. Martinez has been competitive in every fight, and he is well-rounded enough to hold his own wherever the fight takes him. On the feet, he works behind solid straight punches and decent arsenal of kicks. He transitions well from striking to grappling and works to advance position or threaten for submissions on the mat. If Martinez is taken down, he maintains an active guard and will work to create scrambles for more advantageous positions or to get back to his feet. With that said, Martinez does everything relatively well, but he does not seem to excel in any one area enough to overwhelm the competition at the highest levels. Martinez was in trouble on the feet a couple times against Ray, and it seems likely that he would be outgunned if he elects to trade with Collard for an extended period of time. A better path to victory would be to keep Collard guessing by blending striking and takedowns while forcing his opponent to potentially scramble into bad positions. Collard will not wilt under pressure, however, nor will he fear anything Martinez has to offer on the feet. This looks like it could be another difficult one for the judges, but give Collard a narrow decision win on the basis of volume, pressure and cardio.


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Collard vs. Martinez
Carlos Jr. vs. Souto
Manfio vs. Aubin-Mercier
Stephens vs. Price
The Prelims