With the countdown for what is possibly the most anticipated Cage Warriors return of all time ticking away rapidly, plus the allure of two world title fights and an action-packed undercard, suspense has never been more palpable for a Cage Warriors night at the indigo.
Tickets for Cage Warriors 196 are available here!
Nestled snuggly between a pair of world championship five-rounders at the top of the CW 196 bill, Jordan Vucenic is back, and he’s got gold (and a return to the UFC) on his mind. But so does the man who’ll stand opposite him in the cage, an unexpected adversary in the form of Torpal Merjoev.
The young upstart, fresh off a stunning June debut in the Famous Yellow Gloves in which he conquered a fellow undefeated prospect, now finds himself face-to-face with a certified legend.
Originally pencilled in against Ieuan Davies in Manchester for his sophomore CW outing, ‘Rambo’ found himself without a dance partner when the Welshman was forced to withdraw just days after the bout was revealed. As luck would have it, Vucenic’s re-signing and intention to compete on November 15th had also just been made public.
Sometimes fate does the heavy lifting.
With both sides eager to put pen to paper, the potential duel headaches of finding fights for one of the promotion’s most storied veterans and one of its brightest up-and-comers had been cured with one fell swoop.
With the administrative work done and the announcements made, the bout was officially official. Finally it was time to crack on with the fun part; deciphering the myriad ways one of the most unexpected head-to-heads of the year might go down.
The first salient point is that there’s much more footage of Corby’s Vucenic to pour over. He’s 13-4 in MMA, and reckons about 150 fights in total across all disciplines, amateur and pro. It’s a wealth of experience for a man yet to turn 30.
Watch him once the bell rings and it all shines through. Silky smooth on the feet with excellent shot selection and a relentless clip. Lethal on the ground with an expansive submission repertoire to call upon. Fast, powerful and fit enough to go five rounds at the drop of a hat, let alone three.
There might be much less tape to study when it comes to Torpal, but what we do have is thoroughly impressive. He fights like a man seasoned well beyond his relatively meagre seven-fights’ experience; a feat all the more impressive when you remember the fact that he’s just 21 years of age.
Young though he may be, there’s no child’s play when it comes to his in-cage exploits, only some serious rough and tumble.
The striking is there, and it’s coming along, but ‘Rambo’s real bread and butter is his top game. The kid is a spark plug, 5’8 and stacked. It’s a physique tailor made for his fight style, or vice-versa. A low centre of gravity gets him into close quarters, whether it’s crushing an opponent against the fence or ragging them straight to the mat.
It’s once their back is on the canvas that the real problems begin. Merjoev’s ground and pound is second to none; if it doesn’t make you quit, it’ll compel the referee to save you. And as we saw in his debut against Teddy Stringer, those who do survive have a nasty choke game to navigate for their troubles.
Vucenic’s last three CW victories at the indigo, and indeed his title win against James Hendin before them, all came by way of submission. But does he want to risk a mat war with a Norwegian war machine? Does Mirjoev have faith that the momentum from his Cage Warriors debut will carry him through one of the promotion’s icons?
Where does the winner land in the wide-open lightweight title picture?
All will be revealed next Saturday night!