Aaron Jeffery, Champ in Spite of the Distractions
It took a hard night of work for Aaron Jeffery to win the CFFC middleweight title on March 12, but even before he stepped into the cage in Philadelphia, he had to weather a travel nightmare worthy of “Planes, Trains & Automobiles.”
Jeffery (10-2), who won a unanimous decision over Collin Huckbody at CFFC 93, drew notice for coming off somewhat harsh on his own performance, specifically for not delivering the kind of knockout that had closed out seven of his previous nine career victories. However, if fans knew what he went through to get to CFFC 93’s main event and win, the victory might stand as an example of the kind of focus combat sports athletes need to perform in the face of distraction and adversity.
Speaking to Sherdog just before the event, Jeffery had talked about the difficulties of trying to train during the pandemic, let alone prepare for a title fight. Apparently, the trouble did not stop there, as the COVID-19 testing required to leave his native Canada was further complicated by the timing.
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“The fight week itself was pretty f***ing stressful, to be honest,” the 28-year-old said. “We had to get COVID tests in order to get on the flight, I think it’s an Air Canada requirement. The government is probably making them do that, and it has to be within 72 hours of when your plane takes off. So you have to try and time this test so that the results come in, in time.”
After chasing down testing at the last minute, Jeffery then found out the tests they were getting were not the right kind. “On fight day, we drive to a clinic, pay around $200 Canadian each to get our own COVID tests so that we can come back in to Canada. I was doing that on fight day when you’re supposed to be resting, eating and rehydrating.”
That’s a lot to go through, but that wasn’t all, as he was relieved of his wallet during the process. “I don’t know if I lost it or I got pick-pocketed, but within 20 minutes there were charges on my credit card from like a gas station. So it was stressful, to say the least.”
Now that Jeffery’s quarantine is over and all is settled, however, the win is all the sweeter because of the title and the adversity he had to overcome in order to make it all happen.
Edward Carbajal serves as the co-host for Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour podcast and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu Karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow Edward on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.
