Robert Watley making the most of second chance in life and fighting ahead of CFFC 122

Nearly four years after his last appearance, Watley 'blessed' to compete once again.

Robert Watley wasn't sure he'd ever again set foot inside an MMA cage. In fact, he was almost certain he absolutely wouldn't.

"Actually, I'd say 97 percent of me had decided, like, 'Dude, that's it. You had a fun run,'" Watley recalled. "We had a little 11-fight winning streak, did the PFL thing. You know, it was fun. It was cool, but there was a 3 percent that was just like, 'Dog, there's so much that you left on the table. There's no way you can be done,' and I kept having that thought pop up."

Watley made his professional debut in 2014. He had two early fights with CFFC, including a 2015 win over Pat Sabatini, who would later claim the CFFC featherweight title before signing a UFC deal. He claimed a regional title with a win over Thiago Moises, who has since competed for the UFC 10 times. But after stepping away from the sport in 2019, Watley was forced to battle some demons outside of the cage.

"I had some personal struggles, man," Watley admitted. "I had some substance stuff that I needed to deal with, and it really wrecked my health all the way. At the end of 2020, I had lost about 30 or 40 pounds, was having seizures, just like really falling apart as a human being, and I really had to take some stock in my life and what was important and prioritizing the things that need to be prioritized.

"We were renting out my parents' basement, and I was laying down there and I was carrying one of my sons, my youngest, and I had a seizure and kind of fell out, and fortunately I didn't drop him, but I was like, 'You know what? It's one thing if I go,' but I guess I hadn't taken into account the black hole that was going to exist or come to existence if I cease to exist and the responsibilities that I still had. I guess you could say it was a sort of rock bottom, but I think it was also kind of like, 'Dude, you've got to suck it up. You've got people who are here for you, who love you, and who are depending on you, so it was a combination of hitting rock bottom and realizing, like, I'm not done yet. I've got a lot of life left to live, and I'd better get out and start living it."

Watley found comfort in his faith and began to take steps to improve his mental health, a strategy that paid dividends in his life.

"It's been challenging, but honestly, I've always struggled," Watley said. "I've had ADHD, so I've always struggled to be able to, like, wrangle my mind. That's always been such a huge issue for me, and so basically I realized like, 'Hey, if I'm going to make this work, if I'm going to be able to live a life worth living, I've got to figure out how to be able to control myself, how to be able to to deal with these thoughts or these anxieties. I can't fall back on some of the coping mechanisms that nearly killed me,' so I've been doing a lot digging deeper into the scriptures, getting closer to the most high, that's No. 1, but I've also been doing a ton of meditation. a ton of breathwork, doing ice-cold baths, plunges, like really just trying to fortify my mind."

With his personal life improved, there was still the lingering question of his professional aspirations, as well. With a 12-3 career record and a handful of notable victories to his name, Watley believed there was still some unsettled business, but he also knew it wasn't solely his decision to make.

"My wife and my mother, we were watching a fight, a couple of premier lightweights, and they were like, 'So are you done, or what's the deal? Are you going to try to do this again?'" Watley recalled. "I looked at them, and I was like, 'Are we going to do this?' Because, you know, the last time that I fought, it was just me and my girlfriend. Now it's me and my wife and our two children and we have a third on the way, so it's not just me – it's we.

"My family was like, 'All right, well, wherever it is you need help, whatever you need to get a little slack picked up or whatever, we can do that,' and once they got on board and it was just like, 'Let's go. Let's rock.'"

With his family's support, Watley began his career comeback, which led him to a familiar place: Cage Fury Fighting Championships.

Watley (12-3) now headlines Thursday's CFFC 122 event, where he'll challenge reigning lightweight champion Cedric Gunnison (6-1) in the main event of a card that streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa.

Watley loves the symbolism of returning to one of the platforms that helped launch his career but also realizes what it can potentially mean for him in this second phase of his life as a mixed martial artist, as well.

"This is like we're getting the band back together – like, 'Take me back,'" Watley joked. "But to get a title from a reputable organization such as CFFC, that's basically your shot to one of the bigger orgs. If you win this, it basically means, 'Hey, you can make a career of this,' and if you lose, it's like, 'Hey, maybe you should just invest more time into doing a real job,' so that's what I'm kind of looking at.

"I want to do this because this is something I love and it's the best opportunity that I have to provide for my family. However, I'm not going to just fight to make a few extra bucks here or there and get the hell beat out of me. Like, if I don't have it any more, I'm done, and it's cool, and I'll be OK with that."

As you can see, there's much more on the line than just a title at Thursday's event. Regardless of the result, the 33-year-old Watley knows he's in a much better place than he was when he put his career on hold early four years ago. Where the future takes him remains to be seen, but Watley is awfully happy with where he stands today.

"It's kind of surreal," Watley said. "I've been away from the sport, so honestly, just to have this opportunity to step back into the cage after having been away for so long is really a blessing. I'm really thankful to Cedric for taking the fight, and to CFFC for having enough faith in me to come back and not be an absolute flop after four years away – and then, of course, my friends and family and my team for supporting me and pushing me and getting me here.

"I'm really just blessed and really happy to have this opportunity."