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The Hardest Matchmaking Task In CFFC History | UFC FIGHT PASS

Rob Haydak Has Seen Countless Greats Fight In The Cage Fury Cage, But Light Heavyweight Champion Luke Fernandez Stands Alone As The Hardest Fighter To Land Opponents For In Haydak’s Entire Career. 
By Walker Van Wey • Jan. 30, 2024

CFFC President Rob Haydak has seen his share of dominant athletes, but even names like Paul Felder, Jim Miller and Aljamain Sterling may not have been as feared as 2024 FIGHT PASS Fighter to Watch, Luke Fernandez.

Leading the charge for CFFC since 2011, Haydak has seen A-list names cut their teeth in the CFFC cage for well over a decade, and one of his favorite parts of the MMA game is putting together the toughest matchups by any means necessary. Year in and year out, the most threatening talent in the country flock to the CFFC cage and are told with confidence, “we can match you up.”

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If you’re willing to fight some of the toughest names outside of the UFC Octagon, CFFC has a place on the roster for you.

These days, however, it’s getting a little bit harder to fill out the roster at light heavyweight for Haydak, not because of a lack of effort on his end and definitely not because of a divisional shortage, but thanks to 28-year-old champion Luke Fernandez.

“We’re committed to find Luke opponents,” Haydak explained. “What we realize is we’re not going to find Luke opponents in one- or two-weeks’ time. We have to really incentivize some talent to come in and fight him. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a good amount of talent around the country at 205 pounds, but sometimes what you have happen is two really high-level guys that want to steer away from each other because they don’t want a tough fight leading into the UFC. Luke is the polar opposite. He asks every single fight, ‘Find me the toughest opponent you can.’ That’s all he asks for.”

Fernandez has a promoter’s dream mindset which has led to being a matchmaker’s nightmare. Haydak bucks the notion of being viewed as a “regional promotion” and will search worldwide for the right talent, but with fighters like Fernandez, even the entire globe seems to be too small a talent pool.

“I can’t emphasize this enough,” Haydak laughed, “There are household names on the regional level that have refused to sign with our organization and gone elsewhere because they do not want to run into Luke.”

With the number of fighters passing on Fernandez well into the double digits, it’s getting to the point where his name needs to be thrown in there with some of the most dodged fighters in promotional history. To make matters worse …and better for Haydak and the CFFC matchmaking process, at only 3-0, Fernandez is more interested in progressing the right way as opposed to the fast way. He’s not looking for one more fight before bouncing into the UFC, so there’s a chance Haydak & co. are staring down the barrel of three or four more matchmaking mountains to climb.

“I’ve been doing 100-plus events; we’ve sent a number of athletes onto the next level,” Haydak said. “I’ve dealt with some guys that are tough to get matchups for, and Luke is definitely at the top of the list.”

With Fernandez looking to get back into the CFFC cage in April, the race to find the bravest 205-er outside of the UFC begins now.

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