While the sporting world is being forced to shut down amid the growing coronavirus pandemic, one event simply will not be denied.
Cage Warriors 113, set for Friday, was due to take place at indigo at The O2 in London in front of a sold-out crowd. Then, after government advice telling people to avoid mass gatherings, the promotion changed the event to a behind-closed-doors show.
However, the promotion suffered a further blow when AEG, the owners of indigo at The O2, announced all of their venues would close until further notice. It prompted Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan to act swiftly and, just one hour after that announcement, he secured a new venue for the event, with Cage Warriors set to swap cities and move 221 miles north to Manchester’s BEC Arena for the relocated event. The arena served as the venue for Cage Warriors’ most recent event, Cage Warriors 112, on March 7.
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As before, the event will be held behind closed doors, with only fighters and event staff permitted inside the building. The event’s main card will stream live worldwide on UFC Fight Pass, with the preliminary card streamed live via Cagewarriors.com.
Confirming the move, Boylan said, “The Cage Warriors team is working around-the-clock to get this done.
“After everything they’ve been through, the fighters deserve to compete. After all the support they’ve shown us, the fans deserve some calm amongst the chaos. We’re determined to provide the world with a seriously exciting night of MMA this Friday.”
The event will feature three Cage Warriors title fights, with the vacant interim featherweight, vacant lightweight and flyweight titles up for grabs, plus the addition of two fights featuring athletes originally set to compete at the now-canceled UFC on ESPN+ 29 event in London.
The UFC middleweight bout between John Phillips and Dusko Todorovic has joined the card, along with a second bout at 185 pounds, with UFC London competitors Darren Stewart and Bartosz Fabinski agreeing to a new matchup between fighters whose respective opponents were unable to compete following the cancellation of their bouts earlier in the week.
Also set for action on the card is Liverpudlian fan-favorite Paddy Pimblett, who makes his long-awaited return to the cage after an 18-month hiatus.
The latest Cage Warriors 113 card includes:
- Morgan Charriere vs. Darko Banovic – for vacant interim featherweight title
- Mason Jones vs. Joe McColgan – for vacant lightweight title
- Champ Samir Faiddine vs. Luke Shanks – for flyweight title
- John Phillips vs. Dusko Todorovic
- Bartosz Fabinski vs. Darren Stewart
- Decky Dalton vs. Paddy Pimblett
- David Bear vs. Nathan Jones
- Jack Collins vs. Aidan Stephen
- Adam Amarasinghe vs. Jake Bond
- Steve Aimable vs. Perry Goodwin
- Coner Hignett vs. Darren O’Gorman
- Matthew Bonner vs. Jamie Richardson
- Kris Edwards vs. James Hendin
- Cory Tait vs. opponent TBA
- Kingsley Crawford vs. Lewis Monarch