Donovan Beard erased Miles Lee’s strong lead on scorecards in their title fight this weekend, catching him late with a triangle choke to end their bout.
Beard’s victory headlined CFFC 111 from the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, USA on Friday night.
Lee controlled the opening three rounds of their title fight, using his wrestling to keep Beard down. A late jolt of energy from Beard in the fourth and final round of the fight allowed him to take back momentum and secure a finish.
A visibly tired Lee started to consume punches in the fourth round. In an attempt to stop this success from Beard, Lee scored a takedown. However, from his back, Beard was able to slip in a triangle choke that forced their fight to end while on the ground.
The fight made Beard CFFC’s eighth-ever middleweight champion. The belt was vacant heading into this weekend, as the previous titleholder, Aaron Jeffery, dropped the belt after signing with Bellator earlier this year.
Beard’s record is now a strong seven wins and one loss. His previous fight this year was a first-round victory over Tracy Hardy in May.
Lee suffered his first pro loss in Friday’s main event. He went undefeated in previous amateur and pro bouts, including a trio of wins in CFFC last year.
Undefeated Forest Earns Crafty Submission
Raheam Forest showed his grappling skills in Friday’s co-main event, catching Trevor Ollison early with an armbar.
Forest initially attempted an americana submission while in full mount during the first round. Keeping a hold of an arm of Ollison, Forest then transitioned into an armbar that caused the fight to end.
Forest now has a flawless record of five wins. He was coming off a strong rookie year as a pro, earning four victories within a 12-month time period. Three of those wins came via stoppage, and the other saw him beat then-undefeated Donovan Beard on scorecards at CFFC 103.
Ollison took a loss earlier this year, suffering a quick submission loss to Manoel Sousa.
Samaniego Stops Anderson To Keep Winning Streak Alive
Beau Samaniego scored a buzzer-beater finish against DeAndre Anderson, stopping him with strikes late in the second round.
Samaniego landed a series of punches to the head of Anderson from full mount in the second round. After connecting with a string of shots that Anderson wasn’t able to escape, the fight was stopped by the referee and a win was handed to Samaniego.
The fight was finished with just a few seconds left in the round.
Samaniego has now scored three consecutive wins. His previous bout was on an LFA card, going the distance against Alberto Rodriguez for a decision win.
Anderson has now lost three consecutive fights since November 2021. In his two previous defeats, he was stopped in the first round via submission.
Piersma Bounces Back From Sole Loss
A slick submission by Jonathan Piersma put him back into the win column on Friday night, catching TJ Welch with a guillotine choke.
Piersma looked for a guillotine choke as the fight was coming back to the feet from a grappling position. With his left arm under the neck of Welch, Piersma dropped back to the ground to fully go for the guillotine choke. Only moments later, the fight came to an end.
The fight on Friday was a return to form for Piersma.
Piersma’s sole pro defeat came in March when he dropped a close split decision to Charlie Radtke. He called for a rematch against Radtke following his win on Friday night.
Welch entered this weekend on a two-fight winning streak, including a first-round submission win that he earned on a CFFC card late last year.
Smith Submits Cruz Early For First Pro Win
Dakota Smith had a quick victory in his first appearance as a pro, submitting Nehemias Cruz in the first round.
Smith carried Cruz across the cage and dumped him to the canvas for a takedown early in their fight. Smith was able to eventually move to the back of Cruz, where he slipped in a rear naked choke to get a tap in the third minute.
Smith was turning pro after a flawless amateur run, scoring six wins from 2018 to 2021, including one appearance in CFFC.
Cruz is now winless through three fights as a pro. In all of those appearances, he has been submitted in the first round.
Wilson Out-Lands Tippins In Pro Debut
Petera Wilson won his pro debut in the opening bout of the card, putting together a solid three-round performance against Stan Tippins for a unanimous decision win.
Wilson out-landed Tippins throughout their fight, and connected with punches in all three rounds of the bout. He also showed his takedown skills, getting Tippins to the ground briefly during the fight.
Wilson was turning pro after an amateur run that saw him attain five wins and one loss. This included a previous appearance in CFFC, defeating Calvin Watkins in November 2021.
Tippins was coming off his second pro win, defeating Cody Phillips via split decision in January.
The Rest of the Card
Kris Williams picked up a finish win in his pro debut, finishing Joe Tran in the second round with ground and pound elbows. Tran’s pro record is now one win and two losses.
Chase Mann picked up a decision win in the final amateur bout of the night, defeating Quadarrius McGinnis on scorecards.
Nick Delahoussaye won his amateur fight against short-notice opponent Kris Cloud, stopping him in the first round with strikes.
Gilbert Cuzdey Jr. needed just a few seconds to stop Casey McDonald in their amateur bout, catching him with a left hook for a 15-second loss.
Alzarius Boykins had a strong amateur debut to open the card, putting Chris Betancourt to sleep in the first round with a standing guillotine choke.
Quick Results
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 11: Donovan Beard def. Miles Lee via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 4, 2:09) (Vacant CFFC Middleweight Championship)
Bout 10: Raheam Forest def. Trevor Ollison via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 2:43)
Bout 9: Beau Samaniego def. DeAndre Anderson via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:57)
Bout 8: Jonathan Piersma def. TJ Welch via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 1:26)
Bout 7: Dakota Smith def. Nehemias Cruz via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:23)
Bout 6: Petera Wilson def. Stan Tippins via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (Youtube)
Bout 5: Kris Williams def. Joe Tran via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:55)
Bout 4: Chase Mann def. Quadarrius McGinnis via Decision, Unanimous (Amateur)
Bout 3: Nick Delahoussaye def. Kris Cloud via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:25) (Amateur)
Bout 2: Gilbert Cuzdey Jr. def. Casey McDonald via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:15) (Amateur)
Bout 1: Alzarius Boykins def. Chris Betancourt via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:24) (Amateur)
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