England’s Alfie Davis claimed one of the biggest wins of his career with a first-round TKO of former PFL season finalist Clay Collard in the first round of the PFL World Tournament.
Davis faced Collard in an opening-round bout in the lightweight tournament at Universal Studios in Florida, and produced the sort of spinning techniques we’ve become used to seeing through Davis’ MMA career.
The Brit, who recently took the decision to switch teams as he departed his longtime camp at London Shootfighters to embark on a new chapter under Brad Pickett and Ash Grimshaw at Great Britain Top Team, made a perfect start to life under his new coaches as he finished Collard mid-way through the first round to advance to the tournament semi-finals.
Collard looked to establish his boxing-based striking approach early, while Davis attempted to keep things at distance, using kicks and counter punches to keep Collard at bay.
And, as Collard looked to step in to connect with a combination from the pocket, Davis landed a perfectly-timed spinning back elbow that badly rocked his opponent and sent him to the canvas.
With Collard struggling to get back to his feet, Davis swarmed his man, but smartly kept enough distance to be able to pick his shots as he connected with a succession of shots as he dropped him to a knee twice more en route to a first-round finish.
“I’ve dropped a few people with this before,” Davis told Dan Hardy after his victory.
“I know that he does this blitz. He rushes in at full speed. So I sort of thought I’d be able to get that. So yeah, it was bang on the money.”
Davis also revealed that he was very nearly knocked out of the tournament before even throwing a punch after his visa application to get into the United States went right down to the wire.
“I was one day away from not being here,” he admitted.
“The US Embassy gave me my visa. Literally, I flew, had to land, cut weight. But this is what dreams are made of.
“This tournament structure, what the PFL are doing, it’s literally making my dream come true. So thank you PFL, and thank you everyone supporting me.”
Davis is now a veteran of the game, with 24 professional fights to his name. And, after capturing victory number 18, the Englishman admitted that he’s in the perfect spot with the PFL, where the tournament structure gives him the opportunity to progress to the top.
“I’m living my teenage dream,” he said.
“As a teenager, I fought on the kickboxing circuit. Every month, I was competing in tournaments – fight, and you go through, fight, and you go through. This is exactly what I needed.
“I want to fight four times a year. I’ve been saying that for so long, and now I’m going to get three in by August. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Davis will move on to face former Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus, who submitted Vinicius Cenci to book his place in the lightweight final four.
It’s a semi-final matchup that pits Davis’ striking against Primus’ superb submission game, and it’s a test “The Axe Man” is looking forward to taking on.
“Brett’s very good. He’s got a very good back take, he’s got a nice rubber guard, very nice jiu-jitsu. I definitely have the advantage on the feet, but we’ll see how nice his ‘jits’ is.”
PFL World Tournament 3: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Fabian Edwards def. Impa Kasanganay via TKO (flying knee and punches) – Round 2, 2:24
- Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Marc Diakiese via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 0:32
- Dalton Rosta def. Sadibou Sy via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 3:29
- Jay Jay Wilson def. Mads Burnell via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 3, 4:42
- Alfie Davis def. Clay Collard via TKO (spinning back elbow and punches) – Round 1, 2:12
EARLY CARD
- Josh Silveira def. Mike Shipman via unanimous decision
- Brent Primus def. Vinicius Ceni via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:52
- Aaron Jeffery def. Murad Ramazanov via split decision
