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Cage Fury Fighting Championships thriving after some early hits DAVID WEINBERG Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 10:30 am ATLANTIC CITY ­ Lightweight fighter Stephen Regman pressed his forearm against Jordan Stiner's windpipe last month at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and squeezed as if he were trying to empty a bottle of suntan lotion. Stiner, from Hatfield, Pennsylvania, struggled to break the hold, but eventually tapped his hand against his thigh, prompting referee Liam Kerrigan to halt the scheduled three­round fight. Cage Fury thriving after some early hits Regman, of Watchung, climbed to the top of the 6­ foot­high cage and flexed his biceps while a capacity Cage Fury Fighting Championships CEO crowd of 2,400 at Borgata's Events Center cheered. Rob Haydak watches the monitor at a fight last year at Borgata. Last month, Cage Fury A few feet away, Cage Fury Fighting Championships put on its 50th fight card. "Everything boils president and CEO Rob Haydak surveyed the scene down to the fighters, and I think we've done and smiled. a great job of finding the best talent and The fight was part of a special card for Vineland­based guys who have good followings," Haydak CFFC, the area's only professional mixed martial arts said. organization. The show was CFFC's 50th, marking another milestone in what has been a remarkable comeback from disaster. "What they've been able to do is very impressive," New Jersey Athletic Control Board official Nick Lembo said Saturday. "Along with (New York­based) Ring of Combat (which stages fights at Tropicana Casino and Resort), Cage Fury is the best regional promotion in North America." Up until a few years ago, it appeared as if CFFC would fall 45 shows short of 50. It had big goals when it started. Vineland native Felix Martinez, a former Vineland High School wrestler and city police officer, teamed with his wife, Amy, to form Cage Fury in 2006. The first card was June 30 of that year in Boardwalk Hall's Adrian Phillips Ballroom after the weigh­ in at the now­defunct 40/40 Club. The following year, they decided to go big­time and try to compete with the UFC. On June 23, 2007, CFFC promoted the professional debut of famed street fighter Kimbo Slice in a pay­per­view event against former heavyweight boxing champion Ray Mercer at Boardwalk Hall's main arena. A crowd of 7,286 ­ then the biggest to see an MMA show in Atlantic City ­ watched Slice earn a first­ round submission over Mercer. The Martinezes next planned to have Slice meet former UFC tough guy Tank Abbott four months later at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, but financial troubles forced Martinez to shut down. "The pay­per­view numbers killed us," Felix Martinez said from his front­row seat at Borgata on July 18. "We were expecting 100,000 buys and we only got 20,000. Financially, we just couldn't afford to keep it going. We made a big mistake in trying to compete with the UFC. They have a stronghold on the sport. We should have stayed as a regional feeder program for them, like Rob is doing." Martinez now works as a security supervisor at a federal building in Philadelphia but remains a big MMA fan, especially Cage Fury. He frequently goes to the shows at Borgata to support the organization and to reconnect with Haydak, his former wrestling teammate at Vineland High School. He also enjoys reuniting with old friends and fighters. "There are times when I miss the game, but there are no hard feelings," Martinez said. "Rob is still a very good friend, and I want to support him any way I can. Amy doesn't watch anymore, though. She still has hard feelings." CFFC folded in 2007 and stayed that way until 2011, when Haydak teamed with his brother, Joe Stant, to buy the company from the Martinezes and resurrect it. Their plan was to stage cards featuring talented and popular local and regional fighters, the kind who would be able to sell plenty of tickets to supporters. "I did some marketing for Felix for the Kimbo Slice­Ray Mercer fight, and I learned a lot," Haydak said. "Felix had a great product and did a great job of building the brand, but he went a little too fast. You can have all the bells and whistles, but you have to have a good product, reasonable ticket prices and fighters who can sell them. "We did seven shows our first year out of the gate, and we were quickly able to figure out the recipe for success. Everything boils down to the fighters, and I think we've done a great job of finding the best talent and guys who have good followings." Last month's crowd demonstrated that strategy. Regman and Stiner both had large fan clubs, as did fighters such as Carlstadt flyweight Jimmy Grant and New York heavyweight Plinio Cruz. But most of the fans were there to see two local middleweights, Buena Vista Township's Mike Wilcox and Millville's Tim Williams. Boos filled the arena when Wilcox suffered a first­round submission defeat to Oakhurst's Karl Roberson. The chants got louder when Williams lost his bid to regain the CFFC middleweight title with a first­round TKO loss to Anthony Smith, of Omaha, Nebraska. More than 50 fans, all of whom wore "South Jersey Strangler" T­shirts in support of Williams, weren't shy about showing their passion. One spectator had to be escorted out of the arena by security personnel. "We still love you, Timmy!" many fans shouted after the bout. Before and after the show, those 2,400 fans frequented the bars, restaurants and gaming tables at Borgata. Joe Lupo, the Borgata senior vice president of operations, was originally hesitant to bring MMA to his property but gave it a try in 2012 and has now been hosting four CFFC shows at the Event Center per year. "To be honest, MMA wasn't a high priority for us, but Cage Fury presented a great opportunity for us," Lupo said in an earlier interview. "It's an East Coast­oriented organization, and that fits in very well with our customer base." CFFC also got a boost earlier this year by signing a six­card contract with CBS Sports Network, which televises the cards on a delay basis. Fighters view the CFFC as an opportunity to develop their talent in hopes of eventually landing with a national organization such as the UFC or Bellator Fighting Championships. It has established a strong relationship with the UFC, having sent more than 30 fighters there in the last four years. Most recently, Ramsey featherweight Jimmie Rivera made his UFC debut with a first­round knockout victory in Scotland on July 18. Three days earlier, New York welterweight Lyman Good scored a second­round knockout at a UFC card in San Diego. "Fighting for Cage Fury gets you a lot of attention," said Williams, who has made two appearances on UFC's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter." "It's definitely one of the best outfits on the East Coast, and it's getting bigger." Contact: 609­272­7201 [email protected] Twitter @PressACWeinberg Vineland­based organization finds winning formula.

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