Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are the top four honorable mentions and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Year” award for 2020.
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With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best knockouts from January to December. Here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Year” award for 2020.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Submission of the Year.”
Pat Sabatini scored his 10th career submission to become the CFFC champion for the second time.
Entering Friday’s CFFC 91, the promotion’s featherweight title didn’t have a belt-holder.
In the card’s main event, [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag] changed that with a slick, second-round armbar submission of fellow regional veteran [autotag]Jesse Stirn[/autotag].
After a dominant first round, Sabatini (13-3) dragged Stirn (10-4) to the ground in Round 2. From there, he worked his way up to an armbar, pulled guard, and locked in a torque that was too tight for Stirn to handle. Sabatini picked up another submission win and, with it, title gold.
The title-clinching performance marks the second time Sabatini, 30, has won the CFFC featherweight championship.
Sabatini’s win is his second in a row – and his fifth in his most recent six fights. His lone loss in the stretch was suffered via a gruesome arm injury in 46 seconds and lost his title to James Gonzalez. In 13 professional victories, Sabatini has scored 10 submissions and one knockout.
CFFC 91 took place Friday at Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Penn. The card streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
Check out Sabatini’s handiwork for yourself in the video clip below courtesy UFC Fight Pass (via Twitter).
Sabatini gets it done! #CFFC91 pic.twitter.com/x7HcQ59MQG
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) December 19, 2020
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Oof. At CFFC 91, a fighter suffered a banana split submission loss. Yeah, it’s as painful as it sounds.
Ouch, this one just hurts to watch.
At Friday night’s CFFC 91, [autotag]Jose Perez[/autotag] made his sophomore professional outing a memorable one when he defeated [autotag]Jacob Dorman[/autotag] by – the rare but always gruesome – banana split submission.
The fight hit the mat and as the fighters tangled up, Perez (2-0) grabbed hold of Dorman’s left leg. From there, it didn’t take long for Perez to obtain the proper level of torque to get the tap from Dorman (1-4), whose torso and legs were tweaked in an improper direction.
Even after Perez released the submission, Dorman writhed in pain on the ground – as if losing a fight isn’t bad enough.
CFFC 91 took place Friday at Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Penn. The card streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
Check out Perez’s handiwork for yourself in the video clip below courtesy UFC Fight Pass (via Twitter)
Folks, 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌! Banana Split spotted at #CFFC91! pic.twitter.com/hi3D0b6pmZ
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) December 19, 2020
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Solomon Renfro isn’t messing around when it comes to setting goals in his professional fighting career.
[autotag]Solomon Renfro[/autotag] isn’t messing around when it comes to setting goals in his professional fighting career. The undefeated welterweight doesn’t plan on stopping until he’s known as the greatest combat sports athlete of all-time.
“My goal since Day 1 coming into the sport is to be the greatest of all-time,” Renfro said. “I plan to get a belt in the UFC and defend my belt at least 10 times, and also to get a professional belt in boxing and defend that belt, as well. So that’s why I say I want to be called the greatest combat sports athlete ever, because I’d be the first one to get a belt in boxing and MMA. No one has ever done that, but not many guys have the capability of doing that. That was my plan from Day 1.”
Things have gone pretty well for Renfro thus far, staying perfect in his first six MMA fights as a professional. Most recently, he scored a 45-second submission win at August’s CFFC 82 event. After an amateur run full of finishes, Renfro said it felt good to register his first stoppage as a pro.
“It felt great,” Renfro said. “It felt like a fresh start to me. Now I can start finding more finishes. I just got my swagger back as far as finishing guys goes, so it feels good.”
Renfro believes there’s more of the same on the way. After starting his career at a small gym in Buffalo, he’s since relocated to New York’s famed Tiger Schulmann’s Martial Arts, and he says his skills are increasing on a daily basis.
“I think everything now is just starting to come together,” Renfro said. “I wasn’t really at a real camp before. A lot of people don’t know that. I mean, I was at a gym, but it wasn’t a real legit, professional MMA gym. It was more of an amateur MMA gym. That’s kind of the way it was out there in Buffalo, so now that I’m at Tiger Schulmann’s, I can actually put time in training with guys.
“I just feel like I’m getting better every single day – I’m leveling up – and so do my coaches and teammates. Everything is just starting to come together. I’m finishing guys more and more in the gym. I’m finishing guys more and more in everything. I’m winning every competition I’m competing in, whether it be sprints, strength and conditioning, anything. Just focusing on being a winner and finishing – and finishing the right way.”
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Renfro (6-0) returns to action at Friday’s CFFC 91 event, which streams live on UFC Fight Pass from Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Penn. He meets Canada’s Mike Malott (5-1-1) on the second of back-to-back event nights for Cage Fury Fighting Championships.
Renfro said he accepted the fight before knowing anything about his opponent.
“I had no idea who he was,” Renfro said. “I was just looking to get an opponent. I was looking to go 7-0 regardless of the opponent, so it doesn’t really matter to me. We finally got a guy who’s willing to dance, and he’s going to take this loss.”
With a win, Renfro hopes he’ll get a call to the UFC, at which point he’ll start his championship journey with the sport’s biggest promotion. Down the line, he’ll look to make the crossover into boxing. From there, he’ll look to oust “Triple C” from his current pedestal.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I respect (Cejudo),” Renfro said “He’s a dog, man. I seen him losing to Marlon Moraes, and he just pulled it out. He bit down on his mouthpiece and started to scrap. I respect it, for sure, but when it comes to the GOAT, I’m the GOAT.”
It’s still a long way to that type of recognition, but Renfro said he’s up to the challenge. He plans to take his next step in that direction on Friday, and believes Malott will regret taking the booking.
“If he throws one, I’m throwing three,” Renfro said. “If he throws something sloppy, I’m going to make him pay. He gets nothing for free. Anything he throws, he’s going to pay for it. If he shoots, he’s going to pay for it. If he throws, he’s going to pay for it. I’m going to make him not want to be in there, and I’ll find that finish from there.”
This story was first published at CFFC.tv.
It’s fair to say that no one on the planet saw their 2020 live out the way they initially envisioned it, and Pat Sabatini is no different.
It’s fair to say that no one on the planet saw their 2020 live out the way they initially envisioned it, and former CFFC featherweight champion [autotag]Pat Sabatini[/autotag] is no different. But, at least from a professional fighting perspective, Sabatini’s year was certainly wilder than most.
“This whole year has been a crazy year, to say the least,” Sabatini said.
It started in February, when Sabatini still held the CFFC featherweight title. After having multiple opponents fall through over a five-month period, he agreed to take on a dangerous black belt in James Gonzalez. Though most expected Sabatini to prove victorious, Gonzalez delivered a shocking upset by grabbing on to his opponent’s arm and wrenching it for a technical-submission win, delivering one of the most gruesome scenes from the CFFC all year.
Fortunately for Sabatini, the injury didn’t cause any long-term damage, and he returned to the cage at September’s CFFC 84, where he unleashed a devastating barrage of punches that sent Jordan Titoni slumping to the canvas, where he remained motionless for a frightening amount of time.
“It went from being a very celebratory moment – I got really excited, the training took over, and I got that nice finish – but when I looked over and I seen him still laying down, the happiness went right to immediate concern,” Sabatini said. “I really was super concerned, trying to make sure he was all right. It got really scary there because he wasn’t really moving for a while, and I didn’t know what the hell was going to happen, but I was so glad to see that he ended up OK.”
For Sabatini, the win over Titoni was huge, returning in emphatic fashion after an injury that could have really derailed his career. Once Sabatini knew his opponent was OK, he was able to truly consider the implications.
“It felt great, and it was very ironic because it was the same arm that actually delivered the final punch, so that was a little bit ironic,” Sabatini said. “It felt amazing to get in there, and it just makes me feel more excited to get back in there again.”
Sabatini gets that chance in the main event of Friday’s CFFC 91 event, which streams live on UFC Fight Pass from Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Penn. Even more exciting for Sabatini, he gets a chance to reclaim the title he lost earlier in the year. After all, he could potentially win back his belt and punch his ticket to the big show in a single result.
“Getting that belt back means everything to me, and I feel by doing that, it’s going to open up the next door and get me to the next level,” Sabatini said.
Sabatini (12-3) had hoped to win the title back from Gonzalez, the man who took it from him. However, he’ll instead face Jesse Stirn (10-3) for a vacant title after Gonzalez elected to give up the strap.
“I’ve tried so much to get that rematch, but he declined on multiple occasions,” Sabatini said. “It’s definitely weird. I don’t know anybody that gets a belt and then just vacates it after that. It’s definitely something I wouldn’t do, but you know, to each his own.
“I feel like sometime in the future, if there was ever an opportunity to get that rematch, it would mean everything to me, but onward and upward. Can’t look back in the past. Everything happens for a reason. Just got to keep moving forward.”
Stirn fought once previously under the CFFC banner in 2016 but now returns to the organization after four years fighting in smaller regional promotions. It’s a big opportunity for the Maryland native, and Sabatini is excited about the matchup.
“I’m familiar with the guy’s camp,” Sabatini said. “He seems like he has a really good amount of experience, a good record. Likes to mix it up on his feet, likes to push a good pace, likes to do some stuff on the ground. Pretty well-rounded guy.”
“Pretty exciting for a matchup, but I feel like my style is a very bad matchup for his style.”
Prior to the surprise loss to Gonzalez, Sabatini was certainly on the UFC’s radar, and his name continues to be mentioned among the top prospects in the game today. The odd outing definitely slowed Sabatini’s progress but certainly didn’t halt it altogether.
Still, he says he’s not looking past anything right now.
“I always take one step at a time,” Sabatini said. “I’m not even looking a day past this guy. The priority is getting in there and getting a finish with this guy, and I really think that this is going to be the one that’s going to open up the next door for me.”
It would be a fitting end to a bizarre 2020, and one that could easily be described as an absolute rollercoaster of emotions, not to mention results. Amidst it all, Sabatini never once lost sight of the ultimate goal, and he’s looking forward to seeing his focus pay dividends.
“I’m actually more hungry to get that belt back this time than I was when I first was going after it because it was taken away from me, and now to get that back just means everything to me,” Sabatini said. “It shows my will to overcome a bad situation and turn a negative into a positive.”
This story was first published at CFFC.tv.
