Cage Warriors will make its long awaited return to Cardiff next weekend, after nearly four years since the promotion last touched down in the Welsh capital.
Throughout the years Cardiff fans have been treated to some truly memorable Cage Warriors nights. Headlined by some of Wales’ biggest names, let’s rewind and take a look back at a history of Cage Warriors Cardiff.
Cage Warriors 49 – 27/10/12
The promotion’s Cardiff debut was headlined by Ireland’s Cathal Pendred and Brazil’s Bruno Carvalho. Heading back all the way to October 2012, this event featured the promotional debuts of Brett Johns and Lewis Long. Johns stretched his pro record to 4-0, whilst Long fell to 6-2 after a second round submission.
The event, which was the only to take place in Cardiff’s famous St Davids Hall, saw 7 finds end via stoppage. The card was set to include a fight between two former UFC flyweights – Rosi Sexton and Sheila Gaff. Unfortunately, the fight had to be scrapped.
The success of CW49 meant it wasn’t long before a first return, this time in the Motorpoint Arena.
Cage Warriors 54 – 04/05/13
This time around, the promotion gifted the Cardiff fans some championship action to lick their lips at. A huge middleweight title bout between Jesse Taylor and Welshman, John Phillips. It was the American, Taylor who did the business and secured the first round submission, to upset the hometown challenger.
Also in action was UFC middleweight Danny Roberts, who knocked out Diego Gonzalez in spectacular fashion. The night also ended in wins for Brett Johns, Lewis Long and Shajidul Haque. The next time Brett would make the walk in Cardiff, his name would be right at the top of the card.
Cage Warriors 59 – 14/09/13
A different layout this time around. A four-man tournament, as well as a featherweight title fight, was what was up back in September of 2013. Fighting for the second time on the night, an undefeated Brett Johns kept his perfect record intact with a gutsy five-round decision win over a hard-working Jordan Desborough, who refused to go away. Jim Almers also took home the featherweight belt after a classy victory over Martin Svensson.
James Pennington was dominant in his unanimous decision win over Kris Edwards in the bantamweight tournament’s opening round – but it apparently was Edwards who did the most damage. An injury suffered by Pennington in the fight kept him from moving on to the final. Instead, early prelim winner Desborough, who stopped Timur Mercanoglu in the second round of a reserve fight, took his place in the co-main event to fight Brett Johns.
It would be a few years break before Cardiff’s next taste of Cage Warriors action.
Cage Warriors 97 – 29/09/18
September of 2018 saw a massive card take place at Cardiff’s Ice Arena. Headlined by none other than Jack Shore, this card had it all. A win for Shore here meant a shot at the vacant bantamweight title – and that’s exactly what he got. An aggressive first round finish over Weslley Maia was all she wrote in the night’s main event.
Mason Jones and Cory McKenna also made their Cage Warriors Cardiff debuts. Jones getting it done early with a nasty knee to the body. The amateur portion of the card was headlined by one of the UFC’s newest middleweights – Christian Leroy Duncan. The Englishman brought home the 185lbs amateur belt. Also victorious was Wales’ Roan Crocker, who just a few years later, won that same belt that Duncan had back in 2018.
Fans will remember this night, arguably, for the sheer excitement of Jack Shore’s incredible walkout.
Cage Warriors 100 – 08/12/18
Not one, but two belts on the line in Cage Warriors’ return to Cardiff’s Viola Arena. It was Shore’s night once again after he finished Mike Ekundayo in dramatic fashion. The now bantamweight champion was really making a name for himself after stretching that unbeaten streak to 10-0.
Dean Trueman was named featherweight champion after a round three TKO over Aiden Lee. And, the card featured several big names like; Nathan Fletcher, Oban Elliot, Jai Herbert, Nicholas Dalby, CLD and Rhys McKee.
A truly iconic night in Welsh mixed martial arts history and the good times weren’t going away any time soon.
Cage Warriors 104 – 27/04/19
Shore’s first title defence came in the same place he’d won his title in the first place. A white-wash from all the Welsh pros on the card, with the champion getting another finish in his final fight before signing with the UFC. A classic rear-naked choke over challenger, Scott Malone, was all she wrote in South Wales.
Mason Jones followed suit and stretched his win-streak to 7-0 in the event’s co-main. Cory McKenna, Kris Edwards, Josh Reed, Oban Elliot and Ben Ellis all walked away with wins in front of the famous Welsh crowd.
You can see why the promotion would want to bring their talent back down to Cardiff.
Cage Warriors 108 – 12/10/19
Finally, we come to Cage Warriors 108. After earning his stripes, it was now time for Mason Jones to get his shot at headlining an event. The young Welshman walked away with a win over Aleksi Mäntykivi and ultimately, earned himself a shot at the lightweight title.
Oban Elliot continued to impress in the early days of his professional career. A stellar first round submission over now, bare-knuckle boxer, James Lilley. Levi Batchelor made his amateur debut with a submission victory in front of the Cardiff crowd and has only really gone up from there.
Cardiff most definitely knows how to put on a great night. We’ve had some iconic Cage Warriors cards go down in the Welsh capital and it’s hard to imagine CW156 not delivering once again.
We’ll be covering the entire event right here, with news, interviews and updates across the night. Stay tuned.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
