Aaron Jeffery was putting a lot of pressure on himself heading into his CFFC 93 fight against Collin Huckbody for the middleweight title.
That pressure was partly self-made and partly earned. CFFC has spent years establishing itself as one of the premier regional promotions in North America — the kind of organization whose title carries genuine weight with the major leagues' matchmakers rather than just a trophy on the shelf.
Jeffery was looking to become the champ of a major regional promotion against a game opponent in Huckbody who got a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS), but turned it down as he felt he needed more time. Throughout the fight, the London, Ont., native used his grappling to control the fight and win a clear-cut decision.
It was the kind of performance a contender builds a résumé on: grinding, disciplined, and dominant in the areas the opponent couldn't answer. Decision wins don't produce highlight reels, but against a Contender Series-calibre opponent they tell evaluators something stoppages can't — that a fighter can control five rounds against dangerous opposition without giving the fight away.
Although he didn’t get the stoppage win, Jeffrey is pleased with his performance given all the hurdles he overcame to even make it to fight night.
“It was amazing, man. It was a super stressful fight camp with all the COVID restrictions and them trying to shut down the gym and us having to run underground practices,” Jeffrey said to MMA Empire.
“I had a couple of injuries, a battle with shingles. If I would’ve lost the fight, it would’ve seemed like nothing was worth it and I would’ve contemplated retirement. It was super important for me to come home with the belt. The title and fight had more eyes on it as well, as most of CFFC’s champions have gone on to the UFC.”
That last point isn't hyperbole — CFFC has become a genuine pipeline, with its middleweight and welterweight titleholders regularly getting Contender Series looks or outright UFC signings. Winning the belt doesn't guarantee anything, but it reliably puts the winner's name in the conversation, which is exactly where Jeffery needed to be after years of regional work.
After the win, many began to say Jeffrey, 28, will be UFC-bound. However, the Canadian says it is hard right now due to the pandemic and the Las Vegas-based promotion only signing fighters on short notice.
With that, it makes it difficult for Jeffrey to obtain a work visa to get into the United States and fight.
The visa problem is a specifically Canadian headache in that era. Cross-border paperwork that normally takes weeks to arrange became even more complicated during pandemic restrictions, leaving Canadian champions in an awkward spot — too credentialed for most regional opponents but unable to answer the short-notice call the majors were actually offering.
“I hope so, I’m hearing things that the UFC roster is full and they aren’t signing new guys unless it is short notice. The short notice makes it difficult because of the work visa,” Jeffrey explained.
Plenty of Canadian fighters have navigated the same bottleneck, and the workaround is usually a sponsor-level employer — which, for a fighter without a UFC or Bellator contract in hand, means waiting on the very promotion that won't sign him until it needs him.
“If the UFC doesn’t sign me, I technically don’t have an employer to get me a work visa, and in a short notice fight, it’s very difficult to get a visa on a couple of weeks’ notice.”
Ultimately, in the end, whether it is UFC or not, Jeffrey knows his next fight will be in a big promotion. He knows he has put in his time on the regional scene and it is time to start making real money as a fighter.
That's the unspoken driver underneath every regional title run — these belts are career capital, not just souvenirs. Fighters at Jeffery's stage know a CFFC strap is the closest thing there is to a documented, third-party endorsement of readiness for the big stage, and this one arrived at precisely the moment the pipeline was running.
The math is familiar to every regional veteran at his stage: the record, the title, and the timing all say it's now or never. Middleweight in particular is a division where the majors regularly scoop proven regional champions rather than developmental prospects, because they need reliable bodies who can fight anyone on short notice.
“My manager is in talks with some of the matchmakers and we will see what is next. I feel like I shouldn’t have to go the Contender Series avenue again, if it is my only way to the UFC, then maybe,” Jeffrey said.
“But, we will see what other big promotions like Bellator or ONE Championship are saying. I’ve been fighting on the regional scene for what feels like forever so it is time to make some real money.”
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