Cage Warriors – Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation – were once again big winners in the 2023 UFC Fight Pass Awards!
Following a phenomenal year of critically lauded events broadcast on the premier global combat sports streaming service, there was plenty of award worthy action from the brand with the famous yellow gloves.
And while fans can currently vote in the Cage Warriors End of Year Awards, when the time came for UFC Fight Pass to hand out their own bevvy of prizes, it’s no surprise that CW took home a significant haul.
The Grand Theft Auto-inspired poster for December’s CW 165 may have been a late entry, but its timely nature and iconic design made it a lock for the ‘Poster of the Year’ award.
The artwork was produced by CW graphic designer Toby Brighty.
Jackass star Steve-O certified the next award, as Shawn ‘The Brutal Noodle’ Johnson took home nickname of the year.
If there was an award for ‘Most Accurate Nickname’ Baris ‘Sniper’ Adiguzel would have been a shoe-in.
As it stood though, the Turkish-born, France-based first-round finishing specialist took home the prestigious Knockout of the Year award in a year that was particularly stacked with scintillating stoppages.
Looking to bounce back from defeat in his Cage Warriors debut, Adiguzel bit down on his gumshield and put everything into the heat-seeker that dropped and stiffened opponent Alex Bertinazzi.
The 16-second KO will go down in CW history as one of the promotion’s most shocking finishes of all time.
Last, but by no means least, the award for ‘Interview of the Year’ went to the heart-warming post-fight moment between Rhys McKee and ‘Judo’ Jim Wallhead.
Cage Warriors is a promotion that has always honoured its rich history, so it was fitting that a legend from the organisation’s formative years and one of it’s biggest modern-day talents would meet to unify one of its strongest divisions on that fateful night in Dublin.
After a titanic struggle, McKee chose to use his post-fight interview to honour the legendary career of Wallhead, while calling for his own shot in the UFC.
By the time both had had their say, there was not a dry eye in the house.
Cage Warriors’ success in the 2023 UFC Fight Pass Awards reaffirms the promotion’s status as the premier platform for emerging talent looking to stake their claim for a place at the pinnacle of the sport.
With the likes of Caolan Loughran, Christian Leroy Duncan, Rhys McKee and Morgan Charriere graduating to the UFC in 2023, all eyes will be on the stars of Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation to see who’ll be next to take the leap in 2024!