Brandon Lopez looking to keep it out of the judges' hands at CFFC 119: 'Leave it all out there'

Brandon Lopez is a veteran in the fight game. The sport is nothing new to him and something he's been around for the majority of his life. Once looked at as a hobby, Lopez has turned his passion into his career, and he understands how important getting his hand raised is at this point in his journey.

"At this point, with five losses I wasn't expecting that to be the case," Lopez said. "Now, it's keep winning and winning and winning. I've changed gyms, went down weight classes, switched up my whole style and have a different mentality. The win is crucial now."

After serving in the Navy for eight years, Lopez decided to turn to fighting. With a 7-0 amateur record, Lopez made his professional debut in 2020. He has since faced a lot of tough competitors throughout his run, most notably the newly crowned CFFC welterweight champ Charles "Chuck Buffalo" Radtke at CFFC 100.

"Although I lost that fight, it was a close fight," Lopez said. "I was able to drop him, but 'Chuck Buffalo' is a great competitor and a very tough guy. So I was glad to see him win the belt because it kind of put things into perspective for me. I lost to him but he's now the champion."

Lopez is coming off his first win with the CFFC back in October on CFFC 114 and will be looking for his second win with the promotion now in his home city of Tampa.

"It's a great feeling," Lopez said. "I love fighting in my home crowd. You definitely have the crowd that pumps you up. Some people turn it into a negative thing, getting nervous fighting in front of all your friends and family. I used to be like that, but fighting in Tampa so many times, I turn it into a positive thing more than a negative thing."

Lopez (5-5) will be squaring off against Jomal Rodriguez (4-3) on the main card of CFFC 119 in a welterweight bout at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in his backyard of Tampa. The action will be streamed live on UFC FIGHT PASS on Thursday. 

Heading into this fight, Lopez said he feels great and has pushed himself to make sure he is ready for action.

"I took a lengthy camp this time," Lopez said. "Made sure my diet was really good. Haven't really had to cut a lot of weight this time. I feel great. This weight cut has been amazing. I feel really strong. I won't have to do any strict water cuts, so I am going to be a lot stronger. My cardio is amazing, so I just feel really good going into this fight."

Lopez did a full two-and-a-half-month camp leading up to this fight, when previously he would usually do about half of that time. As a result, he's looking to display his full arsenal of skills.

"Just be able to mix up a lot of different tools," Lopez said. "Just be a complete fighter, not just grappling and wrestling-based. There are a lot of things we've been working on that I hope to showcase during this fight. I just want to be more exciting. There's going to be a lot of good stuff people are going to see from me that they haven't seen before."

Rodriguez, another local Florida talent, is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and is a strong grappler. Lopez is also well-versed in jiu-jitsu and grappling and isn't worried about what Rodriguez has to display Thursday night.

"All his strong suits are basically even my more strong suits," Lopez said. "Wherever he is strong, I feel like I am stronger in those areas. I'm not really worried about anything he has to bring."

Lopez comes into this bout the elder by 11 years and has more professional fights in his career than Rodriguez. With so much time in the cage under his belt, Lopez feels his experience will prove especially helpful in this fight.

"Experience is always a great thing to have," Lopez said. "Keep to the gameplan and be ready for anything, be comfortable out there, and execute what we've been training to do. I think having more time in the cage, having more fights, and having that overall more experience compliments that. When you have that experience, it's a lot easier to execute those things you want to execute because you've done it before. It's like second nature."

There is one thing on Lopez's mind as he heads into his fourth CFFC bout: End this fight in a finish.

"If he wants to stand and bang, I'd love to do a highlight finish on the feet," Lopez said. "He's a grappler, so I am sure he is going to try and shoot if he doesn't like it on the feet. At that point, with me being a wrestler and a pretty good grappler, it's not going to go his way if he tries to go that way. I am going to go for the finish. I don't like to leave it to the judges."

ARTICLE BY DENNIS OLSON