Raush Manfio’s main goal for 2022 is to capture another championship belt in the Professional Fighters League — his second in a row — and a million-dollar check. He doesn’t want to miss out on “superfights”, however.
Manfio is booked to face Olivier Aubin-Mercier in the main card portion of Friday’s PFL 4 in Atlanta, a win that all but secures a spot in the lightweight playoffs after his successful start in the season with a third-round finish over Don Madge in April.
One of the names to watch in 2022, Manfio said on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Franca he wants to get paired up against big-name fighters in the newly-created “PPV superfight division,” cards that will air on pay-per-view with a promised 50-50 split in pay for fighters.
” I’d love a rematch against Anthony Pettis especially on this pay-per view format,” stated Manfio. Manfio won a split victory over Showtime in his first PFL appearance in June 2021.. “His name sells more, and the first fight gave me a nice feedback [from fans]. And Jeremy Stephens also has a [big] name. Even though he’s coming off losses, he has a name and it would be a great fight.”
Stephens made his PFL debut this past April, after a long run under the UFC banner, and lost a decision to Clay Collard. He has lost seven of his last seven fights and “Lil’ Heathen”, hopes to end the streak when he takes on Myles Price Friday.
“I’d knock him out before the second round is over because he comes in way too open,” Manfio said. “It’s never nice to beat someone who’s on a long losing skid because the media will say it doesn’t add too much, but he has a name from fighting in the UFC and has done good fights, and I think it’s someone I can KO. They booked me against Olivier Aubin–Mercier, which I have asked for. I don’t know what their criteria was, but these two names would be excellent fights.”
Manfio had to modify his strategy after asking Stephens for help and getting Aubin Mercier. “The Canadian Gangster” is 3-0 so far under the PFL banner with decisions over Marcin Held, Darrell Horcher and two-time PFL champion Natan Schulte, and Manfio sees him as the worst match-up for him in the company roster.
“I like the opponent,” Manfio said. He’s probably the one that will give me the most trouble in this tournament. But, even though I think he’s that guy, I’m ready for the challenge. It’s difficult to get past him, but the rest of them are mostly strikers. That’s why I am going for it again. It’s going be an amazing victory and I intend to go for the knockout .”
Manfio acknowledges that it is not “fun” for Aubin-Mercier to fight in a cage, given his style of fighting. However, he believes that stopping Aubin-Mercier’s attempts in grappling or wrestling might cause him mental problems.
“That’s my plan, to frustrate him,” Manfio said. “He’ll get desperate. ‘Man, I spent all this energy to take him down and he’s already back up?’ We’ll use that in our advantage. You can see the last fight and what was my punch. It’s easy to end a fight when you speed up. Don Madge gives up more chances than he does, so I will have more options to win the fight.
“I think I’ll stop him. To be honest, though, I do have four points, and that makes me ahead of everyone except Anthony Pettis. If I win the first and second rounds, I won’t rush things up in the third. I’d rather win by points and guarantee a spot in the playoffs [than take risks]. I’m guaranteed .”
if I win by points.
