ONE Championship is not the only combat sports promotion crowning a champion this Friday night. There is some championship MMA going on stateside that evening, as well.
Atlantic City-based Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) heads down south for the penultimate card on its schedule of events. Tunica, Mississippi’s Horseshoe Casino and Hotel serves as the host venue for CFFC 127.
Vacant Strawweight Gold at Stake in CFFC 127 Main Event
Highlighting Friday night’s 10-fight card is the battle for the Vacant CFFC Strawweight Championship in the CFFC 127 main event.
Fatima Kline (4-0 MMA, CFFC promotional debut), a veteran of Invicta FC, returns to the Fight Pass spotlight when she meets up with Jazmin Navarrete (11-0 MMA, CFFC promotional debut), an alumnae of both Combate Global and UWC. Like all CFFC championship bouts, the CFFC 127 main event is an advertised maximum of four rounds at five minutes per round to close the show.
Should, however, the scorecards produce a draw after 20 minutes of action, the fight progresses to a fifth and final round as a tiebreaker.
Oh man!! Is it already time for another Cage Fury show??? Can we get a hell yeah???#CFFC127 is LIVE this Friday ONLY on #UFCFIGHTPASS! pic.twitter.com/ncm7zpZuEi
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) October 31, 2023
CFFC 127 Main Event Fighter Comparison
Heading into the CFFC 127 main event on Friday night, Fatima Kline stands as the taller contender at 5-foot-6, compared to the 5-foot-2 frame of Jazmin Navarrete. Kline owns a 3.3-inch reach advantage (67 1/2 inches to 64.2 inches) over Navarrete ahead of this championship fight.
Kline Gets Title Shot She Wanted in New Promotion
Fatima Kline enters the CFFC 127 main event having yet to lose so far in her professional MMA career. Counting amateur competitions, she has gone 5-0 in her last five fights. Most recently, she scored a unanimous decision on March 15th against Natasha Kuziutina (4-1 MMA) in Invicta FC 52.
Kline’s been eyeing a shot at a championship since the beginning of 2023. Back on January 18th, she used her post-fight interview following a win against Laura Gallardo at Invicta FC 51 to advocate for a title bout.
“I just have one more thing to say,” Kline said, silencing a round of applause. “I’m never one to call anybody out, but I have three fights, three wins and I think I deserve a title shot. I know a lot of girls are asking for it, but so far they don’t have the record I have, humbly, and I do believe that I deserve it.”
Jazmin Navarrete Brings Experience to CFFC 127 Main Event
In the other corner, Jazmin Navarrete has also gone 5-0 in her last five fights. Like Kline, she also has yet to taste defeat in her professional career as part of an ongoing 10-fight winning streak.
On April 28th, she scored a second-round knockout (punches) of Fernanda Escudero (0-1 MMA) during UWC 43. That night, the fight was contested at a contracted catchweight of 117-lbs.
Friday night’s CFFC 127 main event in Tunica will mark the fourth different promotion that Navarrete has fought in during a career that’s only spanned seven professional fights. Having that kind of mileage and that kind of experience this early in her combat sports life is exceptionally impressive stuff.
However, she has not appeared in a fight in slightly over six months’ time and cage rust could perhaps show its looming head.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
Stylistically, the CFFC 127 main event looks to favor Fatima Kline, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, compared to Jazmin Navarrete’s status as a striker.
Kline is Brutal with Punches
Although Fatima Kline is adept on the ground, she can be just as devastating with her fists. Just look at the tape of her fight against Sidney Trillo.
Right from the command to fight, Kline opened Trillo up with ground and pound shots, but it was during the third round where she poured it on. Kline withstood a takedown effort from Trillo, landing a right-handed punch to take her down. She used her grappling to pacify any effort from Trillo.
It was only a matter of time before Kline unloaded with another burst of ground and pound, leading to referee Marcio Laselva waving the contest off with just 15 seconds left to go in the third period.
Navarrete Has Great Punches, Too
In the other corner, don’t discount Jazmin Navarrete’s ability to land the knockout punch. One need look no further than her fight against Escudero from April.
During the second round of a scheduled three, after already having pieced Escudero up with several bursts of ground and pound in the first round, she went back to work by landing knees and elbows from the clinch.
Although Navarrete was on the receiving end of a takedown, she reversed course and took top mount, giving her an opening to land a final burst of ground and pound and score the knockout.
Much like Fatima Kline, watch for Jazmin Navarrete to come out swinging.
Final Thoughts
The CFFC 127 main event looks to be one of the weekend’s most entertaining fights. Get your popcorn ready, because you may not have time to pop it once the fighters walk out to the cage.
Prediction: Fatima Kline by Unanimous Decision.
As is now the norm, action begins with the undercard on the promotion’s OnlyFans page at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT. Main card action follows at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT on UFC Fight Pass. After Friday night, CFFC only has one more show left before sending 2023 to the history file.
