Cage Warriors Fighting Championship have successfully pulled off another big event. Last night, it was Cage Warriors 80 from the Indigo at the O2.
Upon entering the venue, I was intrigued to see where fans were going to be; there were no chairs on the floor, the cage was on quite a high platform, and overall it just weren’t your typical event.
One thing that really pleased me about the night was the fact there were barely any people there that didn’t actually follow the sport. Usually, you get guys just coming for a night out, people that have no idea about the sport, but last night, I didn’t see much of that at all. Well, that was apart from one guy saying “All this stupid [expletive] malarkey, they couldn’t do [expletive] all in a street fight!”
It was evident that these fans were ‘real’ MMA fans as the place was rammed for the first preliminary fight. Now, me having just turned 18, I have very limited experiences of night clubs (or at least that’s what I tell my parents), so maybe I’m not the best person to ask about a nightclub atmosphere, but that’s what it seemed like.
Enough talking about the fans, lets get on to the fights. Two fights ended up being pulled on fight week, which was a hindrance to the promotion, but with the eight fights they put on, seven of them ended up being finishes. One of the things that made the night really fun was the upsets, and there was a few of them.
The first came when Craig White tapped hot prospect Thomas Robertsen with three seconds left of the first round. With White being a short notice replacement and holding a record of 10-7 prior to the fight, you didn’t give him much of a chance, but he stuck in there, kept fighting, and once Robertsen had tired himself out, he locked up a triangle and forced a tap.
The next upset was in the next fight. Tim Wilde was fighting Alexander Jacobsen. With a win here, Wilde would have likely squared off against Cage Warriors Lightweight Champion Chris Fishgold in April, but things didn’t go to plan. Well, initially they did… Wilde was using superior movement, hard shots, and was the all around better fighter in the early goings. Everything seemed on track, things were running smoothly, and then all of a sudden, Wilde gets his world turned upside down with a massive right hand, and before he knows it, the referee is pulling Jacobsen off of him.
Three upsets in three consecutive fights on one fight card sounds unlikely, right? Well, that’s what we got, as Anthony Dizy defeated Martin Stapleton on Saturday. Again, Stapleton was fighting to possibly put himself in the title frame. This fight was at a catchweight, but he has said he will be competing in the featherweight division. Featherweight titleholder Paddy Pimblett has an opponent for April, but with a win, ‘Stapes’ could have faced the winner of that fight. Apparenty Anthony Dizy didn’t get the memo. He outwrestled Stapleton for three rounds, controlling the fight, and winning a decision.
Let’s talk about the co-main event. A fight that was moved up last minute as Nathaniel Wood was pulled from the card. Brad Wheeler was trying to put a disastrous 2016 behind him with a win as he faced “The Bodysnatcher” Warren Kee. Turns out, Wheeler enjoys a bit of body snatching himself, as he finished the fight with body shots in the second round after a dominant showing.
Now on to the big one. The Cage Warriors Welterweight Title Fight. This was the first time we’d seen the title on the line since Nicholas Dalby vacated it to fight in the UFC. A Frenchman coming into enemy territory, against a surging Brit with one of the strongest teams in the UK behind him. Either Inman didn’t look himself, or Amoussou just looked superb. Amoussou landed popping shots on Inman’s face a few times, and then blasted him with a monstrous right hand. Down went Inman, and after a barrage of shots, the fight was stopped.
Amoussou is insistent he deserves his call up to the UFC, and campaigned for it before, and now after the fight. His team mate and UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou also agreed he should be fighting in the UFC, and it Ngannou says so, you better do so!
Overall, one of the best Cage Warriors events I’ve been to, amazing atmosphere, superb venue, and great hospitality throughout. On to the next one!
