College basketball is over until November. While UConn’s men’s program cut down the nets in Glendale, AZ late Monday night, the shining moments in sports only continue from there. In MMA, there’s shining moments all year long, and they’ll continue again this weekend.
It’s a packed week of competitive violence starting on Friday night. On the eve of UFC 300 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, the eyes of the fight world will be peeled on Atlantic City. Hard Rock Hotel plays host to Cage Fury Fighting Championships‘ CFFC 131. Action begins Friday at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT on OnlyFans with the prelims before going over to UFC Fight Pass at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT with the main card.
As we mentioned earlier on this week, changes have been made to the bout order ahead of the show. What had been originally advertised as a night of four title fights is now trimmed to two such bouts at the top of the bill. Initially, the headliner was to have been a light heavyweight title fight between Luke Fernandez and Will Dicke.
Much like the interim featherweight championship matching Anthony DiLemme with Frank Wells, that fight is now postponed after Dicke withdrew.
Interim Lightweight Championship on the Line Friday
Your new CFFC 131 main event on Friday night takes place at 155 lbs. where the interim title is up for the taking between two fighters with a combined 9-0 record in professional MMA heading into the weekend. Robert Varricchio (5-0 MMA, 3-0 CFFC) takes on Morquez Forest (4-0 MMA, 4-0 CFFC).
The CFFC 131 main event is a maximum of four rounds at five minutes per round to close the show. If, however, the fight produces a draw on the scorecards after 20 minutes of action, it progresses to a fifth round as a tiebreaker.
CFFC 131 Main Event Fighter Comparison
Heading into the CFFC 131 main event on Friday night, both of these men stand level at 5-foot-9. No reach advantage was accessible online at press time.
Varricchio Eager to Add Another Knockout to His Resume in CFFC 131 Main Event
Robert Varricchio has yet to lose as an MMA fighter. Counting amateur contests, he’s posted a record of 8-0.
Even more impressive is this statistic: Six of Varricchio’s eight MMA victories so far have been recorded inside the distance, with four of his five pro wins happening before the bell to end the first round of the fight. Last time out, he scored a first-round knockout of Sean Felton (5-5-1 MMA, 0-1 CFFC) right before Christmas on Dec. 15 during CFFC 128.
Varricchio has Felton in "look at the clock constantly" trouble at the moment!#CFFC128 pic.twitter.com/XVhkAEknlu
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) December 16, 2023
Recently, he talked to CFFC about getting the title shot, but it wasn’t against who he thought it would be.
“I was immediately like, ‘Yes'”, Varricchio began. “They didn’t even tell me who I was fighting. I mean, I assumed that I was fighting (permanent lightweight champion Robert) Watley, but I also had a feeling that he was waiting for the call from the UFC, so when they gave me Morquez Forest, I was like ‘Hell, yeah!'”
Robert Varricchio wasn’t expecting a fight against Morquez Forest on Friday night. He also wasn’t expecting this fight to be the CFFC 131 main event.
This is a man who’s been training for this title shot for weeks. Now, just a few days before the card itself, he’s got to deal with the added pressure of fighting for a title in a main event. How will Robert Varricchio handle it? Tune in on Friday night to find out.
Forest Readies for Title Shot in Fifth Pro Bout
In the other corner, Morquez Forest also enters the CFFC 131 main event on Friday night with an undefeated pro record. Much like his adversary, he’s also undefeated when factoring in amateur MMA, with Forest sporting a combined 12-0 record heading into this weekend’s fight.
He most recently scored a first-round submission by way of rear-naked choke against Jordan Harrington (3-2 MMA, 0-1 CFFC) in CFFC 126 on Oct. 13. Unlike Varricchio, however, Forest has seen the scorecards in the past as a professional, with his third fight having ended in a unanimous decision on Sept. 2 last year versus Nick Caracappa (0-1 MMA, o-1 CFFC) in CFFC 124.
In a recent interview with CFFC, he discussed what his plans are after the main event.
“I’m just taking it day-by-day,” Forest mentioned. “I’ve already put in my mind that I want to be on Dana White’s Contender Series this year. That’s already been something that’s stuck in my mind. I need to win this fight, I’ve got to take every fight as they come, dominate, and that’s where I want to be at and hopefully get that call.”
Morquez Forest just turned professional in the sport approximately one year ago and he’s risen through the ranks quickly.
Here he is, getting ready for a championship bout in his fifth professional MMA appearance. Every time he’s entered a cage up to this point, Morquez Forest has come out a winner, but only time will tell if it happens again in the biggest bout of his pro career during the CFFC 131 main event.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
With both fighters in the CFFC 131 main event having gone undefeated ahead of this contest, this should be a cracking affair.
Look for Varricchio to Try and Finish This One in First Round
As previously mentioned, four of Robert Varricchio’s five pro MMA stoppages have happened before the first round of action has ended. Thus, it stands to reason that the CFFC 131 main event could end the same way. Just look at the tape of his fight against Brandon Evans last September.
Robert Varricchio took control of the fight right away that evening, peppering Brandon Evans with knee strikes from the clinch, giving his opponent a welt on his knees in the process. While Evans scored with punches from distance, Varricchio had himself a night, connecting on a straight right before pouring it on with ground and pound shots.
The barrage of hammerfists proved to be too much for Evans to handle, forcing the referee to intervene. If Robert Varricchio comes out with guns blazing on Friday night, the CFFC 131 main event will be his and he’ll have a title to take back home with him on Saturday morning.
Forest Can Grapple His Way to a Win
In the other corner, the best way for Morquez Forest to neutralize Robert Varricchio is to lock up a submission, like he did in October against Harrington. While the action was momentarily paused to allow Forest to recover from a low blow, he walked it off and the fight resumed, responding with a right-handed punch to Harrington’s chin to drop him.
The second takedown is the one that proved to be the one leading to the road to victory, with Forest applying the torque to secure the rear-naked choke. If Marquez Forest knocks Robert Varricchio down, it’ll be his world on Friday night.
Final Thoughts
It’s surely been a chaotic run-up to CFFC 131 for those closest to the promotion. Although half of the originally-scheduled title fights have gone by the boards, they’ll still have an appealing main event on Friday. Don’t miss it.
Prediction: Robert Varricchio by First-Round TKO.
