The second of two CW: Unplugged sessions is upon us, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Following middleweight king and current UFC star Christian Leroy Duncan’s abdication on New Year’s Eve, his greatest CW adversary Will Currie will take on a true war dog in Mick Stanton to crown the next 185lb champion.
Speaking of CW mainstays, Steve Aimable returns to welcome Alberth Dias in the evening’s co-main event, while former lightweight champ Agi Sardari aims to bounce back into title contention on an undercard stacked with potential ‘Fight of the Night’ contenders.
Main Event: A New Middleweight Champion
In what looks set to be a classic CW title fight, surging prospect Will Currie takes on the battle-tested veteran, Mick Stanton.
Stanton, aka ‘The Huyton Hammer’ is a long-time veteran of UK combat sports and MMA in particular, with no less than 12 bouts in the famous yellow gloves to his name.
Having spent some time away from the promotion, Stanton nonetheless rides a three-fight-CW winning streak into the title bout, capped off by a career-best victory over UFC veteran Darren Stewart last time out.
He’s since gone on to beat the young, up-and-coming Haider Khan to win a respected title on the UK regional circuit; a feat he’ll be looking to repeat come Friday’s main event.
Standing in his way is the not-so-small matter of Will ‘Drago’ Currie.
Long-pegged as one to watch on the domestic scene, the Londoner dropped a pair of competitive bouts with eventual champion CLD early in his career.
‘Drago’ has been on a tear since, rattling off four straight (including three finishes), most recently stopping the heavy-hitting Michael Tchamou on the last edition of Unplugged.
A young, hungry and exceptional athlete taking on a true war dog adept at beating the fight out of opponents; it’s a coin-flip fight with potential for chaos.
Aimable, Sardari and More Return
In this evening’s co-main event, a man never more than a fight or two away from the top of the division in Steve Aimable will look to get back on the winning track when he welcomes Brazilian Alberth Dias to Cage Warriors.
Aimable needs no introduction to CW fans; the BKK Fighters man has been a mainstay in the promotion for years.
Dias’ didn’t get quite the start he wanted in the yellow gloves; in fact, he’s yet to strap them on after a weight miss nixed his scheduled debut against Morgan Charriere last November.
On Friday night, he gets a second chance to make a first impression.
Speaking of second chances, former lightweight champion Agi Sardari will aim to kickstart a second run at the gold when he faces promotional newcomer Yan Blasco, a submission specialist looking for his third consecutive win.
‘The Wolverine’ is back in action for the first time since a competitive points loss to current UFC fighter Mike Figlak in July of last year.
Stipe Brčić erased all memories of his unsuccessful Summer title bid with a clear-cut decision win over the always-capable Aaron Aby at CW 146 last December.
He’ll welcome Brazilian-born, Italian-based knock-out artist Jhonata Silva to the promotion in a flyweight bout with fireworks written all over it.
Finally, in a opener that will hopefully set the tone for the remainder of the bill, middleweight banger Michael ‘Jaguar’ Tchamou will be looking to erase the memory of his loss to Will Currie at the previous edition of Unplugged, when he faces Lithuanian kickboxing standout Naglis Kanišauskas.
‘The Smiling Boy’ is also coming off a loss to ‘Drago’, so a win for either man could well move them closer to a second crack at the man who may leave Unplugged with the middleweight title.
CW Unplugged Show Two is an exclusive, invite-only event at the BT Sport Studios, airing live on UFC Fight Pass from 9pm (UK).