Fired up Blake Bilder promising something special at CFFC 107: 'I am not a human being'
Blake Bilder knew he was fighting for the CFFC featherweight title this past December. As it turns out, he just didn't know who he was going to be facing to try and win it.
With his original opponent, Eddy Torres, forced out of the matchup just one day in advance following a positive COVID-19 test, Bilder found himself instead facing 15-fight veteran Frank Buenafuente. Despite the late change, Bilder said his confidence didn't waver.
"When you're coming up and you're facing a guy with 15 professional fights, like, that's different," Bilder said. "Where I'm mentally at, in my head, I believe I'm going to go 20-0, you know? If you don't, you're tripping. You should have that confidence about yourself. I believe that every fight that I'm going into, but you have your doubts. Everybody does. If they say they don't, they do, and going into that fight, I just felt confident. I felt like I was going to be able to pull it off."
Bilder struggled early against Buenafuente but weathered the storm and then rallied for a slick second-round triangle choke finish, earning him the vacant CFFC featherweight belt. He credits that same mental strength for pushing him to success.
"It was tough dealing with the adversity, but it's like I've done that my whole life," Bilder said. "I've been the B-side my whole life, and I always come out on top. To me, it's like everybody can think what they want to think, but I know what I think, and I know what I'm going to do, and I know what I'm capable of."
Now in possession of the prestigious CFFC title, Bilder said that confidence is only growing, and in the four months since, he believes his game has been elevated to a different level.
"Flow state is what we've been focusing on," Bilder said. "I mean, like my whole theme right now is I am not a human being. I am not a f-cking human being. The level-up that we've had is something that's more of like a mental shift than anything. Like, we all punch a bag. We all hit mitts. We all grapple. We all do this, but there's been a huge paradigm shift, and it's going to be f-cking known when this fight happens.
"People are going to be like, 'Oh, whoa. What the f-ck happened in four months?' It's like a little bit of a different coaching and just life happening, but there's definitely a mental shift, a big paradigm shift that's happened, and I can't wait to show everybody."
Bilder (5-0-1) gets that opportunity at Friday's CFFC 107 event, where he puts his belt on the line for the first time. The champion meets Brazilian contender Regivaldo Carvalho (6-3) in the headliner, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
Hailing from the famed Teixeira MMA team, Carvalho brings an impressive reputation to the cage, but Bilder believes he's prepared to perform on a different level.
"He's 6-3, comes from a good camp," Bilder said of his opponent. "He's a tough Brazilian guy, fought in Bellator. He's experienced, a veteran, and is pretty decent overall. I know he favors the guillotine, black belt in jiu-jitsu.
"I know about him, but for me, I'm never worried about them. Like, if I worry about what he's doing and I'm focused on what he's doing, it takes away from what I'm doing, and so where focus goes, energy flows. I know that energy is not created or destroyed, it's transmitted, so I know that focusing all my energy on myself and making myself better every day and every moment is going to make me rise above anything that he can do."
CFFC title defenses don't come easy, and when they are achieved, they're often followed by a call to the sport's biggest promotions. Bilder hopes to follow that same path but also admits he's not in a rush. His goal is not so much the invitation to a major promotion but rather to ensure that when it comes, he's prepared to stay there.
"If we get an offer from the UFC, I mean, we're ready," Bilder said. "But it's not like we're just going to go there. My vision, my mission, my purpose isn't to get to the UFC. That's what a lot of people have in their mindset, and that's where they fall short, right? But me, I'm going to be in the UFC, and I'm going to make noise when I get there. I'm not going to just get there and get cut."
