On a summer night in Florida, the last thing anybody would want to do is stay inside. This Friday, however, one MMA promotion has a reason for fans to stay inside. Four and a half months after holding an event on the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Cage Fury returns to The Sunshine State for CFFC 133.
Live coverage begins Friday night at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT on the Cage Fury OnlyFans feed before transferring to UFC Fight Pass at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT for the main card. All told, absent of any postponed fights between now and then, the final version of CFFC 133 features 11 bouts.
Championship Unification Focus of CFFC 133 Main Event
Highlighting the night’s activities is a unification battle at lightweight in the CFFC 133 main event. Current CFFC Lightweight Champion Robert Watley (14-3 MMA, 4-0 CFFC) puts his belt on the line against challenger and CFFC Interim Lightweight Champion Morquez Forest (5-0 MMA, 5-0 CFFC) for the permanent title.
As with all CFFC title fights, this one is an advertised maximum of four rounds at five minutes per round to close the show. If, however, the CFFC 133 main event results in a draw on the scorecards after the contracted four rounds are complete, it then goes to a fifth round to break the deadlock.
Per Press Release @CFFCMMA returns to Tampa Florida on July 26 for CFFC 133.
The Main Event will be a Lightweight Unification Championship Bout as Robert Walter takes on Morquez Forest#CFFC133 pic.twitter.com/9TzfWIzY6A
— Jason Hagholm (@JHagholm1) June 6, 2024
CFFC 133 Main Event Fighter Comparison
Heading into the CFFC 133 main event on Friday night, both fighters stand level in height at 5-foot-9. Watley owns a 75-inch reach, with no such information accessible for Forest at press time.
Currently, the oddsmakers have yet to release money lines for CFFC 133 on Friday night. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this weekend in MMA, please wager responsibly.
Robert Watley Seeking Fourth Straight Win in Cage, While Winning at Game of Life
Robert Watley enters the CFFC 133 main event on Friday night having posted a record of 3-2 in his last five fights. Currently, he’s on a three-fight winning streak. Back in December of last year, he defended the title with a third-round submission victory over Armando Gjetja (8-5 MMA, 0-2 CFFC) by way of rear-naked choke during the CFFC 128 main event.
Perhaps the bigger victory in that stretch came happened away from the MMA cage, however. Watley had a four-year gap in his MMA career due to drug addiction that almost cost him his future.
Anybody who’s had to watch someone in his or her family struggle with addiction knows firsthand how it is. The fact that Robert Watley was able to break free from addiction, return to the cage, secure, and ultimately defend, a championship, is absolutely amazing.
No matter the result inside the cage on Friday night in the CFFC 133 main event, there’s one certainty about CFFC Lightweight Champion Robert Watley: This man is a champion of life.
Morquez Forest Fighting in Front of Hometown Crowd
In the other corner, CFFC Interim Lightweight Champion Morquez Forest enters the CFFC 133 main event having yet to lose so far in his MMA career. Counting both professional and amateur fights, he’s posted an undefeated mark of 13-0.
Most recently, he bested Robert Varricchio (5-1 MMA, 3-1 CFFC) by second-round submission (rear-naked choke) in the CFFC 131 main event back in April. Forest was a guest of Zac Coffman’s on the 4 oz. To Freedom podcast, where he discussed the fact that he’ll be fighting in his own backyard.
“It feels great. I’m home,” Forest began. “I feel like this is the biggest opportunity for me. If they’re calling him the champion, it’s like he’s got to come defend his title on my home turf. It’s going to be, I feel like it’s going to be one of [those] fights where whoever wins, they get that big opportunity that they’re looking for and that’s just what it is.”
Can Forest unify the belt in front of his friends and family? Watch the CFFC 133 main event and find out.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
Both men in the CFFC 133 main event can bring the pain.
Watley Can Hunt for the Submission
Statistically speaking, Robert Watley has won three fights by way of submission, so it hasn’t happened often, but it can be something to behold, as seen in his fight vs. Gjetja. Round three of the fight saw Watley complete a takedown by way of a trip from a Thai clinch. From there, he took top position and sprawled to back mount.
Watley softened Gjetja up with ground and pound before landing kicks to the back of his opponent’s leg and executing another trip to dump him again, applying the needed torque for the rear-naked choke. If Robert Watley gets as little as one takedown, it’s his world in the CFFC 133 main event.
Forest Equally Brutal on the Ground
In the other corner, Morquez Forest says “Two can play that game.” He’s got a decent ground attack in his own right. During the second round of the fight against Varricchio, he absorbed a jab before scoring a counterpunch to knock him down.
Almost immediately, he took back mount and rolled over to lock up a rear-naked choke. Morquez Forest can seize the momentum in the CFFC 133 main event. All it takes is beating Watley to the takedown or knockdown
Final Thoughts
You don’t get a championship unification bout often, but that’s just what we have here in the CFFC 133 main event. Don’t miss this one.
Prediction: Morquez Forest by Second-Round Submission.
