Category: Cage Warriors

Video: Irish UFC hopeful Paul Hughes bludgeons opponent at Cage Warriors 170

Will Sean Shelby be making a phone call to Paul Hughes? Only time will tell.

[autotag]Paul Hughes[/autotag] continues to do everything he can so the UFC comes calling.

Saturday at Cage Warriors 170 in Dublin, Ireland’s Hughes (11-1) thrilled his home country crowd with another scintilating first-round TKO – this time, over experienced veteran [autotag]Fabiano Silva[/autotag] (34-16-1).

The stoppage came at the 4:37 mark of Round 1 and began with a big flying knee. Another knee was followed by punches, then hard ground-and-pound elbows until the referee jumped in.

Silva was Hughes’ third opponent for this event and stepped in on less than one week’s notice.

European MMA fans and experts alike have been hankering for Hughes to receive the UFC call. Time will only tell if the promotion finally thinks it’s time to onboard Hughes, who is now a free agent.

Hughes, 26, has won five fights in a row. The only loss of his career came by split decision against Jordan Vucenic, whom he defeated in a rematch about two years later. In 11 pro fights, Hughes has eight finishes with five TKOs and three submissions.

After 16-second knockout at Cage Warriors 162, Baris Adiguzel hopes activity leads to UFC dream

Baris Adiguzel hopes activity can fast track him to the UFC.

[autotag]Baris Adiguzel[/autotag] hopes activity can fast track him to the UFC.

Adiguzel is coming off a 16-second highlight reel knockout at Cage Warriors 162 on Oct. 28. The 24-year-old Turkish fighter trains out of Boxing Squad in Nice, France – home to UFC flyweight contender Manon Fiorot.

Cage Warriors has produced UFC superstars such as Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, and Tom Aspinall. Adiguzel hopes the same promotion can springboard him to the octagon too.

“If I can stay active, I can fight every three months. For sure I’m going to be in a really big organization,” Adiguzel told MMA Junkie Radio. “I don’t know where, I would like to be in the UFC, I’m not going to lie.

“I don’t want to do like 20 fights before going to the UFC. I want to win, win, win and go to the UFC pretty quickly. I really believe that I can do really good things in the UFC. Just talking about this, I’m really excited.”

Check out Adiguzel’s full interview with MMA Junkie Radio in the video above.

Video: Tobias Harila suffers horrific arm injury in Cage Warriors 160 main event

Cage Warriors 160 headliner Tobias Harila had his arm go in a direction an arm definitely should not bend in when James Hendin slammed him.

The Cage Warriors 160 main event ended in grotesque and unfortunate fashion.

Cage Warriors 160 took place Friday at BEC Arena in Manchester, England, and concluded after [autotag]Tobias Harila[/autotag] (12-4) suffered a nasty arm injury on a takedown by opponent [autotag]James Hendin[/autotag] (8-2) during their welterweight headliner.

The injury occurred early in Round 3 of the contest. As Hendin dropped him to the canvas on a double leg attempt along the cage, Harila planted his arm on the mat – a big mistake. Gravity took over as the weight of both men contorted the arm in a nasty direction.

Almost immediately, Harila tapped and referee Marc Goddard officially called off the fight at 0:28 of Round 3. Despite the gruesome appears of the sideways-pointed limb, Harila got up and walked out of the cage under his own power.

Check out full video of the incident below, if you dare.

The full Cage Warriors 160 results included:

  • James Hendin def. Tobias Harila via TKO (arm injury) – Round 3, 0:28
  • Matthew Bonner def. Samir Zaidi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:02
  • Antonio Sheldon def. Michal Folc via unanimous decision
  • Luke Riley def. Alexander Loof via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 0:58
  • Adam Cullen def. Amaury Junior via TKO (ground-and-pound) – Round 1, 1:24
  • Rory Evans def. Adam Wilson via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:21
  • Umakhan Ibragimov def. Rashid Bulguchev via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:11
  • Chris Price def. Dec Dean via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:41
  • Adam Shelley def. Matthew Camilleri via unanimous decision

MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for April: Liz Carmouche saves title reign

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from April 2023.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from April 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for April.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

Bellator 295 weigh-in results: One fight canceled during session in Hawaii

Check out the results from the official Bellator 295 fighter weigh-ins.

HONOLULU – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official Bellator 295 fighter weigh-ins.

The weigh-ins took place at the Bellator host hotel in Honolulu. The nearby Neal S. Blaisdell Arena hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. It is the second of back-to-back shows in Honolulu.

Among those weighing in were interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots (19-1 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) and Patchy Mix (17-1 MMA, 6-1 BMMA), who meet in the main event. The fight also is the final in the $1 million grand prix. In the co-feature, Hawaii’s own Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (12-2 MMA, 11-2 BMMA), a former women’s flyweight champ, take on Kana Watanabe (11-1-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).

It was far from a flawless session. Before it began, Bellator announced Ray Borg had experienced “weight management issues” and his flyweight bout with Kyoji Horiguchi was off. Additionally, the matchup between Weber Almeida and Keoni Diggs was also pulled from the lineup during the weigh-in window.

The full Bellator 295 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET)

  • Interim champ Raufeon Stots (134.2) vs. Patchy Mix (135) – for interim bantamweight title; grand prix final
  • Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (126) vs. Kana Watanabe (125.6)
  • James Gonzalez (145.8) vs. Aaron Pico (145.6)
  • Charlie Leary (164.2) vs. Yancy Medeiros (162.4) – 165-pound contract weight

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Mads Burnell (144.4) vs. Justin Gonzales (145.6)
  • Adli Edwards (145.6) vs. Kai Kamaka (145.4)
  • Veta Arteaga (125.8) vs. Sumiko Inaba (124.4)
  • Aalon Cruz (156) vs. Bobby King (155.4)
  • Kasim Aras (251.8) vs. Davion Franklin (259.2)
  • Bruna Ellen (125.6) vs. Ilara Joanne (125.4)
  • Masayuki Kikuiri (169) vs. Alexey Shurkevich (170.8)

UFC signs Cage Warriors champion Christian Leroy Duncan for London card

Another Cage Warriors champion heads to the UFC. Christian Leroy Duncan has vacated his title in anticipation of a March debut in London.

Another Cage Warriors champion is headed to the UFC.

Initially expected to headline Saturday’s Cage Warriors 148 in London, middleweight champion [autotag]Christian Leroy Duncan[/autotag] received the bad news first. His main event title defense was canceled when opponent Jesse Taylor was injured in a car crash.

Hours later, the good news came. Duncan (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) announced on the UFC Fight Pass broadcast he will forgo another regional test and sign with the UFC instead in anticipation of a promotional debut March 18 at UFC 286 in London.

“At this time, I think we’ve made the decision I’ll be handing this belt back to Cage Warriors,” Duncan said on the broadcast. “Then, next year, 2023, London, March, I’ll be looking to make my UFC debut in London.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm2NRxEpyKo/

Duncan, 27, is undefeated as a professional with six finishes in seven appearances, including five knockouts and one submission. Prior to his leap into the professional side in 2020, Duncan had a lengthy amateur career with a record of 17-6.

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Cage Warriors 145 results: Paul Hughes bloodies Jordan Vucenic to unify featherweight title

“UFC, I’m coming!”

Cage Warriors has a new unified featherweight champion.

Friday at Cage Warriors 145, interim champion [autotag]Paul Hughes[/autotag] stepped into the cage to face champion [autotag]Jordan Vucenic[/autotag] in a title unification bout. After five bloody rounds, Hughes (9-1) would be the man holding the gold, avenging a prior loss to Vucenic (9-2) in an impressive performance.

The fight took place in front of a rowdy crowd at the Indigo at the O2 in London, serving as the main event of the evening.

When the fight began, neither man rushed the action, knowing they had 25 minutes to settle the outcome. Each fighter picked their shots well, early and remained calculated. Vucenic pushed ahead with strikes as Hughes remained calm and attempted to slow things down.

Early in the second round, Hughes quickly found the back of Vucenic while standing and locked in a body triangle. Vucenic did well to prevent any submission attempts when they went to the ground, but spent the majority of the round defending with Hughes on his back.

Vucenic turned up the pressure in the third, going first with combinations, keeping Hughes on his back foot. However, late in the round, Hughes put together a flurry that opened a cut on the right eye of Vucenic.

The fourth was huge for Hughes, as he put together a vicious combination that dropped Vucenic, causing him to scramble for a takedown to stop the onslaught. With blood flowing from the face of Vucenic, Hughes took his back and continued landing punches while looking for a rear-naked choke.

The final round saw more damage dished out by Hughes. The entering interim champion hurt Vucenic again with strikes, leading to more ground damage and control on the blood-soaked canvas until the conclusion of the bout.

The judges turned in scores of 49-46, 50-43, and 49-43 in favor of Huges, crowning him the new unified featherweight champion.

“UFC, I’m coming!” Hughes screamed into the camera as he celebrated his victory.

The win extended Hughes’ win streak to three. The only loss of his pro career came against Vucenic, where he ended up on the wrong end of a split decision at Cage Warriors 119 in 2020.

For Vucenic, the result snapped a seven-fight win streak stretching back to April 2019.

Full results of Cage Warriors 145 include:

  • Paul Hughes def. Jordan Vucenic via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-43, 49-43)
  • Modestas Bukauskas def. Lee Chadwick via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
  • Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar def. Xavier Sedras via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Caolan Loughran def. Luke Shanks via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:46
  • James Webb def. Paddy McCorry via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Ryan Shelley def. Josh Reed via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:00
  • Harry Hardwick def. Steve Aimable via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
  • Oban Elliott def. Sean McCormac via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Adam Shelley def. El Hadji Ndiaye via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Cage Warriors 145 results: Modestas Bukauskas makes successful return from UFC exit, knee injury

The UFC veteran returned to action after a nasty knee injury from a year ago.

Light heavyweight [autotag]Modestas Bukauskas[/autotag] returned to action on Friday for the first time since his UFC exit, successfully putting his injured knee to the test.

Bukauskas (12-5), whose past 10 wins have come by stoppage, recorded a unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27 over Lee Chadwick at Cage Warriors 145, marking the first decision win since his pro debut. The event took place at the Indigo at the O2 in London.

While he did not find a way to stop his opponent, this fight against Chadwick was more about getting back on track from a knee injury that led to the stoppage of his last UFC appearance.

Last September at UFC Fight Night 191, Khalil Rountree landed a nasty knee stomp to the left leg of Bukauskas, instantly folding him to the canvas, where he immediately grabbed his injured limb.

Over a year later, Bukauskas returned to action against Chadwick and showed little signs of lingering issues with his left leg. Throughout the fight, he repeatedly used his legs to attack, landing head kicks, leg kicks, and even a spinning back kick to the body.

Throughout the 15 minutes, the 28-year-old Lithuanian seemed comfortable in the cage, leading to his sixth victory under the Cage Warriors banner.

Bukauskas fought in the UFC on four occasions, recording a retirement stoppage over Andreas Michailidis in his debut, but went on to drop his next three outings.

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Cage Warriors 141 results: George Hardwick crumples Kyle Driscoll with slick body punch to win vacant title

George Hardwick resorted to his signature weapon at Cage Warriors 141 when he defeated Kyle Driscoll by TKO due to body shot.

[autotag]George Hardwick[/autotag] is known for his sharp body shots and he showed why in his first major regional promotional title fight Friday in London.

At Cage Warriors 141, Hardwick (10-1) went to his bread-and-butter attack when he blasted AKA’s [autotag]Kyle Driscoll[/autotag] (13-4) with a series of punches to the body and head to claim the promotion’s vacant lightweight title at 1:25 of Round 4.

The fight was closely contested in the early stages. Slowly but surely that changed as Hardwick maintained a high energy level and quick movements. Driscoll’s range was excellent early, but as the fight continued he appeared to slow down.

In Round 3, Hardwick dropped Driscoll with a body shot that swung the momentum clearly in his favor. Driscoll succeeded in wild exchanges when he had no other option, but Hardwick’s attack proved relentless.

In the next round, Hardwick finally got the job done. A left hook to the right side of Driscoll’s body sat him against the cage. A couple of light follow-up punches were enough for referee Marc Goddard to step in.

With the victory, Hardwick extended his winning streak to six. Five of those wins came inside the distance. As for Driscoll, his eight-fight winning streak is no longer.

“Maybe this will get me into the UFC, but I’m a competitor first,” Hardwick told MMA Junkie before the fight. “I want to have an active schedule first. I want to have defenses. I’ve seen some champions that win the belt and then they just sit on the sidelines. I’ve seen some champions win this and think it’s a ticket to the UFC. They sat on their arse for like two years. You only get one career. You don’t want to lose two years of fights. I’m a competitor first. I want to compete. I want to go through the competitive process as much as possible.”

The full Cage Warriors 141 results include:

  • George Hardwick def. Kyle Driscoll via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 1:25
  • Jim Wallhead def. Daniel Skibinski via TKO (right hook) – Round 1, 1:15
  • Mike Figlak def. Agy Sardari via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Mick Stanton def. Darren Stewart via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Samuel Bark def. Tobias Harila via TKO (knee) – Round 2, 2:30
  • Steve Aimable def. Jeremy Petley via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Reece McEwan def. Kingsley Crawford via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
  • Will Currie def. Naglis Kanisauskas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
  • Adam Amarashinghe def. Sam Spencer via unanimous decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
  • Madars Fleminas def. Jesse Urholin via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:10
  • Lone’er Kavanagh def. Ander Sanchez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
  • Omiel Brown def. Alexander Lindgren via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:51

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Cage Warriors 140 results: Rhys McKee slumps Justin Burlinson to claim vacant welterweight title

Cage Warriors’ vacant welterweight title was claimed by Rhys McKee who scored a devastating third-round finish of Justin Burlinson.

Cage Warriors has crowned a new welterweight champion.

Saturday’s main event of Cage Warriors 140 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland would see [autotag]Rhys McKee[/autotag] challenge Justin Burlinson for the vacant welterweight title. The event was packed with exciting finishes from beginning to end, and it would be the UFC veteran McKee (12-4-1) who would close the show with one final knockout.

Just a few seconds into the third round, moments after Burlinson (7-2) would attempt a spinning back elbow, McKee landed a crushing left hand that would leave his opponent slumped against the fence.

Check out video of the title-winning finish by McKee in the video below (via Twitter):

In his second stint with Cage Warriors, McKee has become champion of the welterweight division following a two-fight run in the UFC in 2020. McKee dropped both fights, losing to Khamzat Chimaev and Alex Morono. He has since rebounded nicely with Saturday’s result which came on the heels of a third-round stoppage of Aleksi Mantykivi in October.

Full results of Cage Warriors 140 include:

  • Rhys McKee def. Justin Burlinson via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:20
  • Caolan Loughran def. Festus Ahorlu via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:20
  • James Sheehan def. Martin Causse via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:16
  • Federico Pasquali vs. Harry Hardick results in majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-29)
  • Ryan Shelley def. Matthew Elliott via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Michele Martignoni def. Scott Malone via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
  • James Power def. Adam Shelley via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:23
  • Michael Tchamou def. Glenn Irvine via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:30
  • Adam Darby def. Dorian Cliucinicov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:29