Former Ultimate Fighter star and UFC veteran Corey Hill will take on Nicolae Cury Feb. 10th live on HDNet, in a highly anticipated welterweight attraction at XFC 16: ‘High Stakes’ at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Both men are coming off impressive wins in the XFC cage and are looking to build more momentum heading into the new year.
Corey Hill is 1-0 since his move up to 170 at XFC 15 “Tribute”. In his welterweight debut last month Hill ended Charlie Rader’s 6 fight win streak in the first round when he forced his fellow Ultimate Fighter alum to submit to a darse choke hold. With a win over Cury, ‘The Real Deal’ will likely establish himself as the top welterweight in the promotion.
“This is one of the biggest welterweight fights in XFC history,” explained XFC President John Prisco. “Corey destroyed Charlie Rader at our last show when a lot of people thought he was a huge underdog. Charlie was on a huge winning streak and Corey got him down and submitted him in the first round. Corey is so long and he uses those long limbs to his advantage. He’s a tough matchup for anyone on the ground or standing.”
Known primarily for his submission skills, Nicolae Cury has won two straight fights by armbar in the first round. Out of six professional wins, half of those have come by armbar in the first round. The American Top Team product successfully made his XFC debut at XFC 14 Resurrection, when he submitted Elijah Harshbarger in 87 seconds to improve his record to 6-2.
“Nicolae has some of the sickest armbars I have ever seen,” confessed Prisco. “It didn’t even take him 90 seconds to tap out Harshbarger in October. I was blown away by his performance that night and I know he wants to put on a show in Knoxville. Corey may be a bigger name but Nicolae wants to show everyone on HDNet that he is for real.”
“This fight is so intriguing for a lot of reasons. Both men are so good on the ground and they both have very underrated stand up. Corey actually has a couple of KO wins on his record and he will definitely have the reach advantage. But Nicolae is no slouch. What he lacks in reach he makes up for it in explosiveness and power. I actually think this fight could stay standing due to both men being at such a high level on the ground. If Corey can keep him off with the jab he will control this fight, but if Nicolae gets inside he could get the knockout. This is going to be exciting either way. The fans in Knoxville and live on HDNet are in for a treat when these guys step into the cage.” Prisco stated.