Five star bantamweight prospect Aljamain Sterling moves to 7-0, middleweight Tim Williams loses on cut at CFFC 16

August 29, 2012

The Cage Fury Fighting Championships gave East Coast mixed martial arts fans another prospect laden card for their fourth event of 2012 and 16th overall. In the main event of CFFC 16 undefeated middleweight prospect Tim Williams (7-1) was paired with two time UFC veteran Dustin Jacoby (8-2). A solid 24 year old middleweight in his own right, Jacoby came out like a house on fire against the favored Williams.

With seven stoppages or submissions in his pro career Jacoby worked his way on top of Williams unloaded a series of elbows that would open up two cuts near the eyes of the 26 year old New Jersey native. Working against the cage on his downed opponent, Jacoby looked for more strikes but the cageside doctor would intervene to check on a cut above Williams' right eye. The five round title fight was halted at the 4:04 point of round one with Jacoby earning the TKO victory.

Since being released by the UFC in February, after posting a 0-2 record with the promotion, Jacoby has won his last two fights in the first round. Fighting out of Finney's HIT Squad in Illinois, Jacoby is well on his way to earning a second chance in the UFC's middleweight division.

Coming off a 14 month layoff due to injury Williams last competed on CFFC's June 30th card in Atlantic City. Losing his first pro fight via cut will itch at Williams but most likely will not derail his big show aspirations at all. A 6'2 185 pound prospect with high level grappling ability Williams still remains just one or two wins away from inking a long term contract with Bellator or the UFC.

A four star prospect at middleweight Williams was rated the 12th best 185 pound prospect in MMA heading into 2012 by ULTMMA.com. The Team Balance fighter also makes appearance in the 2012 ULTMMA50, a pound for pound prospect top 50, at number 39.

The top prospect on the card was five star bantamweight Aljamain Sterling (7-0). The CFFC 135 pound champion, Sterling put his belt on the line versus submission specialist Sidemar Honorio (7-3). The bout would stretch out for over nine minutes and added another layer to Sterling's development as well as to his hype as one of the sport's most promising prospects.

Round one saw Sterling worked a methodical gameplan of counter punching and utilizing his improved striking game. The opening five minutes were highlighted by Honorio avoiding much of Sterling's offense and looking to submit the champion with a heel hook attempt. The second round would be a different story as Sterling kicked it into another gear and showed off his innate ability to dominate his opposition off wrestling scrambles.

After a failed takedown by the 32 year old Honorio, Sterling turned the corner and seized his opponent's back in a singular motion of wrestling superiority. With a triangle body lock applied Sterling sought out and found Honorio's neck for a rear naked choke submission. The end would come at the 4:05 mark of round one and the win was Sterling's third via submission in his pro career.

At 23 years old Sterling continues to reaffirm his status as a five star 135 pound prospect and perhaps the best unsigned up and comer in all of MMA. A member of Team Bombsquad in New York, Sterling's offensive grappling game is beginning to catch up with his built-in amateur wrestling base. With a handful of his teammates already signed to Bellator, Sterling would make an excellent addition to the UFC's bantamweight division by the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013.

Sterling's potential had him enter 2012 as the number one rated bantamweight prospect in MMA according to ULTMMA.com. The five star 135 pounder also made his case in the ULTMMA50 as Sterling held down the number two slot in the annual pound for pound prospect top 50 ranking.

Cage Fury Fighting Championships 16 results
Atlantic City, NJ

Dustin Jacoby def. *Tim Williams by TKO (Doctor's Stoppage) 4:04 R1
*George Sullivan def. Tenyeh Dixon by Unanimous Decision
*Sean Santella def. Evan Velez by Split Decision
Brandon Becker def. Dave Spadell Jr. by TKO (Punches) 4:17 R1
*Aljamain Sterling def. Sidemar Honorio by Submission Rear Naked Choke 4:05 R2
Jonavin Webb def. Jason Lee by Unanimous Decision
Chris Liguori def. Gert Kocani by Unanimous Decision
Michael Wilcox def. Zed Mitchell by TKO (Punches) 1:48 R1
Travis Wynn def. Dwayne Holman Jr. by Unanimous Decision
Bryan Lashomb def. Evan Chmielski by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 1:51 R3
Gabrielle Holloway def. Andria Caplan by Technical Unanimous Decision R3
*Chris Birchler def. J.A. Dudley by Unanimous Decision
Desmond Green def. Ryan Peterson by Split Decision
Jonathan Helwig def. Jeremy Shifflett by Submission Triangle Choke 2:30 R2

*Prospect to watch