Cameron Smotherman, Mando Gutierrez to Headline Fury FC Challenger Series 9

Cameron
Smotherman and Mando
Gutierrez will trade leather in the main event at Fury
Fighting Championship Challenger Series 9 on Nov. 12. The
booking was first reported by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania on
Wednesday.

Smotherman (8-4) will look to defend his
Fury FC bantamweight title against Gutierrez in a five-round
affair that will go down in Houston. “The Baby-Faced Killer”
dethroned former champ Peter
Caballero with a stunning Round 2 knockout to top off a
four-fight win streak back in February.

Smotherman subsequently made an appearance on
Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7, Week 2 in a bid to earn
an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, where he was knocked
out by Charalampos
Grigoriou a minute into the bout.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez (8-2) will be making his promotional debut
when he challenges Smotherman for the 135-pound strap. “El Toro”
racked up a three-fight winning streak in the regional circuit when
he made an appearance on DWCS Season 6, Week 9 against 17-year-old
Raul
Rosas Jr. last September.

Gutierrez came up on the short side of an emphatic unanimous
decision loss that soon made Rosas Jr. the youngest fighter in UFC
history. However, the Murcielago Mixed Martial Arts product has
since made his way back to the win column with a Round 1 technical
knockout of Tim
Eschtruth at WXC 88 last October.