From football to fighting, Jimmy Hinel believes he's made for this journey: 'You've got to be a primal human'
Promotional newcomer looks to impress at Saturday's CFFC 141 event in Tampa and live on UFC FIGHT PASS.
With Cage Fury Fighting Championships returning to Florida on Saturday night, plenty of new faces from the "The Sunshine State" will look to turn heads with their opportunity to compete under the promotion's bright lights. One of those individuals is Melbourne's Jimmy Hinel, a brawler who loves to take center cage and pressure his opponents.
Hinel enters the promotion with a 100 percent finishing rate, utilizing heavy striking pressure along with a solid ground game. His dynamic skillset has thus far enabled him to achieve two knockouts and one submission with relative ease.
The former defensive end out of NCAA Division II Florida Tech took to martial arts quickly. Upon graduating from college, he met his coach to this day, American Killer Bees Head Coach Israel Gomes, and started his training. Nine months later, he would compete for the very first time.
While successful in his football endeavors, Hinel found MMA to be more interesting. Whether it was the physicality or the primal instinct of competition, Hinel's love for martial arts undoubtedly grew with each training session.
Hinel credits Gomes for the fighter that he has become today, and he now looks to make a name for himself at CFFC. While having started training just five years ago, Hinel feels that his football background only makes him a more dangerous threat.
"MMA is something I chose to do," Hinel said. "I became extremely passionate about it, and I just want to live in this realm. It's something that's paved the road for my life. Having that football background is very beneficial in this world.
"I'm in the gym being a sponge. The creativity and the human aspect drew me to the sport. You've got to be a primal human. You're doing what you were put on earth to do. You're using your skills and fighting for your future. I enjoy every bit of it."
The Florida native, for the first time in his professional career, will compete in his home state at CFFC 141, where draws New Jersey's Tyree Sutton (1-1 MMA, 1-1 CFFC), a familiar face in the CFFC brand. Throughout the early days of his career, Hinel (3-1 MMA, 0-0 CFFC) had kept an eye on CFFC – knowing that his ultimate goal is to reach the UFC, CFFC was always a desired destination.
Now that opportunity becomes a reality at Saturday's event, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Tampa's Florida State Fairgrounds.
Sutton's last performance saw him in a dogfight against Jose Soto, where he unfortunately ended up on the losing side of a decision, but he held strong through the final bell. He'll look to right last fight's wrongs against the newcomer in Hinel, who praises Sutton's willingness to fight and recognizes him as a game opponent.
That said, Hinel feels he was put on this earth to fight and looks to showcase his primal fighting ability.
"There's no easy fight here," Hinel said. "He's a super game opponent. He comes from a good wrestling background. He also has good power in his hands and knows how to strike. He's from a good gym. Nothing but respect to him.
"Wherever this fight goes, I'll be ready. There's a world of opportunities inside of that cage. It's gonna be a fight – a hard fight. I've prepared day in and day out. It's going to be a bloody 15 minutes."
Whether it's in a backyard or a cage, Hinel makes one thing clear: He loves to fight. Hinel looks to bring high intensity and high pace against Sutton to stamp a name for himself in CFFC while connecting with his home crowd on fight night.
"The fans will feel me and the energy that I bring," Hinel said. "My goal is to just fight whoever they put in front of me. I want to make the big show. I want to be in the UFC. I want to be on big platforms, travel the world, and feed my family.
"Fighting is in my blood. I want to make it to the top. I want to showcase my abilities here. I want the world to see who I am inside and outside of the cage."
ARTICLE BY: SETH FASSANO