CFFC 145 results: Richie Lewis shuts out Benny Orozco in highly anticipated New Jersey homecoming
Additionally, Nick Galanti scores third-round submission victory to further quest for gold at Saturday's event in Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Fighting for the first time in his home state, New Jersey wrestling legend Richie Lewis took a step forward in his budding MMA career with a clear decision win over fellow lightweight prospect Benny Orozco.
The matchup served as the main event of Saturday's CFFC 145 event, which streamed live on UFC FIGHT PASS and OnlyFans.com/cffcmma from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
The bout started a bit awkwardly, with Lewis landing a pair of inadvertent low blows in the opening minute of the matchup. Fortunately, Orozco was able to continue, and the contest would then start to unfold in a less hectic manner, albeit largely one-sided in nature.
While Orozco did his best to counter the vaunted wrestling game of Lewis, he found himself repeatedly dumped to the canvas and unable to work back to the feet. It was not through lack of effort, as Orozco (5-2 MMA, 0-1 CFFC) showed multiple techniques and approaches to his escapes, but it seemed he was largely at the mercy of Lewis (7-1 MMA, 1-0 CFFC) in terms of deciding where the fight would take place.
In the moments the two did have standup exchanges, Orozco had some success but also found himself facing an improved striker in "Savage," who believes he's developed into a complete mixed martial artist who is destined for the UFC.
After 15 minutes, there was little question who would take home the victory, and Lewis was awarded the win via unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards. Afterward, the 31-year-old thanked CFFC CEO Rob Haydak for the opportunity – as well as coach Ash Elbanna for the advancements in his game – before committing to take over the promotion's lightweight division en route to earning a future UFC invite and suggesting that after skipping the amateur ranks and jumping straight into the professional level, he's finally ready to make that assault on the rankings.
"I feel like the first seven fights of my career was my amateur career," Lewis said. "This was a long time coming here with Rob and CFFC. My coach Ash made it happen. My hard work, my belief and my disciple made this happen, and New Jersey, I ain't going anywhere. CFFC is my home. GTG is my home, and I'm here to f-cking take over."
Meanwhile, in the night's co-main event, former NextGen middleweight champ Nick Galanti continued his chase of a pro title shot with a third round stoppage win over Hawaiian slugger Ty Gwerder.
Galanti (5-1 MMA, 5-1 CFFC) controlled the majority of the action, using a dominant grappling game, but Gwerder (7-6 MMA, 0-1 CFFC) proved incredibly capable in defense, fending off multiple submission attempts over the course of three rounds. However, Galanti refused to settle for a decision win and instead turned to ground-and-pound to get the job done, flattening out his opponent and punching away until the contest was waved off with 57 seconds left in the third.
Full CFFC 145 results include:
MAIN CARD (UFC FIGHT PASS)
Richie Lewis def. Benny Orozco via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nick Galanti def. Ty Gwerder via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:03
Busurman Zhumagul def. Joshua Sierra via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:20
Karli Jo Thomas def. Annabel Kelly via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:47
Jeremiah Delgado def. Tyler Berger via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
PRELIMINARY CARD (OnlyFans.com/cffcmma)
Justin Patton def. Frank Wells via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Christian Bobe def. Alex Rios via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:27
CJ LaFragola def. Jacob Guerrero via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:30
Khetag Moraov def. Justin Meyers via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:31
Jose Soto def. Reggie Northrup via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:44