Travis LizotteCage Titans 48 Breakdown: Connor Matthews vs. Kris Berberich
Travis Lizotte "Full Contact Writer"
Connor Matthews (3-0) vs. Kris Berberich (5-8)
Featherweight
Connor “The Controller” Matthews
Age: 29
Fighting out of: Freetown, Massachusetts
Affiliation: Lauzon MMA
Record: 3-0 (1 Knockout, 2 Submissions)
Last fight: First Round Submission (Rear Naked Choke) victory over Josh Marer at CES 61: Gotti vs. Alley. (10/14/20)
“The Skinny”: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before; here comes another rising prospect out of Lauzon’s MMA, in the form of Connor “The Controller” Matthews. A lengthy, physical 145’er Connor has been on the rise here in New England over the last two years, jumping out to an impressive 3-0 professional mark, with all three wins coming by first round stoppage. Matthews was able to stay somewhat busy during the Covid shutdown, logging 57 seconds inside the CES MMA cage at CES 61 before dispatching Josh Marer with a Rear Naked Choke. With just a tick over 2 minutes (2:01, to be exact) cage time in his three professional victories it would be nice to see someone challenge the 29 year old, at Cage Titans 48 this Saturday that task will be up to the Alaskan; Kris Berberich.
Once again Matthews fits the mold of a Lauzon groomed athlete, steady forward pressure, tenacious grappling and slick submission skills. A couple more wins on the local scene and Matthews could be looking at a shot at the Contender Series or a similar type of opportunity. An impressive win here over Berberich could very easily help "The Controller" expedite that process. Matthews talked with Steve Domenico about his progress during fight camp in this episode of The Room Podcast.
Age: 24
Fighting out of: Wasilla, Alaska
Affiliation: UFC Gym
Record: 5-8 (2 Knockouts, 3 Submissions)
Last fight: First Round Knockout loss to Zach DiSabatino at Cage Titans 47. (01/25/29)
“The Skinny”: One look at this kid’s resume and you’ll realize that Kris Berberich is not someone to overlook. Berberich’s signature win is undoubtedly his first round Kimura of Contender Series alum Maurice Mitchell (11-2) in 2019, but Kris has also shared the cage with some other notable foes, like Bellator Veteran and fellow Contender Series alum Zach Zane, before suffering a somewhat controversial TKO loss at the hands of Zach DiSabatino at Cage Titans 47 in January of 2020. Berberich has not entered the cage since his loss to DiSab, he has however, stayed busy during the shutdown logging four professional boxing bouts, failing to pick up a victory in those contests.
Berberich enters the cage Saturday night in his Sophomore swing with Cage Titans standing across from yet another tall task in Connor Matthews as he looks to notch his first promotional victory. Berberich should prove to be the toughest test to Connor Matthews’ undefeated record thus far in his career. Having logged the miles, as well as finishes in all five of his career victories, “Easy Money” poses serious danger to anyone locked inside the cage with him.
Breakdown: We should get a good look into what the future holds for Connor Matthews in this one, as Berberich will be the most experienced and winningest opponent Matthews has faced as a pro. Berberich should be able to hang with Matthews wherever the fight ends up, at least I expect Berberich to be in there much longer than Connor’s previous opponents. We saw in the DiSabatino fight Berberich has a huge heart and is very dangerous from his back. Berberich chased Armbars and Triangles constantly against the onward pressure of DiSab and he will need to be able to provide the same type of output against Connor Matthews if he hopes to upset the Freetown, Mass prospect. It is also worthy of note that Berberich looked STOUT at 155 pounds at Cage Titans 47 and he will now be moving down to Featherweight for his shot at Matthews.
I fully expect Connor Matthews to be tested in this fight, but I also expect him to shine in those positions, with that said I fully expected Josh Marer to last longer than 57 seconds in there with Connor at CES 61, so I could very well be mistaken. No matter how you slice it; the judges can take this fight off, someone is getting finished, these guys have combined for exactly zero decisions across their 16 combined professional fights. Will the young gamer Berberich remove the air from Plymouth Memorial Hall or will the Cage Titans contingent tear the roof off in celebration of their prospect; Connor Matthews, taking the next step in his promising career?