Robert Varricchio shakes off first career loss, regains momentum ahead of Friday's CFFC 137
After coming up short in interim title bid, "Ruthless" promising fireworks on UFC FIGHT PASS
Robert Varricchio steps into the cage at CFFC 137 on Friday for the first time since suffering his first career loss at CFFC 131, where he fell just short of becoming an interim lightweight champion. In Varricchio's first fight back since tasting defeat, he welcomes PFL veteran Alex Martinez to Cage Fury Fighting Championships. Although a promotional newcomer, Martinez is a battle-tested opponent who Varricchio is eager to take on.
Both Varricchio (5-1 MMA, 3-1 CFFC) and Martinez (10-5 MMA, 0-0 CFFC) are very well-rounded fighters who can find success in any scenario that arises in a fight. Neither man shows any glaring weaknesses, and both athletes have very impressive resumes. Flying underneath some people's radars amidst a stacked CFFC 137 lineup, some believe Varricchio vs. Martinez has "Fight of the Night" written all over it, and Varricchio agrees.
"Exciting," says Varricchio. "It's going to be f-cking exciting. I'm not gonna go over my gameplan or anything at all. I'm going to tell you right now, if this fight is streamed anywhere, it's going to be f–cking – if Dana White's watching this fight, he's going to be like, 'Holy sh-t, I need this motherf-cker in my promotion,' because it's going to be a f-cking barnburner."
Starting his MMA career 5-0 before suffering a brutal championship loss after showing early success in the fight, Varricchio knows there is no need to panic. Getting back to the gym and moving forward was important for Varricchio to keep his motivation after the loss. The 29-year-old New Yorker admits that one loss isn't going to deter his career, but he is forcing himself to have a different mentality going forward.
"There's no excuses," Varricchio said. "You get back in there, you get back on the horse, you get back to training, and you do it again. That's part of the game. It made me learn. Sometimes we need L's to learn and improve. It helped me really look at myself and be like, 'OK, now it's do or die because if I lose this one, no one's ever looking my way again.'"
"I know other people are like, 'You're still going to make it.' It doesn't matter. Every fight for me is do or die."
Hoping a rematch with Morquez Forest on a bigger stage could be in the stars someday, it's safe to say that Varricchio still has his sights set on the UFC despite coming off of a loss. Part of the reason Varricchio refused a 'tune-up' fight against a lesser opponent is to prove himself against a very worthy opponent. A win against an experienced name such as Martinez could go a long way in terms of impressing UFC matchmakers.
"Watching his fights, dude's awesome," says Varricchio. "I love this kind of name. If I wanna fight where I wanna fight, I can't take a f-cking easy fight. Can't give me some Joe Schmoe from Alabama who's 6-14. Give me someone who's 10-5 who's fought f-cking good dudes who's actually f-cking good, that when I beat the sh-t out of this dude they're like, 'Oh, Rob's back on the map."
If all goes to plan, Varricchio will walk away with a big win over a huge name at CFFC 137, once again catching the attention of UFC brass. Ideally, Varricchio can use this win as leverage for another shot at the CFFC title. He believes capturing CFFC gold and picking up his win streak from where he left off should be enough to punch his ticket to the UFC, following in the footsteps of his Tiger Schulmann's teammate Shane Burgos, who earned four "Fight of the Night" honors in the promotion before departing for the PFL, leading UFC President Dana White to famously admit his team made an error not retaining his services.
"Dana said they f-cked up when they lost (Burgos)," Varricchio said. "He don't wanna f-ck up by not taking me. I'm going to bring the same kind of barnburners. I'm going to bring the same kind of energy. I'm a f-cking entertainer through and through. I'll bring some f-cking views, straight up."
Fans should be in for a treat as Varricchio and Martinez battle it out at CFFC 137. Martinez has been on the big stage before, and Varricchio is extremely motivated to get there. Even though there is a lot of mutual respect between the two, Varricchio makes it clear that there will be no love in war.
"I just wanna leave that octagon knowing that we both left it all out there," Varricchio said. "We were in a f-cking war. Hope there's blood everywhere and everyone loves seeing that bullsh-t."
Watch the action unfold on Friday at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia or streaming live on UFC FIGHT PASS.
