CFFC 112 Main Event: Frank Wells vs. Jose Perez Breakdown

Philadelphia"s 2300 Arena, once upon a time the host venue of sports entertainment promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling in its original run during the 1990s, will play host to the Friday card.

As with all CFFC shows, CFFC 112 on Friday will be live-streamed, beginning at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT with the undercard on the promotion"s YouTube channel, continuing at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT with main card action on the UFC‘s premium streaming platform, UFC Fight Pass.

Interim Featherweight Gold At Stake in CFFC 112 Main Event Friday

Barring any late postponements on the card between now and Friday evening, CFFC 112 will feature 12 fights in total, highlighted by a battle for interim supremacy at 145 lbs. in the CFFC 112 main event of the evening. Frank Wells (3-1 MMA, 3-1 CFFC) will collide with Jose Perez (6-1 MMA, 5-1 CFFC) for the CFFC Interim Featherweight Championship in Friday night"s CFFC 112 main event.

As always in a CFFC championship fight, this headliner will be a maximum of four rounds at five minutes per round to close the evening"s activities in Philadelphia. If, however, the scorecards produce a draw after four rounds of action on Friday night, the CFFC 112 main event will proceed to a fifth round as a tie-breaking procedure.

10th Different Champion At Featherweight To Be Crowned on Friday, Bilder Called Up For Contender Series

The winner of the CFFC 112 main event on Friday evening will become the 10th different man to hold the CFFC Featherweight Championship since the weight class" title was first awarded in October of 2011. Additionally, this will be the first time that the promotion will crown an interim champion at featherweight in its history.

Current permanent CFFC Featherweight Champion Blake Bilder (6-0-1 MMA, 2-0 CFFC) most recently defended the strap in April of this year against Regivaldo Carvalho (third-round knockout) during the CFFC 107 main event.

Bilder is scheduled to fight on the Aug. 30 episode of Dana White"s Contender Series on ESPN+ against Alex Morgan (11-4 MMA). Depending upon Bilder"s result this coming Tuesday, Friday"s winner could potentially find himself as the permanent champion in the coming weeks.

CFFC 112 Main Event Fighter Comparison

Heading into the main event on Friday, Frank Wells stands as the taller man at 5-foot-11, compared to the 5-foot-10 frame of Jose Perez. Atypical of other fight breakdowns seen on Overtime Heroics, no reach advantage information could be found ahead of the CFFC 112 main event.

Frank Wells Ready For Interim Title Shot Friday

Frank Wells enters the CFFC 112 main event this weekend having gone 3-1-1 in his last five MMA appearances dating back to his amateur career. Last time out, he scored a unanimous decision victory against Damion Nelson (3-1 MMA, 1-1 CFFC) on the afternoon of May 14 during CFFC 108. During a recent interview, the decorated Muay Thai champion discussed his opposition and an interesting happening during a previous fight involving Jose Perez.

“I"ve watched all his fights, because I think all but one are on UFC Fight Pass, so I"ve gone and watched that," Wells said. “I was actually in the corner against him in his last fight, when he fought Paul Capaldo, so I got a real up close and personal view of him. He"s good, he"s solid, he"s tough. I think he has a little bit better striking than people realize because they"ve paid so much attention to his grappling."

With Wells having the advantage of cornering Paul Capaldo during the latter"s fight versus Perez on Jan. 29, can he take what he learned about his opponent and use it to win on Friday?

Jose Perez Hopeful For Major Opportunities After CFFC 112 Main Event

In the other corner, Jose Perez has gone 4-1 in his last five contests and is currently on a two-fight winning streak, including a unanimous decision victory against Isa Dalipaj (3-1 MMA, 3-1 CFFC) just before Halloween during CFFC 102 on Oct. 30. But Perez is eyeing a much grander prize, as he told Makoa Goble back in June.

“I would love The Ultimate Fighter," Perez said. “Contender Series didn"t exist when I was a kid, so when I was a kid, if I wanted to watch reality TV that pertained to fighting, that was my only avenue. That was literally all I had to watch. That"s the biggest one. I also think that as far as fanfare goes, those guys, even if they don"t necessarily win, they always make it into the show. The winners are usually fan-favorites because you actually get however many episodes to see them kind of operate, who they actually are as a person and kind of start to relate to them on a personal level."

A victory here on Friday night during the CFFC 112 main event would be instrumental for Perez and his camp toward his future aspirations.

Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction

Stylistically, the CFFC 112 main event on Friday night seems to favor Frank Wells, a nine-time champion in Muay Thai, compared to Jose Perez"s grappling prowess. Thus, it stands to reason that this one could be another classic strength versus strength battle.

Watch For Frank Wells To Bide His Time

One aspect of Frank Wells" fight game that shows itself on tape is his ability to be patient on the offensive end and let the match come to him, as well as using his defensive skillset to take away his opponent"s attack, which was the case in his last fight.

Early on in the contest, Wells was able to anticipate which strikes Nelson attempted to throw and managed to fight off these efforts or move out of Nelson"s direction to avoid them entirely by shifting. In addition, he was very adept at waiting for just the right moment to land a strike and not overload his attempts through combinations, most often optioning for a leg kick in the opening round of the bout.

Wells continued this defensive effort throughout the remainder of the fight, scoring a few takedowns along the way, winning the fight by decision after 15 minutes. If Frank Wells is able to show patience in the CFFC 112 main event, he will slow Jose Perez down and get momentum on his side.

Jose Perez"s Submission Game Is Brutal

In the other corner, Jose Perez can be absolutely vicious with his submission game, as he"s shown throughout his career, including his pro debut versus Brandon Gaitor about two years ago. During the first round of a scheduled three, Perez tried an anaconda choke submission before jettisoning the attempt.

From there, Perez was able to transition to full mount and score with ground and pound shots to soften Gaitor up, taking the back and securing the rear-naked choke in under two minutes. If Perez is able to take Frank Wells down right away, it"ll only be a matter of time before he locks up the submission in the CFFC 112 main event.

Final Thoughts

On paper, it looks like CFFC put together an amazing main event for Friday night, but the only question remaining is whether or not it will deliver.

Prediction: Jose Perez by First-Round Submission.

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