PFL's Raush Manfio Reveals He Would Face Teammate and Friend Natan Schulte Only in the Finals

The life of Raush Manfio took an unexpected U-turn in 2021 after signing with the Professional Fighters League. After entering the PFL regular season on short notice, Manfio (15-3, 4-0 PFL) defeated four straight opponents including former Ultimate Fighting Championship 155-pound kingpin Anthony Pettis and Clay Collard. Eventually, he captured the PFL 2021 lightweight championship and took home the much-coveted $1 million prize. Now, “Cavalo de Guerra” is returning for this year’s regular season, where he hopes to replicate his success. Ahead of his upcoming fight with Don Madge on April 20, Manfio revealed that the only matchup he wouldn’t want is against his teammate and friend, two-time PFL tournament champ Natan Schulte. Manfio hopes they will collide only if they both reach the final and have to fight for the championship.

“Today, I just accept fighting him only in the final, not in the playoffs,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. The final is a super-special condition. It would be really difficult as we both need to score points, win the playoffs, we have a lot of things to think about before we think about fighting each other. If they offer him to me for the next fight like, ‘Oh, you need to fight Natan,’ I’d say, ‘No, I don’t want to.’ It makes no sense for me to fight him before the finals. It is the only condition. If he would be like a UFC champion, I would never challenge him. In the PFL, because of the tournament, I can’t get in the finals and say, ‘No, we not gonna fight.’ There is a million-dollar prize. Maybe we split the money after the fight, you know? It is a good idea.

Manfio also shared his worst experience with weight cutting, discussed his hope to have a training camp in Thailand one day, shared his thoughts on his next opponent, commented on the new additions to the PFL lightweight roster, and more.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(01:10) Why he can’t leave the U.S.
(02:10) His worst experience with weight cutting
(04:38) Whether he moves to move up to welterweight in the future
(06:17) Hoping to have a training camp in Thailand one day
(07:14) His cornermen for the Madge clash
(07:40) Some of his sparring partners for this fight
(08:51) His thoughts on Madge
(09:21) Commenting on the 2022 PFL lightweight roster
(10:30) Whether he’s open to facing his longtime friend Schulte
(12:40) His walkout song
(13:28) Thanking God and outro

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