Professional MMA competition returns to the Atlantic City Boardwalk on Friday June 16 for CFFC 120. Cage Fury Fighting Championships is one of the Tri-State Area’s premier MMA organizations and is set to make its return to Atlantic City with 12 exciting contests and a bantamweight title fight set to close the show.
Fight fans can catch CFFC 120, which is set to emanate from the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, streaming live on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT for the main card.
In a departure from previous CFFC cards, the undercard will not be accessible through live streaming on the promotion’s YouTube channel. Thanks to a recent business deal established earlier in the year, the undercards for all Cage Fury grappling and MMA events will now be exclusive to the promotion’s OnlyFans page. Prelims are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
MMAJunkie’s John Morgan and former AEW and WWE world champion CM Punk will have the call.
CFFC Bantamweight Championship — Ndregjoni vs. Araujo
CFFC bantamweight champion Vilson Ndregjoni is out to show himself as one of the organization’s dominant champions against a hungry challenger in Wendel Araujo. Both fighters hold a professional record of 7-3, with Ndregjoni stopping former CES bantamweight champion and Dana White’s Contender Series alum Ashiek Ajim in the third round of his most recent outing to capture the gold. Araujo, meanwhile, will be making his promotional debut and is coming off consecutive wins in another formidable organization in Titan FC.
Can’t wait for this card tomorrow night ! https://t.co/DV0Ja1SCYS
— Tyson Rauch (@TRauch21) June 15, 2023
One key note is that per CFFC rules, a fifth round will only happen if necessary, similar to how third rounds are handled on The Ultimate Fighter. It is also worth noting that neither man has fought for more than four rounds in their careers. Ndregjoni, 31, was originally tapped to defend against impressive 4-0 prospect Justin Clarke, but will meet a different challenge in Araujo, whose jiu-jitsu rooted style should make for a fun styles clash. Ndregjoni, himself is a former member of the Albanian national wrestling team, but is a New Jersey native who trains out of AMA Fight Club in Whippany. The path to victory for the champion might be using his wrestling defensively in an attempt to pick his opponent apart on the feet where he figures to have the biggest edge.
Co-Main Event — Daukaus vs. Gidron
Philadelphia’s own Kyle Daukaus returns to the CFFC cage following a three-year run in the UFC that yielded mixed results. Daukaus pushed the highly touted Brendan Allen in his promotional debut at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing his gas tank, chin, and pressure based style. Though he came up short, his stock seemingly rose, but proceeded to go 2-3 in six fights since, with the sixth fight ending unceremoniously with an accidental clash of heads rendering his finish of Kevin Holland a no-contest. Daukaus was offered a UFC return, but ultimately balked at the money and is looking to showcase himself with the hopes of landing permanently in Bellator or PFL later this year.
He may have a willing dance partner in 7-7 Robert Gidron. Gidron has been finished multiple times and could fall victim to a submission from Daukaus, who has six D’Arce choke submissions to his name. However, Gidron is coming off a unanimous decision victory over William Conner Jr. and has won three of his last four fights. He went on a bit of a skid between 2018 and 2021, but fell to a solid level of competition having fought DWCS alum Solomon Renfro and Bellator’s Dante Schiro and Kyle Crutchmer. Daukaus, for as refined as he is in his career having fought the level of competition he has in the UFC, could be the toughest — and biggest — fight of Gidron’s career, so Friday seems to be a huge opportunity for the 31-year-old “Silverback” to make a name for himself.
Rest of the Card
Charlie Campbell, a local prospect and member of the Longo and Weidman MMA team, returns to competition after suffering a knockout defeat at the hands of Scotland’s Chris Duncan on DWCS. He’ll look to right the ship against Josh Streacker in the featured fight. Likewise, Nick Catone protégé Paul Capaldo started his MMA career 6-0, but will now look to rebound from his first career defeat against 5-6 Elijah Harris.
Dennis Buzukja
Damion Nelson
Charlie CampbellLong Island Hammers! Tune in tmw night to @CFFCMMA on @UFCFightPass 💯 https://t.co/UMCIUG7LFO
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) June 15, 2023
Elsewhere on the main card, 10-2 Dennis Buzukja will look to make a statement against Soslan Abanokov. Buzukja, another Longo and Weidman MMA product, lost to Melsik Baghdasaryan on DWCS, but has rebounded to go 6-0 since with a victory in his return to DWCS sandwiched in the middle. He will be making his promotional debut. Luke Fernandez and Jesse Romans, a pair of 1-0 prospects, will open the main card.
One preliminary fight to watch for will be Christian McAuley vs. Chris Kwiatkowski in the bantamweight division. Both prospects are 2-0, 25 and under, and should have plenty of improvements to put on display for the Atlantic City fans.
With the card subject to change as always, be sure to stay plugged into MMA Sucka for up-to-the-minute updates.
CFFC 120 Results
Main Card
Vilson Ndregjoni def. Wendel Araujo via Knockout (Hammer Fist) at 1:48 of Round 2 — For the CFFC Bantamweight Championship
Kyle Daukaus def. Robert Gidron via Submission (RNC) at 4:59 of Round 1
Charlie Campbell def. Josh Streacker via Knockout (Uppercut) at 2:01 of Round 1
Paul Capaldo def. Elijah Harris via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dennis Buzukja def. Soslan Abanokov via Submission (RNC) at 1:29 of Round 2
Luke Fernandez def. Jesse Romans via TKO (strikes) at 2:00 of Round 1
Preliminary Card
Eric Nolan vs. Omoyele Gonzalez
Beau Samaniego vs. Damion Nelson
CJ LaFragola vs. Aaron Wlaker
Hunter Starner vs. Tom Picciano
Christian McAuley vs. Chris Kwiatkowski
Adam Livingston vs. Daniel Mahoney
