Lyman Good
The upper tier of the MMA landscape gets a little more crowded this weekend when CFFC makes the leap to national exposure with its first event on CBS Sports Network.
CFFC held its first shows from 2006-2007 before a four-year hiatus. It returned in 2011 and now hosts near-monthly shows primarily in New Jersey and other Northeast locales. It’s featured many notables over the years, including Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, Jim Miller, John Howard, Dan Miller, Frank Shamrock, Evan Tanner, Paul Felder, Charlie Brenneman and others.
The organization will start a new chapter in its history on Saturday. CFFC 48 takes place at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and is the first of multiple events set to air on CBS Sports Network this year.
“It’s definitely a game changer for us as an organization and for all the fighters that we have on our roster,” CFFC CEO Rob Haydak told MMAjunkie. “We approached CBS directly about a month and a half ago. We had two meetings and gave them some of our material to review. They decided it was immediately beneficial for them, for us and for the fighters, as well, to get that national exposure.
“We have another event scheduled on June 6, and then we’re back for our 50th show at the Borgata in Atlantic City on July 18. Then we have a couple more dates in September and October. So the rest of the year, all of our events will be on CBS Sports Network.”
The CFFC 48 headliner features CFFC welterweight champion and former Bellator titleholder Lyman Good (17-3) vs. Strikeforce vet Nah-Shon Burrell (11-5). Additionally, bantamweight champ Jimmie Rivera (15-1) meets Carson Beebe (15-3), and Jared Gordon (5-0) takes on Jeff Lentz (10-5-1) for the vacant featherweight title.
Some of the talent on the card may be lesser known to casual fans of the sport. However, Haydak insists CFFC owns the best crop of prospects in any non-UFC organization and the majority of his fighters won’t be unknown for long.
“If you look at our roster, as far as prospects go in MMA, we have the best roster in all of MMA when it comes to prospects outside the UFC,” Haydak said. “We’ve got guys fighting on this card that are 2-0 that are legitimate high, high-level fighters. We put on quality fights and quality production. It’s the only fight card I would watch this weekend.”
Haydak said CFFC hopes to make further inroads in the sport with its new broadcast partnership with CBS Sports Network. However, he has no plans to alter the company business model. CFFC has had a longstanding policy to allow fighters to leave for the UFC if offered a contract.
While Haydak would certainly like to hang on the best talent for as long as possible, he knows fighters dream of competing under the UFC banner. He has no desire to stand in the way of that opportunity.
“It’s sort of a double-edged sword. We’re blessed to be here in the Northeast where the talent pool goes very deep,” Haydak said. “I think if you look at the roster today, I wouldn’t be shocked if I got a called from the UFC and they said they’re taking 15 guys. I think our roster is that deep. It’s simply the right thing to do.
“How do we grow the brand and prevent that from happening? We don’t know what the future holds, but as of right now, our plans are to allow guys to go to UFC. I think that’s a reason why a lot of guys come to us because they’ll be forded that opportunity if it’s presented.”
Haydak said CFFC 48 begins what’s easily the organization’s most significant year to date. With more events tentatively scheduled for June 6, July 18, September and October, Haydak said he has high expectations for the future.
In particular, he anticipates the July show to be CFFC’s most monumental fight card to date. It will mark event No. 50 and Haydak said he’s prepared to build a card that will show the best of what CFFC has to offer.
“We’re definitely not going to hold back on our 50th event,” Haydak said. “I’ve given our matchmaker specific instructions to make all 10 or 11 bouts all main event worthy. We expect to have, for us, the fight card of the year.”
For now, though, the CFFC era on CBS Sports Network starts with CFFC 48 on Saturday.
For more on CFFC 48, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.