Solomon Renfro: Tune in to watch 'the greatest show on canvas' at CFFC 98

Solomon Renfro has never been one to hold back on saying exactly what's on his mind, and he's certainly not about to start now.

Ahead of CFFC 98, the 24-year-old welterweight prospect is promising an absolutely incredible performance.

"I'm going to whoop ass, and I feel like you're going to see an even better version of me than you saw last time," Renfro said. "I'm going to make sure I win. I think I think my opponent is tough. You know, I respect him, but I respect all these guys. But you've got to have everything to be great at this game, and I have everything.

"I have the wrestling. I have jiu-jitsu. I have the boxing. I have the kickboxing. I have the muay Thai. I have the mentality. I have the swagger. I have the voice. I have the look. Come on, I'm the GOAT, man – not right now, but I will be. Seriously, I'm everything you want in a fighter. If you were in a video game, and you were creating a guy, you would want to create me."

Renfro (7-1) meets Lee Lilly (7-4) on the main card of Saturday's CFFC 98 event, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from 2300 Arena in Philadelphia as part of a two-night run for the promotion at the venue that includes Friday's debut of FURY Professional Grappling.

Renfro said he has respect for Lilly but just doesn't believe he's up to the task in front of him.

"I know he trains at MMA Masters, and I know that's a good gym," Renfro said. "I know he's been fighting for a long time. He's been around. He's 37 years of age. He's tough. He's old in the sport. Like I said, I respect them all.

"He trains at a good gym – seems like he trains hard. He had a good win in his last fight, but he's not going to win July 3. I'm going to win."

It's a big fight for Renfro, who rebounded from the lone loss of his career in emphatic fashion, scoring a first-round TKO over Nick Alley in April. Renfro said the setback helped him establish a change in mentality that will drive him moving forward.

"Honestly, the only thing that happened after the loss, it was like, I'm just going to focus on being the best me I can be every single day and every single way, and that's going to make me the GOAT," Renfro said. "So I just do that, and I believe that, and I honestly think that no one in the world can beat me now.

"I really want that rematch with Mike Malott, so I know I'll get it one day if he chooses to fight. But if not, then, you know, OK, I'll go on and take the belt and I'll make my legacy and cement it. So coming into the last fight, man, I was just cool, calm and collected. Even in the fight that I lost, I was winning the whole time until I had one mental slip up, so as long as I'm mentally sharp, no one in the world can beat me."

Renfro hopes a CFFC title shot will come next with a win, but he certainly wouldn't mind a move straight to one of the sport's biggest promotions, either. He believes he's got the talent to compete in the UFC, and he knows what it takes to get there.

"I've got to go out there and just dominate, like I always do," Renfro said. "The only difference between now and what I used to do back then is that I didn't have a finish mentality. I just had a winning mentality. Now my mentality is to dominate, finish and win.

"Before, it was just win, win, win, win, so I would hurt guys and not necessarily go finish them. Now, I know what I need to do, and there's nothing that you can do to stop me. I want to put them away, and I'm going to put them away."

Another first-round stoppage would certainly keep Renfro's momentum rolling. He insists he's not going to rush anything that's not there but believes a quick win is absolutely possible.

"Last time, I felt like I had shotgun shells in my hand," Renfro said. "Right now I feel like I got f*cking missiles, man. It's going to take World War III to stop me from putting this man away. I'm putting him away early. It's going to be bad, so he's better off, honestly, just going out on his feet, getting knocked out clean, than letting me put him down on the ground and having to ground-and-pound him because if I have to ground-and-pound him, I'm going to beat him so bad he's going to be like the Aztec warriors in the ground. That's how deep I'm going to put him in the f*cking ground, so he's better off just getting knocked out.

"Expect the best version of me. Expect a great show and 'The Renfro Show' is back. The greatest show on canvas. You know what it is."