Championship Fighting Alliance 12 Date: October 12, 2013 Arena: BankUnited Center City: Coral Gables, FL Featherweight bout: Romario Manoel Da Silva (+140) vs Valdir Araujo (-180) Fight Breakdown: The CFA 12 main card will feature a five round contest for the promotion’s vacant welterweight title in a Brazilian vs Brazilian war, when Romario Manoel Da Silva squares off against Valdir Araujo. Da Silva is currently the underdog in this bout at +140 ($100 to win $140), while Araujo is the favorite at -180 ($180 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. ROMARIO MANOEL DA SILVA (23-10-1 MMA, 0-0 CFA) is making his promotional debut, riding a two-fight win streak, having won both fights via guillotine choke over opponents that will never be worth mentioning. Silva is a strong specimen who throws heavy kicks. He throws damaging leg kicks and has a variety of solid and effective kicks he likes to use. His striking is good and he has a nice jab. He is not a very technical fighter, tending to get into brawls, but he has a good chin so it generally works in his favor as he owns nine victories by knockout. He throws serious leather and loves to do damage with his fists. Even when the fight hits the mat, he prefers to employ a ground and pound attack rather than look for the submission, despite owning six wins by tapout. This will be the first five round fight of Da Silva’s career, and training out of the Blackzillians camp in Florida, he should be prepared for 25 minutes of action. His conditioning is generally good enough for a three round affair, but I can’t say he won’t gas in rounds four and five. VALDIR ARAUJO (13-4 MMA, 5-1 CFA) will be making his seventh appearance inside a CFA cage and he is also riding a two-fight win streak that includes a knockout and a submission. Araujo is a currently a welterweight, but used to compete at middleweight, where he suffered three of the four losses on his professional mixed martial arts career resume. Two of the losses came against Bellator middleweight title challenger Brett Cooper and current UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman. The 31-year old Brazilian does not have a great chin, having been knocked out three times in his pro career. Araujo is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with an excellent grappling game. He works submissions well and also has tremendous submission defense. He has a very tight ground game and is good at transitioning and advancing positions. Araujo is powerful and it reflects in his grappling. He holds position well against the cage, where he likes to control his opponents. He has a good level change and works solid takedowns. The CFA veteran has decent striking skills as well. He puts together some good combinations and likes to use his flying knee, which he used to knock his last opponent out with in the third round of their fight. This will be the first five round fight of his pro career, and training out of MMA Masters in Florida, I expect him to be ready for war. Fight Prediction: The longer this fight stays on the feet, the more exciting it will be, and the greater the chance there will be of witnessing a knockout. That said, I expect this to be a grappling heavy affair. Da Silva will come in looking to take Araujo’s head off, and Araujo’s gameplan should be to take him down and wear him out. Even considering the fact that Araujo used to fight at middleweight, Da Silva will still have the size advantage over him. If Araujo’s chin holds up, I think he can get through this with the ‘W.’ It is also worth noting that Da Silva is facing Paul Daley in December in another promotion, so it’s very questionable how focused he is on Araujo, who is no slouch. Gabe’s Pick: Valdir Araujo by TKO (3:33, round 4) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Valdir Araujo -180 for 1.5u
