Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) is a MMA promotion that operates largely in the northeastern United States. It started as the home of Kimbo Slice, underwent a brief hiatus and has now become one of the top regional promotions for MMA in the USA. Such UFC fighters as Paul Felder, Aljamain STerling, Jimmie Rivera and George Sullivan started out in CFFC. CFFC 94 is set for Thursday, April 1, at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, with ten bouts. You can catch all the action on UFC Fight Pass, highlighted by the main event, which will pit Bassil Hafez against Evan Cutts for the CFFC Welterweight Championship. The co-headliner will pit Devin Goodale against Khetag Pliev in a middleweight bout.
Check out the full card as well as our MMA betting suggestions on some of the evening’s action.
CFFC 94: Hafez vs Cutts Preview
Main Card
Bassil Hafez vs Evan Cutts (CFFC Welterweight Championship)
Devin Goodale vs Khetag Pliev (Middleweight)
Solomon Renfro vs Nick Alley (Welterweight)
Thomas Majeski vs Jonathan Piersma (Welterweight)
Frank Wells vs Timothy Cuamba (Featherweight)
Earl Small vs Adam Wamsley (Middleweight)
Preliminary Card
James Lyons vs Cody Zappone (Featherweight)
Joey Tizzano vs Malek Mahmoud (Featherweight)
Johnny Santos vs Manny Morales (Middleweight)
Mariah Castro vs Natalie Schlesinger
Bassil Hafez (6-2-1) vs Evan Cutts (11-4) features a pair of intriguing fighters. Cutts comes in as the challenger — in his CFFC debut. In 2018, Cutts beat Ramiz Brahimaj, currently a UFC welterweight. However, he also lost to Colton Smith, winner of The Ultimate Fighter 16, and Sean Spencer, who has eight UFC bouts on his resume, both via decision. In his last six fights, Cutts has gone 5-1, losing that one fight by split decision. He won his last fight against Brian Grinnell at Rage in the Cage OKC 70, by submission in the first round with a rear-naked choke, back in December. According to Tapology, Cutts is the top welterweight in Texas and #29 in the division in the United States. Cutts views this shot at Hafez and the CFFC belt as an opportunity to make a name for himself so that UFC might issue him an invitation. Cuttz holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, coming through the Jean Jacque Machado tradition, so he fights well on the ground, but Cutts wants to use this opportunity to show off his striking game as well. Cutts won his last fight
Hafez won the welterweight belt in November, delivering a submission of Christien Savoie via triangle choke in the first round to take what was a vacant title. Hafez, who comes from the same tradition in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as Cuttz and who also holds a black belt, showed his wrestling skills from the get-go, bringing a tap with 45 seconds remaining in that initial frame. After that win, Hafez decided that it was time to up his game in terms of training, moving from Balance (Andy Russell and Ricardo Migliarese) to Marc Montoya’s Factor X team, with an eye toward growing his versatility, particularly in terms of a striking game.
Prediction:
Cutts wins via knockout
Devin Goodale (3-0) vs Khetag Pliev (5-1) marks Goodale’s first return to the cage since March 2019, when he beat Danny Garcia with a rear-naked choke at 2:09 of the first round at KOTC: Sin Rival. His two wins prior to that came on the cards, as he beat Hector Saldana at CCW 5 in a split decision in his pro debut, in April of 2018, and Edson Gomez at KOTC: 20th Anniversary, in a unanimous decision six months after that.
Pliev ended a two-bout skid in September, beating Bruce Lee Miller at 1:36 of the first round via north-south choke at Extreme Challenge 239 in September. Before that, he has not won a fight since June of 2017, when he beat Francis Charbonneau (injury retirement) at 2:04 of the first round at TKO 39. His last conventional win came in November of 2016 over Eudes Tavares at Road to Abu Dhabi Warriors. He lost to Vitaliy Ncmhinov via unanimous decision at ACA 91 in January 2019 and then was knocked out by Ryan Rozicki in a boxing bout at 2:19 of the second round eight months later. Pliev has the greater level of experience, but Goodale’s ground game makes him an interesting pick here.
Final Prediction:
Goodale wins via submission
MMA Betting Odds
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