Niagara Top Team’s Aaron Jeffery will challenge for the Cage Fury FC middleweight championship at CFFC 93 next month.
The Contender Series alum has won all three of his fights since coming up short on the show against Brendan Allen in 2019. All three of those wins have come via stoppage. Not that Jeffery is doing anything all that differently, he told Cageside Press ahead of his upcoming title fight.
“I think I’ve been doing the same thing the whole time. Just kind of got the short end of the stick at the Contender Series fight,” said Jeffery. The 28-year old Canadian isn’t making any excuses for his loss to Allen in 2019. “I think going into that fight, I felt great, I think my skill set was good, just didn’t get the result I wanted.” Since then, he added, “I’ve just been working hard and grinding away the whole time, and the results are showing.”
There’s nothing Jeffery would change about that Dana White’s Contender Series date, regardless of the outcome. “Going into that fight, I had like a four month training camp. It went perfectly. No injuries, no bumps in to the road or anything. And that’s kind of scary for a fighter, because going into that fight, I know if I lose this fight, I have absolutely no excuses. It’s 100% on me.” Difficult as it may have been, Jeffery accepts that. “I lost, and I have to bite the bullet. It is what it is.”
In what was “probably the biggest moment of my life, if I’m being honest,” added Jeffery, “I blew it. I lost, and that was it.” Luckily, immediately after the fight Jeffery embarked on a trip with one of his coaches, driving around and camping in California and Nevada. That helped take his mind off the loss.
Things are looking a lot different these days. The Ontario native, fighting out of Naigara Falls, will head to Philadelphia to face Collin Huckbody for middleweight gold at CFFC 93. Huckbody became infamous for winning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series last year — and later asking to be released from his deal. In short, Huckbody felt he wasn’t ready, and gave up exactly what Aaron Jeffery has been fighting for.
Asked if he could understand Huckbody’s decision, Jeffery observed that “fighting is not a sport that you play, right? There’s some serious consequences. So if he felt like he didn’t want to be in the UFC fighting those UFC guys, then I guess it’s a smart move. You don’t want to go in there and get hurt. A UFC contract means nothing if you go 0-3 and get knocked out three times or something.”
When it comes to the fight itself, Jeffery is well aware of Huckbody’s ground game. “I’m sure people are looking at it like a striker vs. grappler thing, because a lot of my fights end of the feet,” he stated. “But I think I’ll be comfortable anywhere.”
In what has become known as the “Era of Opportunity” in MMA, Jeffery feels a big showing at CFFC 93 could be pivotal — perhaps leading to another crack at the big leagues. “For sure. There’s not a lot of guys fighting, so any time there is fights happening, I think there’s more eyes on it,” he told us. “I think it’s big for sure.”
And if it’s not the UFC that comes calling? Jeffery would consider other options, be it ONE Championship, Bellator, etc. “I’d consider that. I don’t want to be fighting on the regional circuit forever, and if I get a win here, that’s four in a row after my Contender Series loss,” he said. “So if the UFC doesn’t come calling and one of the other promotions does, I would absolutely consider that.”
Aaron Jeffery faces Collin Huckbody for the Cage Fury FC middleweight championship at CFFC on Friday, March 12 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA. The event airs live on UFC Fight Pass kicking off at 7PM ET.
