Vacant Flyweight Title At Stake in North Dakota Friday

In North Dakota this time of year, weekends are built around a particular happening: Rabid football fans packing the Fargodome in large numbers to root on the North Dakota State University Bison, one of the top programs in the NCAA‘s Division I Football Championship Subdivision on a perennial basis.

This coming weekend, however, the Fargodome will fall silent with the Bison on a road trip to Illinois State University for a game against the Redbirds. While the football team is away, the first week of fall still brings with it plenty of action to the state. On Friday night, one of MMA‘s top regional promotions returns to North Dakota for a great evening of fights.

Six days removed from holding CFFC 135 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, the promotion heads back out on the road to North Dakota for CFFC 136 from 4 Bears Casino Lodge in New Town. Live coverage begins at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT with the undercard on OnlyFans before heading to UFC Fight Pass at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT for main card action.

Championship Doubleheader Begins at Flyweight

All told, barring any late adjustments to the card, the final version of CFFC 136 features 12 fights inside 4 Bears Casino Lodge. Highlighting the night is a twin-bill of title fights, starting at 125 lbs.

Originally, Bilal Hasan (4-0, 1 NC MMA, 3-0 CFFC) was slated to have fought Harris Bonfiglio (7-1 MMA), a veteran of CES MMA, for the Vacant Cage Fury Flyweight Championship in what was to be the latter’s CFFC promotional debut. Bonfiglio resigned from the event amid being promoted at work.

Update: Bonfiglio had to withdraw due to an unexpected promotion at his day job (reminder very few are able to be full time fighters on the regionals). He assumes the new role the week of the fight and couldn’t do both. He has requested a potential rebooking for later this year. https://t.co/jQ8T2cHRKf

— 4oz to Freedom (@4ozToFreedomPod) September 14, 2024

Bilal Hasan has stayed on the card and squares off against Jose Leon (2-2 MMA, CFFC promotional debut), an alumnus of Fury Fighting Championships instead. As with all CFFC championship fights, the CFFC 136 co-main event is an advertised maximum of four rounds at five minutes per round.

If, however, the scorecards produce a draw after 20 minutes, the CFFC 136 co-main event heads to a fifth round to break the deadlock. Its winner succeeds Badmatsyren Dorzhiev, who was defeated by Israel Galvan at CFFC 130, as titleholder. Galvan couldn’t win the belt due to missing weight the day before.

CFFC 136 Co-Main Event Fighter Comparison

Heading into the CFFC 136 co-main event on Friday night, Bilal Hasan stands as the taller man at 5-foot-7, compared to the 5-foot-5 frame of Jose Leon. Hasan owns a 71-inch reach, with no such information accessible for Leon.

Currently, the oddsmakers have yet to release money lines for CFFC 136 on Friday. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening in MMA and/or combat sports this week, please wager responsibly.

Hasan Looks to Run Unbeaten Streak to Six

Bilal Hasan has yet to lose thus far in his professional career. The only result of his to come out unfavorably was his no-contest against Suranjan Sen (0-1, 1 NC MMA) during his pro MMA debut last year.

Most recently, he scored a first-round knockout against Shamiel Findley (6-3-1 MMA, 2-2 CFFC) back in June during CFFC 132. After the fight, he talked about the admiration he had for his opponent that evening.

“Shamiel’s the man, that’s what I told him,” Hasan began. “It’s a lot to come up [and] take this fight, especially after someone just calling you out, especially on the lower-level pro scheme. Shout-out to him, he came up on the challenge, he put his best out there, so shout-out to him.”

Hasan has only been a professional in the sport for slightly over a year at this point. Now, just six fights into his career, he’s aiming to become the new champion at 125 lbs. How will he do?

Bellator Alum Leon Seeks a Return to Win Column and a Belt

In the other corner, Jose Leon, who previously fought in Bellator MMA, has gone .500 so far in his professional career. Last time out, he sustained a second-round submission defeat by way of arm-triangle choke against Alden Coria (8-3 MMA) on Father’s Day during Fury FC 92 on UFC Fight Pass.

An interesting storyline ahead of the CFFC 136 co-main event is the fact that Hasan and Leon have had near-equal time away between fights. Leon’s last fight occurred on June 16, less than 48 hours removed from Hasan’s last contest.

With Jose Leon having suffered a loss three months ago, can he rebound and stop Bilal Hasan’s undefeated run? Tune in and find out.

Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction

This is another one of those strength versus strength fights. Who will emerge victorious?

Watch Hasan’s Kicking Game

Bilal Hasan has great kicks and he knows how to use them, as seen during his February fight vs. Jacob Romano. During the second round of the fight, after Hasan landed a leaping knee in round one, both fighters traded shots, but Hasan unloaded on a spinning wheel kick to knock Romano down and out on contact.

One kick square and true can give Bilal Hasan the title on Friday night in the CFFC 136 co-main event.

Leon Slick with Subs

In the other corner, Jose Leon can get the job done on the ground, like he did during his amateur days versus Ronny Hauser. Round two of that fight saw Leon drive Hauser to the mat for a takedown and go to work on a guillotine choke, forcing Hauser to tap out.

If Jose Leon forces Bilal Hasan down to the canvas, the CFFC 136 main event could be over in a hurry.

Final Thoughts

Someone will end up as the new champion on Friday. Be sure to watch and find out who.

Prediction: Bilal Hasan by Second-Round TKO.