Repeated headbutts from challenger Sylwester Miller saw the Pole disqualified as his title tilt ended disastrously at Cage Warriors 121.
[autotag]Jack Cartwright[/autotag] extended his perfect professional record and retained his bantamweight title in the Cage Warriors 121 co-main event, but the fight was anything but plain sailing for the unbeaten Brit.
Cartwright was given all he could handle by Poland’s [autotag]Sylwester Miller[/autotag] in their bantamweight title tussle, but the challenger’s ground-and-pound technique ultimately led to his own downfall when he was disqualified in the fourth round after connecting with repeated headbutts on the champion.
In a grueling encounter, Miller enjoyed significant success with his takedowns and used his shorter stature to duck under Cartwright’s power punches and launch himself into a series of successful takedowns.
The problem for Miller came once the fight was on the canvas, however, as the Pole looked to launch his full body weight into his ground-and-pound. His punches connected with plenty of force to impress the judges, but things started to go awry in Round 2 when he threw himself forward for one particular punch and ended up launching his head into the face of the champion.
[lawrence-related id=596809]
Referee Rich Mitchell paused the action and gave a lengthy warning to the challenger as he returned the action to the center of the cage. However, it wasn’t long before the fight was on the canvas again with Miller landing more ground strikes on the champion. Then, after another hard clash of heads, Mitchell warned Miller once again, this time allowing the action to continue.
Round 3 saw another nasty clash of heads after Miller launched his head into Cartwright’s face again, and this time Mitchell stood up the action and, after a lengthy explanation to Miller’s corner, deducted a point from the Pole.
Despite the sanction, Miller continued his relentless approach, and it wasn’t long before the Pole’s head once again slammed into the Englishman’s chin. Mitchell stopped the action and deducted a second point, while also warning the challenger that a further infraction would result in his disqualification.
Then, in Round 4, it happened. Miller was on top, landing more heavy ground strikes in Cartwright’s guard, but his over-zealous technique got the better of him as he once again crashed his head into Cartwright’s face. Mitchell decided he’d seen enough, stopped the fight and disqualified the challenger.
It meant Cartwright retained his title and extended his undefeated record, as the Manchester man registered his third title defense in just over a year.
