July is in the books, and pound for pound, it might just go down as one of the most action-packed Cage Warriors months of all time.
Join us for more CW action at one of our upcoming events!
Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation presented a pair of cards stacked to the brim with crunching KOs, slick submissions, all out wars and a $50,000 PrizeFighter tournament (read more about that here) as the icing on the blood-splattered cake.
As anticipation builds towards a busy September, with three events and another $50k cheque up for grabs, CW’s resident Play-by-Play man Brad Wharton takes a look back at some of last months biggest moments.
CW 174: London
London kicked off a massive week of MMA in true Cage Warriors fashion, with new faces, old favourites and no shortage of iconic moments being committed to the memory banks.
Man Like Big Franc
There’s a lot of hyperbole used when promoting fights and fighters (that’s sort of the point), but I can genuinely say, hand on heart, that Francesco Mazzeo’s knock out over Wanderlei Junior is one of the heaviest one-hitter quitters I’ve ever seen.
There was a quick feeling out process for the MMA Fight Academy man, but it didn’t take him long to find the measure of his veteran opponent.
A spinning backfist backed Wanderlei up, and then BAM, the Italian uncorked a right hand that landed with the power of a thousand exploding suns, for those of you who like a deep-cut Marvel comics reference.
The win is Mazzeo’s fourth, and by the time the night had drawn to a close, we’d learned that it’d earned him a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series.
There’s Only One Jimmy Quinn
Dagenham’s Jimmy Quinn is quickly becoming must-see TV, and it’s not exactly difficult to see why.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it’s Jimmy Quinn doing just about whatever he wants to pull off another highlight reel victory.
Like Mazzeo, Quinn has been honing his craft at San Diego’s MMA Fight Academy and like Mazzeo, if he keeps turning in performances like this, there are big things in his future.
Rhi Rhi Rhidiculously Good
Speaking of incredibly bright prospects, they don’t come much more hyped right now than Rhi Rhi Hudson.
A stand out amateur who picked up two CWA titles, folks couldn’t wait to see the young Englishwoman make the leap to the pro ranks.
Precision may be power and timing may beat speed, but as this 18-second KO shows, who cares when you’ve got the lot?
When It All Goes Right
From the up and comers to a man who has cemented himself as a headline attraction at London’s indigo at The O2 over the past few years, CW 174 once again played host to the Jordan Vucenic show.
From the iconic walkout to another smooth as you like submission victory – his fourth in a row – the performance had it all.
Bittersweet, of course, because it served as an all too brief farewell to ‘The Epidemic’, who last weekend achieved his dream of fighting in the UFC off the back his latest CW victory.
Thanks for the memories, Jordan!
CW 175: Manchester
Just five days after the dust had settled on CW 174, the Famous Yellow Gloves were strapped on in Manchester. The UFC may have been in town on Saturday night, but Thursday night was alright for fighting at the BEC Arena.
The Paterno-ty Test
The Parterno-ty Test (invented just now, by me) is what happens when you stand and trade bombs with former welterweight champion Stefano Paterno.
Sooner or later, everyone fails it.
Still, credit where it’s due to Olli Santalahti, who seemed more than happy to trade heavy leather with the Italian in what quickly became a war of attrition.
The pair slugged it out until the third round, before this frankly disgusting right hand closed the show.
Il BOSH, as they say in Milan.
Don’t Call It A Comeback
Keeping the Italian KO train going, former bantamweight title challenger Dylan Hazan was back in action at 125lbs.
After dropping a competitive title bout to the UFC’s Caolan Loughran, Hazan was submitted by top contender Amir Malekpour on his return to flyweight.
The amateur wrestling standout rediscovered his form in spectacular fashion in Manchester though, letting his hands go before finishing with an impressive flying knee just seconds into the second round.
Dylan is back, and he’s dangerous.
“Point At The Floor”
It’s dangerously close to achieving meme status, but bless Max Holloway for bestowing upon us the final ten seconds ‘Point & Punch’ finish.
And while Holloway’s buzzer beater may never be replicated on such grand a scale, it’s certainly not for want of trying.
Case in point, the final flourish of CW 175 highly anticipated lightweight bout between surging contender Michael Pagani, and bona-fide CW legend Mason ‘The Dragon’ Jones.
The pair knocked lumps out of each other for 14 minutes and 50 seconds, to the point that they’d have been forgiven for cruising to the final bell.
Not these two though; the floor was pointed to and the fists flew for a wild finish to an even wilder fight.
Cinema.
Did you have a favourite CW moment from July that we missed? Let us know @CageWarriors on all social channels, where you can also be first to catch the latest fight news and updates!