New Mexico's Alejandro Gutierrez 'ready to come to the East Coast and show who I am' at CFFC 150
"Hondo" takes on vaunted prospect Damien Anderson at Friday's event, live on UFC FIGHT PASS
Alejandro "Hondo" Gutierrez made quite the spectacular CFFC debut, needing just 17 seconds to register a TKO win this past October at CFFC 147. That spectacular performance has now earned him the biggest opportunity of his career, facing the highly-touted and undefeated Damien Anderson at Friday's CFFC 150 event at Philadelphia's 2300 Arena.
Fighters, of course, don't get paid by the hour, so a repeat performance would seem to be a dream for the 24-year-old prospect. Not so, he insists. Gutierrez wants the opportunity to prove he's the total package.
"Honestly, I want to show off all my skills that I have," Gutierrez said. "I want the fight to last longer so people actually know that I've got weapons on me – and not just a a right hand, you know what I mean? Just a bomb. I want to show people that I can box, that I can wrestle. I can do it all. I'm a mixed martial artist."
Friday's main card streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS following prelims that stream exclusively at OnlyFans.com/cffcmma. The three title fights at the top of the bill are garnering most of the attention, but Gutierrez vs. Anderson is unquestionably a battle of two talented bantamweight prospects looking to make their mark.
Anderson is a New Jersey native and owns a gym in the area, and the crowd is certain to be very heavily in his favor. Meanwhile, Gutierrez hails from New Mexico, training with the Fit NHB crew that has produced the likes of Tim Means, as well as serving as an early home to Carlos Condit.
Gutierrez seems to follow very much in that vein and plans to prove it on Friday night.
"This is going to be a good fight," Gutierrez said." We are both good fighters. I don't got as big as a name as he does, but I come from a gym that has high-level strikers. Like one of my friends just got in – Ty Miller, he's just got into the UFC. I train with him every day, you know what I mean?
"We're both really good fighters, and I think it is going to be a barnburner, honestly, because we're both great, and I can't wait to meet him in the cage. This is my first big, big fight you could say, and I'm ready."
To be certain, the hype train leading into the matchup is pulling Anderson in its wake. A reputable name in the grappling world, a big presence on social media, his name featured on "Prospects to Watch" lists. All the boxes are checked. None of that matters once the cage door is closed, and that's the moment Gutierrez is expecting to shine, and where he hopes to start making his name known 2,000 miles away from home.
"I might not be have all the followers in the world, but trust me, they know who I am over here in the Southwest," Gutierrez said. "I'm ready to come to the East Coast and show who I am again.
"I think I can finish Damien Anderson. I think I can catch him. I think I'm a smart, slick boxer and I can catch him. That's what I think I'm going to do."