David Michaud staying ready to fight, featured in PFL’s ‘Inside the Knockout’

Though he has yet to fight in 2020, lightweight David Michaud has been far from inactive.

Following the cancellation of the PFL’s season-based format for 2020 due to the novel coronavirus, Michaud has shifted his focus to helping teammates prepare for their possible fights to keep him busy.

“When everything shut down a couple of guys were still in the talks with the UFC for fights, so I was still working with them a little bit, like small pods,” Michaud told MMAWeekly.com. “I was still getting rounds in, helping other guys getting ready for fights, because the PFL had already canceled (its season).

“I’m not fighting until the PFL has a show by the end of the year, so I won’t be fighting for a while, so I decided that I’d keep training and keep trying to improve; not really sparring as badly; because I don’t want to waste this year sparring, getting beat up, and taking damage that’s not necessary when I don’t have a fight.”

Unsure when he’ll get to return to fighting, Michaud is staying as active as he can, knowing his routine will keep him ready to get into a camp should a bout materialize.

“I’m normally in pretty decent shape, whenever I’m just training hard, working out for the day, I always feel like I can take a fight,” said Michaud. “That’s just the training I do to stay in shape and get better. Our practices are so hard, that as long as I’m just showing up every day I’ll be in decent shape.

“I’m hoping not to add a few things, but sharpen everything up. You don’t want to just be sitting on your thumbs for a year, not getting better. I’ll just trying to keep improving all throughout the year, get as healthy as much as I can, get some work in, and hopefully help some teammates with their fights and hopefully they do well.”

Though he’s not fighting, Michaud is still visible as part of the PFL’s Inside the Knockout series, looking back on his first round TKO victory over Handesson Ferreira from July of last year.

“Going in, I was a huge underdog,” Michaud said. “(Ferreira) was a huge favorite. I knew he was tough. People weren’t expecting much out of me. I was coming off a loss to Sadibou (Sy) in 15 seconds, so one was thinking I was going to do anything. I knew going in he was good, but I believed in my skills and preparation.

“Going in I was actually dealing with a back injury, so I wasn’t able to really wrestle or doing any grappling in the weeks leading up to the fight. I was just trying to keep my cardio up and get in the best shape I could for the fight. The fight was back and forth, and I did what I needed to do.”

Inside the Knockout: David Michaud crushes Handesson Ferreira

Though the PFL’s season is not happening in 2020, the promotion still may hold events before the end of the year, leading Michaud to seek a specific fight.

“I would love to fight Rory (MacDonald); that would be a huge win; to go along with that there are a couple of guys who have wins over me as well (in) Sadibou Sy and Ray Cooper, so I’d like to get those losses back,” said Michaud.

“Right now I’ll just focus on a one-off fight, and I’d like to fight the biggest name possible, and that would be Rory. I’d like to get that win and really show people what’s up.”

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(Video courtesy of PFL MMA)