Raush Manfio Believes He Already Passed His Toughest Test Ahead of PFL Finals

Raush Manfio is headed for the biggest fight of his career, but he believes he’s already passed his hardest test of the season.

Manfio (14-3, 3-0 PFL) is speeding towards the chance to win a $1 million prize and capture the 2021 Professional Fighters League lightweight championship. Decision victories marked the path of “Cavalo de Guerra” to the finals as he edged Joilton Lutterbach and former World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Anthony Pettis in narrow split decisions before taking a unanimous decision from Collard in the semifinals. When asked about his thoughts on the upcoming tilt with Loik Radzhabov, who earned a ticket to the PFL championships as well, the Brazilian stated that he's already passed his most challenging test.

“I think in the fight against Clay Collard, I [risked] more than [with] Loik,” the 29-year-old told Sherdog. “Loik is extremely dangerous in the first round, but his stamina always goes like down, down, down, down. I am the opposite. In the first round, [my performance] is low, in the second it’s good [and] in the third, it’s at its best. The fourth and the fifth, the fight’s over. I grow with the fight and I think he does the opposite. If the fight goes too long, I think it’s better for me. I like the match of this fight, a lot of respect for him, [he’s] a really, really good and tough fighter, I know he has the power to knock me out, he’s a good wrestler. I respect him, but I personally believe this is going to be a better fight for me than with Collard.”

The American Top Team standout also opened up about his hard-fought battle with Collard, the ability to change his nickname, how he’ll invest the money in case of victory and much more.

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and now he covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.