Cage Fury Fighting Championship has long been the dominant promotion of the northeast United States. While mainly known for producing tough fighters who find moderate success in the major promotions, it has produced its fair share of stars. Paul Felder, Aljamain Sterling, Sean Brady, Jim Miller, and most recently, Bilal Hasan; all used CFFC to catapult themselves to the UFC. This Friday in Rockford, Illinois, CFFC yet again has a handful of potential stars to tune in for.
Xhelal Lleshi (5-1) Flyweight
Being the only man to ever get to the scorecards against Bilal Hasan should be enough to get you on a one-to-watch list. He lost by split decision. That’s the only fight “Jerry” Lleshi has lost in his pro or amateur career.
Lleshi is an explosive young grappler out of New Jersey. At only 26, he’s entering his prime and becoming a nasty puzzle to solve. As a striker on the feet, he does enough. He has good striking defense, quick feet, and fast hands. He uses his striking to set up his takedowns well, very rarely shooting without throwing a combo first.
Once he inevitably gets it to the ground, he is a top-tier talent. He flows incredibly well through positions, always staying a step ahead and ending up on top. He deploys his ground-and-pound with fight-ending intent, using heavy hands and elbows. His Jiu-jitsu seems to get more advanced with every fight. In his most recent bout, he transitioned a Suloev stretch into an RNC and put his opponent to sleep. His gas tank has always been good, and he’s shown real toughness and tenacity, especially against Hasan.
Lleshi is the premier talent on this card. As far as unsigned American flyweights go, he is a top-10 fighter, and I could hear the argument for him being top five. If he wins and finds the finish this Friday, I will be the one making those arguments.
Matt Gawlik (5-0) Heavyweight
The aptly nicknamed “Bear Wolf”, Matt Gawlik is an undefeated heavyweight prospect. The 24-year-old trains out of the Chicagoland area with Team Top Notch. After going 5-3 as an amateur, Gawlik turned pro 15 months ago. In those 15 months, he dispatched four regional jobbers and one half-decent heavyweight, all by first-round knockout.
While Gawlik’s ceiling could be pretty high as an athletic, powerful heavyweight, he hasn’t shown any complexity or dynamism in his game. He is a heavyweight who walks his opponents down, knowing he is stronger and faster. He has a good clinch game, throwing thudding knees and sharp elbows that stagger opponents. For a heavyweight, his chin seems to hold up well. His combos don’t really go past a 1-2. His knees and his right cross seem to be the only weapons his opponents need to really watch for. He has not shown any inclination at all for grappling.
I would love to see Gawlik mix in some grappling. More so than most American heavyweights, he actually comes across as a natural athlete. He is patient and doesn’t swing wildly. There are things to like, but he is still far from ready for real competition. His fight against Patera Wilson will be his first pro fight against another actual athlete, and it will be interesting to see how he does, as he may not have the speed advantage.
Xavier Vasquez (4-0)
Now here’s what I like to see in an American prospect for a larger weight class: a collegiate wrestling background. Xavier Vasquez, an undefeated pro middleweight, has fought 8 times as an amateur and then a pro in the last 2 years. He has won all of those fights. This follows a respected high school wrestling career that led to a collegiate career at Northern Colorado. At Northern Colorado, he was a one-time Big 12 championship qualifier.
Now, as an MMA fighter, Vasquez has great coaching to hone his talent. He fights out of Genesis in Colorado, and trains under Trevor Wittman with other ONX talent. I always have more faith in a fighter who trains at elevation.
As would be expected, his wrestling is effective, especially for his weight class. He is powerful on his feet, but doesn’t look completely comfortable yet. Like many former wrestlers, he throws with big intent every time, but is erratic and has a lot of nervous energy. He can get sloppy and has gotten caught a couple of times, but always recovers with his grappling. The 6’0 fighter doesn’t have the size to throw at range. He stays in the pocket and dips his head a lot, making him a target for a bad KO if he doesn’t sharpen that up. With that said, he is very explosive. His gas tank is great for the division, and his pressure is unrelenting. Vasquez is capable of finishing fights on the feet, but is even more dangerous with his ground-and-pound. For a middleweight who has only been pro for a year, there are a lot of tools to like. Two or three more wins, and you bet the UFC will come calling.
His opponent this Friday is James Romero. Romero isn’t bad, but in my opinion it’s a step down in competition from Vasquez’s last fight, where he dispatched legitimate prospect Fathy Elsony in the 3rd round. Vasquez should pick up the victory and keep the train rolling here.
Darius Patterson (5-0)
Darius Patterson will get a shout-out here, but a more brief one. The 31-year-old no longer qualifies as a prospect under our rules. However, he is 5-0 as a pro fighter, after racking up 5 wins in 8 amateur fights. “The Sniper” hasn’t put himself on the map with many regional fans yet because he’s won his last four fights by decision.
Patterson is a well-rounded fighter. There aren’t any major holes in his game. His hands have some pop, and he’s got some good combinations. I wish that he didn’t dip his head as much, and I wish he wasn’t as willing to clinch along the fence. He doesn’t do a ton of damage in the clinch. He’s got pretty good offensive and defensive grappling, but I wish he showed more urgency to finish when he’s in top position on the ground.
Patterson has the gas tank and the tools. He tailors his game plan well to attack his opponent’s weaknesses. I just want to see more killing instinct. He will need a big-time finish this Friday if he ever wants to make the big leagues.
Kevin Rosas (6-2)
Kevin Rosas may have the worst record here, and he’s the underdog, but I still think he has a higher ceiling than his opponent, Patterson. Firstly, he trains out of MMA Lab, and I can’t say enough good things about the quality of that gym. Whoever his training partners are, you can bet they’re high quality. He is also the older brother of UFC standout Raul Rosas and Jesse Rosas, who makes his UFC debut this Saturday. The three brothers have infamously grown up scrapping with each other, making each other tough.
After dropping his very first fight, Rosas has gone 6-1 with five finishes. His lone loss in this span came to John Garza, who has already proven himself UFC-level. Rosas doesn’t have a wrestling-heavy style like his youngest brother. Instead, he has shown genuine knockout power, albeit against poor competition. I like his leg kicks and front body kicks. His takedown defense isn’t very good, but he never accepts position and always forces scrambles. His Jiu-Jitsu defense is sound; his Jiu-Jitsu offense is getting better. Like Raul, he has great top pressure on the ground, but I wish he unleashed his ground strikes instead of prioritizing position.
His game is well-rounded enough at this stage in his career, and he’s bound to have UFC officials watching this Friday because of his family name. If he has a dominant win over the unbeaten Patterson, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to see him get the call-up.
Nikita Leshukov (9-1)
A Moldovan fighting out of the prestigious Boxing Squad in France, Leshukov ended 2025 a highly regarded undefeated prospect. Then he ran into high-level regional fighter William Starks in February and lost his 0. He bounced back quickly, though, getting a win over Josh Jackson, who himself had been riding a 5-fight win streak. Still just 24, Leshukov returns this Friday for his third fight for CFFC in 2026.
Leshukov is fun and powerful on the feet. He is dynamic, especially with his legs. At times in his career, he has looked unstoppable. With his pressure, legitimate wrestling prowess, good Jiu-Jitsu, and fast unorthodox striking, he entered the Starks fight with a ton of hype. He is much better when he pressures opponents and uses level changes to get them to drop their hands. He needs to work in a jab more often, but what he does throw is usually crisp. There were lots of competitive grappling exchanges in the fight, with Starks getting the better of them most of the time. This seemed to tire Leshukov slightly and make him more hesitant on the feet. Starks put on the pressure and finally finished Leshukov with just seconds left in the fight. This was a frustrating loss, but not a bad one, and hopefully it makes him a better fighter than he would’ve been if he’d won with ease, like he normally does.
In his next fight, he moved up to Welterweight, which I don’t know if I love for him. However, he picked up the win. In my opinion, he needs a finish this Friday to get his hype back, and I think he can do that. He should be better than Sanon Sadeck in all areas. I’m hesitantly buying stock in Leshukov as a future major league fighter.
