Former Bellator prospect [autotag]Tom Mearns[/autotag] has wasted no time in securing his immediate fighting future after being pulled from the Bellator Europe 7 card in Dublin.
MMA Junkie on Tuesday confirmed with Cage Warriors officials that Mearns (6-3), who was pulled from his scheduled fight with Dylan Logan on February 22 over a medical paperwork issue, has now signed an exclusive multi-fight deal with the promotion. The Englishman, who previously competed at featherweight, says he plans on fighting his way to the Cage Warriors lightweight title within two years.
The Northampton-based fighter will take on SBG Manchester prospect [autotag]Steven Hooper[/autotag] (4-3) at Cage Warriors 112 on March 7 in Manchester, and the Mearns said he is happy to have resolved his situation and landed a fight so quickly after his Dublin disappointment.
“For the love of the sport, I’m glad to be signing with Cage Warriors,” Mearns said. “I’ll be under the bright lights in big fights wearing the iconic yellow gloves, sharing the same ring as some of the greatest fighters in MMA history. My dream is to have the Cage Warriors world title within two years from today by being the best I can be and putting on the greatest fights.
“Me and Hooper will be representing two of the most prestigious MMA teams in the country, BST (Blood Sweat and Tears) vs. SBG Manchester, South vs. North. I will beat Hooper in all areas to start my run towards the Cage Warriors title. I will be victorious in Manchester.”
Mearns’ first crack at the big stage came when he was signed by Bellator for its London event, Bellator 200, in May 2018. But his big-show debut ended in disaster when he suffered a horrific arm injury in his loss to Mike Ekundayo.
Mearns’ subsequent rehabilitation and recovery forced him out of action for the following 16 months and, after picking up a victory in Cage Warriors on his comeback, returned to the Bellator cage in a losing effort against Jeremy Petley at Bellator Europe 6 in November 2019.
Mearns was all set to face Logan in Dublin on Feb. 22, but after a mixup over medical paperwork he was removed from the card. Now he’s a Cage Warriors fighter and looking to kick off the latest chapter of his career with a statement victory in enemy territory.
Cage Warriors 112 confirmed fights include:
MAIN CARD
- Champion Jack Cartwright vs. Manuel Bilic – for bantamweight title
- Madars Fleminas vs. Adam Proctor
- Yassine Belhadj vs. Martin Stapleton
- Mick Stanton vs. James Webb
- Liam Gittins vs. Jonas Magard
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Steven Hooper vs. Tom Mearns
- Scott Malone vs. Adam Wilson
- Paul Hughes vs. Youri Panada
- Nathan Fletcher vs. Johan Segas
- Lukasz Marcinkowski vs. George Smith
- Arann Maguire vs. Jabeed Rahman
- James Sheehan vs. Kyran Sturrock