This upcoming Black Friday, Emery County’s own Clay Collard will be fighting for the title against Canada’s Olivier Aubin-Mercier (OAM) as $1 million and the Lightweight Championship will be on the line.
Cassius Clay Collard grew up in Castle Dale and graduated from Emery High School. He has been fighting professionally ever since. He had four fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), facing the former champion Max Blessed Holloway.
In 2019-20, Collard started competing in boxing professionally, where he fought a whopping 14 times in that span with a record of 8-3-3. He gained a big following during that time with his hard-nosed, relentless style as he beat numerous undefeated prospects.
In 2021, Collard signed with the up-and-coming fight promotion Professional Fighters League (PFL). The PFL has tournament-style fighting where a point system allows the fighters into the playoffs based on their performance. Collard had his first test against former UFC Champion Anthony Showtime Pettis. Collard won in a unanimous decision and solidified himself in the league. He would lose to a decision later in the tournament, and compete again the next year, losing another questionable decision in 2022.
2023 has been his year, going undefeated in the tournament with high praises from former UFC Champion Randy The Natural Couture, who commentates for the PFL. His last fight was against former UFC veteran Hurricane Shane Burgos, where Collard handed him his first loss in his home state of New York.
The 2023 PFL World Championship will have five other fights with a title and $1 million on the line. Collard and Aubin-Mercier were given the main event of the evening due to their exciting fighting styles.
Olivier Aubin-Mercier, also known as The Canadian Gangster, is coming off of a 2022 championship victory and has been undefeated in his two years with the PFL. Can Collard finally achieve his goal against one of his toughest opponents to date? We will see on Nov. 24 on Pay-Per-View and ESPN+.