Cage Warriors’ long-awaited return to Rome is upon us, with Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation set to deliver a card that is already being dubbed our strongest Italian effort to date by critics. CW 195 contains some pivotal career fights, some explosive debuts and of course, a huge middleweight world title bout featuring Italy’s own Dario Bellandi.
Final CW 195: Rome tickets are availible here!
As fight night approaches, Cage Warriors’ Brad Wharton has five reasons for MMA fans around the world to tune into UFC Fight Pass and kick off a huge night of action with CW 195!
1: Dario’s Moment of Truth
The spotlight will be shining directly in Dario Bellandi’s direction come Saturday night’s main event. ‘The Neanderthal’ firmly believes that one big finish is all he needs to punch his ticket to the UFC. It’s tough to argue against him; with a raft of successful title defences under his belt and his last defeat a distant memory, opportunity could well be about to knock.
A UFC veteran might just be the last piece of the puzzle. An emphatic victory here, ideally an emphatic finish, will prove Bellandi’s feelings that he’s capable of hanging with the world’s best to be well founded.
With so much on the line, fans could be in for a spectacular performance from the Livorno man.
2: Italian MMA Bragging Rights
It’s been dubbed the biggest all-Italian women’s MMA clash to date, and with the resumes of the ladies involved considered, that’s a fair assessment.
The Beasty Barbie Chiara Penco has a ledger jam-packed with high-level, international experience. She’s used to big fights on big events with big implications. And with Rendoki Dojo teammate Dario Bellandi also in for the fight of his life later in the evening, she’ll be keen to bring a victory back to the dressing room to set the mood.
‘The Queen’ Fabiola Pidroni will likely have other ideas. Also making her Cage Warriors debut, Toriono’s Pidroni has also been no stranger for to traveling for big fights in recent years.
Now, the two women will share the spotlight on home turf, in a main card contest that’s set to highlight exactly how far the women’s scene has progressed in Italy.
3: A Battle of Featherweight Contenders
In the thinking man’s highlight of the CW 195 card, two featherweight will look to establish themselves in the pecking order of a division that’s currently wide open for the taking.
With Harry Hardwick signed to the UFC and Solomon Simon facing Nik Bagley for the vacant title in London, the division’s contenders know that they could be just a spectacular performance or two away from establishing themselves as next in line.
The Azeri Lion Tariel Abasov pushed Luke Riley to the limit in the first round of their meeting earlier this year. Having taken some time to reset and refocus, the Azerbaijani grappler is ready to throw himself back into the mix and may feel like he’s the only man in the division able to match the likes of Bagley on the mat.
He’d be foolish to look past Luca Borando though. Homefield advantage aside, the Italian has been doing serious damage during his CW tenure and with four spectacular finishes under his belt, a serious conversation will have to be had should he emerge from Saturday’s main card opener victorious.
4: The Return of the Monkey King
As Cage Warriors debuts go, they don’t get much better than that of Nicolo Solli’s first appearance in the Famous Yellow Gloves at CW 189.
The Monkey King swung back into action to earn an emphatic first round submission victory against Sulo Hilaj, choking his man out in the fourth minute of their exciting scrap to rapturous applause.
With the cage rust now shaken off, Solli is looking to put the division on notice with another highlight reel victory, and set out his stall in the title picture for 2026.
5: Scatizzi Debuts
Once a lynchpin of the Italian domestic scene, Scatizzi has spent the better part of the last decade representing his country on the grandest stages.
That continues on Saturday night, when the Roman scrapper makes a long-awaited Cage Warriors debut, and the local fans are here for it.
A proven finisher with a decorated resume and a baked in fanbase, Scatizzi would love nothing more than to challenge for CW gold and bring another world title back to Italy by the end of 2026.
And remember: If the Scatman can do it, so can you.