We’re just hours away from the first stop on the Cage Warriors 2025 world tour, and in our opinion there’s no better way to end the traditional winter break than with arguably the most talent-rich card in Italian MMA history. With two championship fights, former – and future – challengers and some of the most exciting prospects on the circuit set to throw down, fight fans are in for a treat from the very first bell at the PalaPellecone on Saturday night.
Liam Gittins and Alessandro Giordano are set to throw down in the main event of CW 183; to the winner the spoils, in this case, bantamweight gold and a claim to the title of best European bantamweight operator outside of the UFC.
Cage Warriors return to the Eternal City looks set to be a banner night for Italian MMA; an evening jam packed with the nation’s premier MMA talent. It’s also something of a full-circle situation, with the main event providing a massive call back to CW’s first Italian venture in October 2022.
That night too was a showcase for Italian MMA; with an Italian athlete in every bout, it made clear CW’s intentions to make local talent the focus of the shows, and in doing so begin a development process for the scene from the ground up. The main event was the jewel in the show’s crown, as the UK’s Dom Wooding defended his bantamweight title against local hero Michele Martignoni.
As the title bout approached the Italians had pitched a shutout, and after surviving some hellacious punishment early doors, Martignoni pulled it out of the fire to give the Italian fans their fairy tale ending.
Fast forward to March 2025 and a bantamweight champion from the UK will once again take a flight to Rome to face a local fan favourite. Will history repeat itself, or will the Brit even the score?
When Alessandro Giordano burst onto the CW scene a few years back, there was a lot of hype behind the Italian wunderkind. Still a relative unknown, the fact that he drew current UFC star Nathan Fletcher for his debut was a huge affirmation of how highly CW brass though of him.
There were a couple of false starts – albeit ones where he still gave a good account of himself – but since finding his form Gio has looked unstoppable. A knock out of the rugged Sam Kelly and a points victory over countryman Emanuele Zaccaria sandwiched his greatest career achievement; a ‘Fight of the Year’ winning scrap against former champion Michele Martignoni.
That’s the kind of performance he’ll need to replicate should he want to dethrone Gittins on Saturday night.
The champ is another example of a fighter finding his form of late. Always a high-level competitor going back to his amateur days, his only downfall was his consistency. He can brawl, he can box, he can wrestle and grapple and as recent outings have show, he can do it for five rounds.
Gittins rose to the occasion when an oportunity to drop back down to 135lbs and replace teammate Nathan Fletcher in a title bout presented itself, and he’s maintained that championship calibre ever since. Not just inside the cage either; he’s revelled in playing the instigator ahead of recent fights and this one has been no different.
Has the young veteran been able to get into Giordano’s head before the biggest fight of the latter’s life? Or will the title come home to Rome?
Saturday night will tell all.
One title bout was not enough for such a landmark showcase of Italian talent, so home favourite Dario ‘Neanderthal’ Bellandi is set to defend his big gold belt against an old foe in Naglis Kanišauskas.
The pair first met in the summer of 2023, with the Italian’s grappling being the deciding factor on the night. Bellandi went on to defeat Mick Stanton for the title in Newcastle, before outpointing Robin Roos in his first defence. Now he gets to live the dream; walking out as a Cage Warriors champ on home soil, to the cheers of his own people.
Bellandi may carry the confidence of a man 1-0 up in the series and with a home-town advantage to boot, but he’ll be going up against a man with the confidence of youth.
Kanišauskas is, incredibly, still in his early 20s and like any dedicated athlete of that age with a great time behind him, is improving at a rapid rate of knots. He enters the rematch on the back of two blistering knockouts in the Famous Yellow Gloves, and has kept himself busy with kickboxing action in the interim.
The bout will likely be decided by exactly how much the Lithuanian has improved since the pair last met. Bellandi knows what works; he’ll happily use his takedowns and positional control to mete out punishment and threaten with submissions for the duration. Should ‘The Smiling Boy’ be able to find ways back to his feet though? That’s where this one becomes interesting.
Speaking of interesting, one of the cards most anticipated bouts comes in the form of a lightweight tilt between Michael Pagani and Konstantinos Ntelis.
The People’s Main Event, of CW 183, its a clash between two men absolutely dripping in hype. Pagani is coming off a career-making performance against the UFC’s Mason Jones; a losing effort, but one that let the whole world know that he can hang with the best and toughest out there.
Ntelis is also coming off a career best performance, albeit one much less arduous and bloody than Pagani’s. No less gruesome though; his one-hitter quitter against Simone Patrizi only lost out to Luke Riley’s effort in the KO of the Year stakes in a popularity contest.
While both are capable of creating high drama inside the cage, nobody was expecting the drama that would come beforehand. The Greek tipped the scales at an unprofessional 8lbs over the 156lb limit, leaving Pagani in the awkward position of accepting a bout against a power puncher almost a weight class heavier, or walking away from the bout. Of course ‘SNIPER’ was never going to take the second option, and made his feelings known in a heated exchange.
All eyes will be on the pair’s bout tomorrow to see how, if at all, the differential effects the outcome.
Elsewhere on the card, an all Italian clash could tee up the Cage Warriors flyweight division for an interesting year ahead, when Dylan Hazan meets Michelangelo Lupoli. Lupoli has always favoured the stand-up, while Hazan draws from a strong amateur wrestling background. Still, both have a rounded skillset and former title challenger Hazan has never been afraid to mix it up on the feet. Expect fireworks and a fast pace between the two 125lb’ers.
It’s prospect versus veteran opening the main card, as Aiden Lee returns to the featherweight division for another run at the gold. A versatile competitor, Lee has a vast skillset in all ranges on the feet and the floor. He’ll be looking across the cage at a younger version of himself in Giuseppe Mastrogiacomo, a striking slickster with an underrated ground game who is whispered about as perhaps Italy’s brightest prospect.
The crown jewel of the prelims features two surging up-and-coming European athletes eager to make their mark on the sport. With the rise of Ilia Topouria making a UFC event in Spain an increasing likelihood, Manuel Del Valle is keen to position himself for a call-up in the near future. With over 25 fights under his belt and undefeated at 4-0 in the professional ranks, few will be doubting his ability to book that ticket.
Marco Doda might take exception though. At 5-1 in the pro ranks – all by way of a finish – the Albanian-Italian might well fancy himself to steal ‘Mouzid’s thunder on Saturday night.
With fifteen bouts worth of action heading your way on UFC Fight Pass, the Cage Warriors 2025 train leaves the station on Saturday night and there’s never been a better time to hop onboard.
The countdown is on…we’ll see you in the Eternal City.