HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Raush Manfio is one fight away from winning $1 million after defeating Clay Collard in the semifinals at 2021 PFL Playoffs 1 on Friday. Although his unanimous decision victory over Collard was controversial, Manfio (14-3 MMA, 3-0 PFL) continues on to the finals to face Loik Radzhabov for a chance at a huge payday. Not bad for a fighter who struggled to find fights on the regional scene and started this PFL season as an alternate. “When I pray tonight, I have a lot of stuff to be thankful (for),” Manfio told MMA Junkie. “The last three years before I stepped in the PFL, I was trying to schedule fights and no one would fight me in the other small leagues and I was going to quit my career.” Fellow lightweight competitor Olivier Aubin-Mercier was injured in April and had to pull out of his scheduled bout against Joilton Lutterbach.
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