Rausch Manifo remains unhappy with the way the PFL has handled his loss to Nathan Schulte in PFL 6 on June 23.
Manview and Schulte, best friends and American Top Team training partners in Florida, had to enter the PFL cage to battle for a spot in the lightweight semi-finals in Atlanta, and Schulte won by unanimous decision after a lackluster contest. The company announced a change of plans overnight, suspending both fighters for what they described as sub-par performances, giving a playoff spot to former UFC talent Shane Burgos.
Manfio’s club manager, Brian Butler, said in a statement to MMA Fighting that the PFL’s decision is a “bad view” of the promotion, and Manfio’s suspension is “distasteful and unnecessary” given that he was already eliminated from the playoffs with defeat. Two weeks after the controversial call, Manview is still angry.
Manifo said on this week’s episode of the MMA Fighting podcast Free exchange. “I wish there would be an official investigation because I don’t know of another way to prove I’m telling the truth, but the investigation will prove it.”
Manview and Schulte were first booked in June 2021, but a change of plans saw Manview face Anthony Pettis a week later instead, with his friend facing Alex Martinez. Both of them emerged victorious.
This time, when the PFL approached him again with an offer to face Schulte, Manview said he initially refused, but had heard from PFL officials that he would be replaced by a reserve fighter in the season. Manifo said he spoke with his friend and eventually agreed to the fight, but he hoped something would happen along the way, like in 2021, they’d take on other people instead.
As a professional MMA fighter under the same umbrella and vying for a promotion with a unique season/playoff format, Manfio knows he “can’t legally complain” about fighting Schulte, though he felt there was no real need to match them at this point. However, he insists that both fighters’ suspensions made no sense.
“Can people say we had a bad performance?” said Manifo. “I didn’t know my feelings would hit me like that. I went there to fight, Goku and Vegeta. “I’m going to trade punches with Schulte today, and this is my day to win.” Wrapping my hand, I asked the cutter to write “18” on my hand because that would be my 18th win. Warm up, everything was normal. When the fight started, brother, I didn’t want to hurt Nathan. I wanted to win. I was angry when the fight was over. I knew what losing meant, it’s three steps back, and I knew I lost once the fight was over. Credit to him, but I was furious. I wanted to win.
“We both fought hard because of the emotional side, but what the promotion did to us was unfair because we went through ridiculous emotional stress, greater than I could ever have expected. Once they stopped Natan, the fight was of no use. I would never agree to fight Natan if it wasn’t for A spot in the semi-finals, semi-finals or finals A regular fight, as we see it in the UFC, I would never fight Natan, and I think the UFC wouldn’t book that either.
“Because the PFL has a smaller roster and 10 fighters in the tournament, you can’t legally file a complaint [about the fight], but I want to back out of the PFL because I have sponsors, and what they and the fans accuse us of, is that we fixed the fight. It would have been easier if we did. I wouldn’t be here for this interview, and I’d have a lot of money in my pocket because I would have bet a lot on the outcome. But, as a Christian, I am not capable of doing such a thing.”
Burgos is set to face Clay Collard in PFL 9 on August 23. Fellow UFC veteran Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Bruno Miranda face off in another lightweight semi-final.
What Manfio wants the PFL to do is to have both suspensions rescinded, Schulte return his place in the playoffs, and have their pictures cleared for the public. Also, Manfio wants to fight again later this year as a sign of “good faith” from the company, “otherwise I wouldn’t trust [them]. Manifo said he had not spoken to Schulte about his side of the story, but would consider suing the company if he was denied immediate qualifiers for the $1 million prize.
“My biggest fear is that the NFL says I’m suspended for the 2023 season, like they did, and then they text me in February 2024 telling them they no longer want to work with me,” said Manifo, whose contract expires in December. 2024. According to Manview, this is the deadline the PFL has to part ways with as the next season begins.
“The accusation that we fought below par is outrageous,” he added. “If there were two men who had never met and fought so hard, they wouldn’t have done it. You can clearly see that they used our stories as good friends to benefit another man they were paying a lot of money for, to put him up front. It’s an opening they saw. I don’t know. They thought, ‘Oh, They’ll just leave it at that.” I don’t know, but I know God is just and somehow that will benefit us in the future — soon, I hope.”