SYRACUSE N.Y. – Solomon Renfro, an 18-year-old from Buffalo, N.Y., waits for round two to begin against Matt Flynn during an amateur fight at the first ever MMA Classic Fan Expo at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, N.Y., Oct. 3, 2015. Renfro defeated Matt Flynn via TKO 1:35 into round two. Referee for the bout was Forrest Hobbick. DC Promotions hosted the event in accordance with MMA Signatures and the AMJ Expo Group. (Photo by Joseph DiGirolamo)
CFFC 82’s Solomon Renfro on move to Tiger Schulmann’s: “I’m just so much better, it’s ridiculous”
There’s some new scenery for unbeaten welterweight Solomon Renfro.
The 23-year-old made the move from New York to New Jersey to train with his new camp, Tiger Schulmann’s. After making the switch official, Renfro is set to face Robert Gidron at CFFC 82 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA on Aug. 12.
After compiling a 5-0 record at WNY MMA Fitness, Renfro is finding his best self since the move.
“I kind of look back, even at last year and I’m like, ‘Dude, I would whoop this dude’s ass,’” Renfro said.
“I am a whole new fighter. I’m just so much better, it’s ridiculous.”
The move
Renfro is going from having his friends in his corner to training everyday with a list of UFC talent. Renfro is used to doing his own thing.
He trained with mostly boxers and Bellator bantamweight Patrick Mix at WNY. After Mix started to travel to JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Renfro found himself hitting the punching bag mostly in New York.
He lacked a proper diet and found himself over training majority of the time.
Now, he is mixing it up with the likes of Lyman Good, Shane Burgos and Mike Trizano. Being in the New Jersey area, Renfro has access to other talent like UFC welterweight Mickey Gall and Bellator welterweight Dillon Danis.
Solomon Renfro is confident he was getting better in New York, but his recent move is the boost he needed.
“Training is rough, probably the roughest training I’ve ever had to be honest. I don’t think anybody trains like we do,” Renfro said. “This is honestly the first time going into a fight I feel confident in my training, confident in my team, confident in my conditioning and confident in my nutrition. Before I was confident, but I was confident in myself.”
Eye of the Tiger
Renfro is no stranger to grinding out a win with all five of his victories coming by decision. One of the reasons he targeted Tiger Shullmann’s was for its striking credentials.
Gidron has only been finished twice in his career and is yet to be put away by knockout or TKO. Renfro is is changing his approach ahead of CFFC 82. He is no longer looking to just win, but finish.
“I think I’ll get the finish no later than the second round. If somehow he makes it out of the second round, I definitely don’t see him making it out of the third,” Renfro said. “Before it was just dominate, dominate, win the position, try to win the fight, now it’s win everything. Win every little battle and dominate the war and get him out of there.”
Next step
With new territory, comes new challenges. With four victories inside the CFFC cage, Renfro expects to be in title contention with a win on Aug. 12. It comes at a good time since current CFFC welterweight champion Jeremiah Wells defends his belt against Bobby Nash the following day at CFFC 83 on Aug. 13.
With Tiger Schulmann’s behind him, Solomon Renfro is ready to challenge the champion. Renfro is also anticipating a potential call up to Dana White’s Contender Series. The show’s fourth season debuts this Tuesday, Aug. 4.
“Honestly I think I go out there and storm Gidron and then I go out there and storm Jeremiah as well. No disrespect to either guy, I think they are both talented, but I’m just better,” Renfro said. “I believe by the end of this year I should be in the UFC, if not, the beginning of next year at the latest. Then when i get there, I’m going to take over. Team Tiger Shulmann’s is going to take over. Team Tiger Schulmann’s is the best team in the world and I’m just blessed to be part of the team.”
