Following an epic year of action in the famous yellow gloves, we whittled down the mountain of moments, the cavalcade of KOs and the sea of submissions to give you, the Cage Warriors fans, the final say in the 2023 End of Year Awards!
Tickets for all Cage Warriors announced 2024 events are available here!
Voting has been close, but the results are in! Join us as we take a look at your 2023 winners in full!
Fighter of the Year: Luke Riley (41.6%)
Next Generation’s Luke Riley was the runaway winner in this prestigious category, with a staggering 41.6% of voters hailing him as their 2023 Fighter of the Year. That’s over double the second place entry!
Named Breakthrough Fighter in 2021, bringing home the big one feels like natural progression for the striking prodigy. After a 2023 campaign that saw him remain perfect with three victories and garner two ‘Fight of the Year’ nominations, the sky looks to be the limit for Riley in 2024.
2nd place: Roberto Hernandez (20.4%), 3rd place: Liam Gittins (17.8%)
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Paddy McCorry (29.7%)
Ireland’s Paddy McCorry turned in a pair of spectacular performances in 2023, narrowly missing out on nominations for KO of the Year for his flying knee against Angus Hewitt and Submission of the Year for his eleventh hour guillotine on Samir Kadi. Taken as a whole though, the West Belfast man’s year was more than enough to earn him a whopping 29.7% of the votes for Breathrough Fighter of the Year.
2nd place: Shawn Da Silva (21.8%), 3rd place: Anthony Orozco (18.9%)
Fight of the Year: Luke Riley vs Lööf (36.2%)
Could it have been anything else? A hard hitting, back and forth, blood-splattered ballet of violence that shook the BEC Arena to it’s core at CW 160, Luke Riley vs Alexander Loof instantly became the stuff of legend.
Its a fight that truly needs to be seen to be believed, so stop what you’re doing, fire up UFC Fight Pass and savour eleven minutes of pure, unbridled chaos.
2nd place: Luke Riley vs Kallum Parker (24.3%), 3rd place Mick Stanton vs Will Currie (13.4%)
Knockout of the Year: Paul Hughes vs Jan Quaeyhaegens (39.3%)
Paul Hughes had promised to make ‘Big News’ up his October 2023 return to action, but even he couldn’t have predicted just how emphatic a finish he would register to send the Irish fans into raptures.
It took the Derry man less than three minutes to find his mark against feared KO artist Jan Quaeyhaegens, but when the peach of a left hook landed, it was more than enough to seal the deal.
2nd place: Nicolas Leblond vs Michelangelo Lupoli (21.1%), 3rd place: Omiel Brown vs Jesse Urholin (15.2%)
Submission of the Year: Ander Sanchez vs Ryan Hewitt (22.9%)
In one of the closest categories, Ander Sanchez pipped his rivals to the post to take home Submission of the Year for his sublime heel hook over Ryan Hewitt.
It was a competitive affair, with the Englishman getting the better of the striking exchanges in the first frame. Sanchez roared back in the second though, eventually securing the takedown that would lead to the fight ending submission sequence.
2nd place: Nicolas Leblond vs Ryan Curtis (20.6%), 3rd place: Nathan Fletcher vs Daan Duijs (19.3%)
Event of the Year: CW 153: Dublin
Cage Warriors debut at the iconic RDS was a night to remember, and that’s exactly why you voted it our 2023 Event of the Year!
It was the card that gave us the KO of the Year, the Moment of the Year, back-and-forth wars, crazy finishes and that irreplicable Irish atmosphere!
2nd place: CW 160: Manchester (26.3%), 3rd place: CW 157: London (20.4%)
Moment of the Year: Paul Hughes’ Homecoming (28.7%)
One of the most emotionally-charged victories in recent memory, Paul Hughes’ Irish homecoming was your 2023 Moment of the Year.
A year removed from his epic second encounter with Jordan Vucenic, Hughes stepped back into the Cage Warriors cage in a new weight class to face a dangerous opponent with a 100% finish rate.
An iconic entrance, a blistering KO and a jubilant celebration followed, capping off a historic night of mixed martial arts at the RDS.
2nd place: Reece McKee/Jimmy Wallhead’s in-cage moment (24.8%), 3rd place: Chris Bungard’s star turn in Newcastle (17.1%)
Whether you joined us for any of the memorable moments above in 2023, or you’re planning make 2024 your first Cage Warriors experience, be sure to check out our events page for details of all upcoming shows and ticket info! Keep it locked to our socials @CageWarriors to be the first in line for fight announcements!