Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) has quite the title fight on the line come this weekend.
CFFC has long been the top regional promotion on the US east coast — its champions feed the UFC and Bellator constantly — and a Canadian getting a title shot in New Jersey is exactly the kind of cross-border test that makes careers.
Atlantic City's Borgata has hosted CFFC's biggest shows for years — the promotion built its name on putting its champions against the best available regional opposition, which is exactly what a 12-4 titleholder fighting a 6-0 challenger represents.
The United States’ Evan Cutts (12-4) will defend his welterweight gold against the undefeated Canadian Yohan Lainesse (6-0) on Saturday night at CFFC 98 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Lainesse's 6-0 record made him one of Canada's hottest welterweight prospects at the time — unbeaten, finishing, and now getting the call to travel south for the first real belt of his career.
The matchup profile is the intriguing part — a five-year veteran champion with 16 pro fights against a challenger with barely a quarter of the mileage but a perfect finishing record. Fights like that are how regional careers get defined in a single night.
Cutts, 30, is excited for Lainesse, who walks in with an impressive 6-0 record. In his first title defence, Cutts is ready to not only come home with his belt, but plans on being the man to hand Lainesse his first loss.
Champion versus unbeaten prospect is the classic regional title-fight script — the belt-holder defends territory, the challenger carries a whole country's expectations across the border.
For Lainesse the stakes ran both ways — win and an unbeaten record becomes a title on foreign soil; lose and the prospect run ends exactly where it was always going to be tested, against a veteran champion who'd seen every trick.
“That is why I’m called the Butcher,” Cutts said.
“I love going out there and getting to crush guys that think it’s going to be their night, especially in their own town. Nothing better than beating Bassil in Philly and taking the title back to Texas.”
The 'Butcher' persona fits Cutts' game — a grinder who breaks opponents rather than outpointing them, which is why his fights tend to end up in the promotion's highlight packages.
“The Butcher” won the belt in a split decision over Bassil Hafez in April and is now ready for his first title defense.
The Hafez win was the classic CFFC coronation — a hard five-round split against a tough veteran that put the belt around a grinder's waist and set up this first defense.
“We kept the ball rolling,” Cutts said following his title win.
“I got back on Monday and was running on Tuesday. That is the privilege of being a champion, you get to stay active. Especially after the year off, why wouldn’t you stay active?”
The no-camp-off mentality is the self-image of every mid-career champion — rest is for after the belt moves on, and at 30 with one defense booked, the clock was on his side only if he kept moving.
As for what is next for Cutts, he believes it’ll be the “major leagues,” as he calls it.
The call is honest — CFFC sits a level below the majors and its champions know it, which is why the title's real value is as a calling card to the promotions that actually pay.
The next move depends on the defense — keep the belt and the majors' calls come faster; lose it and the climb restarts on undercards. That's the honest arithmetic of regional MMA at this level.
“Right now I’m playing minor league ball. I’d love to play major league ball,” Cutts told MMA Empire.
“Whether that is a Bellator, UFC, PFL has been great. I don’t know, whether a big organization calls or Cage Fury, I’ll keep fighting for them.”
Follow Cutts on social media: INSTAGRAM
