It’s one thing to say that you’re going to end the year with a bang, and another entirely to actually do it.
But that’s where we find ourselves as Cage Warriors – Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation – rumbles onward towards the 2024 finish line with what is – on paper at least – the most stacked offering of the calendar year.
Final CW 181 tickets are availible here!
Riding hot on the heels of a series of sold out, critically acclaimed and divisionally significant events, CW 181 sees the Famous Yellow Gloves return to Newcastle’s Vertu Motors Arena on Saturday night.
With two titles on the line and a number of championship hopefuls in action, Play-by-Play man Brad Wharton casts a beady eye over the evening’s festivities.
Hardwick vs Lopes: Styles Clash
We all love a good Styles Clash, and I’m tired of pretending that we don’t.
It doesn’t have to come straight out of the old ‘kickbox vs wrestler’, ‘boxer vs grappler’ box of tropes; sometimes its just good fun to watch a guy coming to take the head off an opponent who’s looking for death by a thousand cuts.
That’s what we’re serving up in the CW 181 main event, as Harry Hardwick makes the first defence of his 145lbs title against LFA champion Keweny Lopes.
The Brazilian is a bomber; chucking out heavy artillery with reckless abandon in the hope that one shot will land…because one is all he needs.
Middlesborough’s Hardwick is, by contrast, a volume and pressure man.
A jab here, a cross there. A left hand to the gut, a knee up the middle. An elbow on the inside, an uppercut out of nowhere.
Next thing you know you’re on the floor, bleeding from an indeterminate location and you’re not sure which part of your body hurts the most but you can’t really stop to think about it, because whoops, now you’re being strangled.
Shit.
It’s tough to bet against Hardwick against anyone at the weight over five rounds, but then you wouldn’t put money on many people taking a mallet to the jaw from Lopes and staying upright long enough to tell the tale.
That’s the beauty of the Styles Clash…so where’s your money?
Carmona vs Freeman: The Pedigree
In this sport, in this country, pedigrees don’t come much stronger than the Freeman bloodline.
But in a world as competitive as this, a famous last name is not just a conversation starter.
Its a legacy to be judged against, a big pair of shoes to fill.
Unlike others who’ve struggled to step out of long shadows, Kennedy Freeman is doing just fine.
“Just fine” might be the understatement of the year though; since her return to the sport last November she’s scored a pair of blistering KOs, firmly establishing herself as the uncrowned Queen of the Cage and looking like she hasn’t missed a beat in the process.
She’s bringing an army with her on Saturday night; should she get the job done once more and follow in the footsteps of Dr Rosi Sexton, Pannie Kianzad and Molly McCann, you’ll witness a star-making moment that they’ll be talking about when she finally straps on the iconic UFC mitts that her father first wore almost 25 years ago.
Power vs Girlean: Stone Cold Stunner
I’ve already written at length about how good this fight is, but unless you’ve been living under a rock, you didn’t need me to tell you in the first place.
This is the kind of fight they call ‘The People’s Main Event’.
The Critic’s Choice.
One for the culture.
Girlean and Power are capable of feats of great violence; calculated beatings or stunners seemingly from nowhere that leave opponents out cold.
Stone Cold.
This is the fight to show your friend who’s new to the hobby, a sure-fire scorcher that will leave them wanting more.
And with lightweight champion George Hardwick waiting in the wings, there may be more on the line here than mere bragging rights.
Clancy vs Augusto: The Million Dollar Dream
Sean Clancy Jr is living the dream, and the dream is only getting bigger.
First it was amateur success, then a splash on the pro scene. Mission accomplished.
He’s spent the last week in New York alongside the UFC’s Paul Craig, getting the round in on the mats at Renzo’s and more importantly, getting a taste of life inside the Ultimate machine.
For most aspiring athletes not even 22 years of age, it’s the kind of experience they’ll only see when they close their eyes.
For Clancy, it’s what’s been happening when he opens his.
On Saturday he’ll aim to take one step closer to the Million Dollar Dream; a UFC contract of his own, a rapid ascent to the top of the mounting and all the plaudits, championships and Big Bags of Money that come along with it.
He’ll have to deal with a few nightmares on the way.
Andrey Augusto is arguably the first of these; the dream-smasher who controversially shut down Scottish favourite Chris Bungard on home soil earlier this year.
Revenge for the Motherland aside, the Brazilian represents a significant step up in competition for Clancy; a legitimate, internationally tested and successful veteran with a ledger that dwarfs his own.
This is the kind of opponent Clancy claims he can walk through without breaking a sweat…on Saturday night, he’ll have the opportunity to prove it.
All this action and more goes down on Saturday night, live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners!