What’s better than a Cage Warriors title bout? How about five? How about five, packed into the space of eight days, across two of the most brimful fight nights on the 2024 calendar?
The fans asked, CW delivered. November is coming in hot and whether you’re in the North East or London, your last chances to see MMA’s stars of tomorrow this year are going to be absolutely dripping in gold.
Still on the fence? Then read on and stem your vacillation, as Brad Wharton takes a look at five glorious CW title fights coming your way next month!
Tickets for CW 180: London are available here!
It all kicks off with a double-header in London, as CW hits the capital for the last time this year with a fight card so stacked, it’d beat you at Jenga.
The first of two title bouts is a monumental clash of current and former champions, as Andy ‘The Vice’ Clamp makes the first defence of his light heavyweight title against James Webb.
The road to this one hasn’t been the smoothest, and as a result the dynamic of the bout has changed drastically. Originally scheduled to headline on home turf in Manchester earlier this year, Clamp endured a freak medical incident that ruled him out of his championship homecoming.
The venue now switches to London, Webb’s home turf and the scene of of his middleweight title victory against Thomas Robertson at CW 102.
Will homefield advantage be enough for the former middleweight title holder to follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor, Dan Hardy and Mason Jones as the latest champ-champ?
Or will ‘Clamp the Champ’ live up to his namesake and retain his gold in enemy territory?
CW 180’s second championship match takes place in the talent-rich bantamweight division, as PrizeFighter champion Shirzad Qadrian takes on 135lb kingpin Liam Gittins.
Qadrian, who some regarded as an outsider in July’s bracket, dominated the tournament with his superior grappling, edging out old foe Weslley Maia in the semi’s before putting the brakes on Alexander Loof in the finals.
He’s invested some of the $50,000 prize money sensibly, heading back out to Dagestan to train under all-time great Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Gittins is in the midst of a career-best six-fight run; the Next Generation man hasn’t just been racking up victories, he’s been dominating opponents left, right and centre, and now stands poised to make a second defence of the title he captured against Reece McEwan a year prior.
It’s a match-up of monumental proportions, and one which will almost certainly strap a rocket to the career trajectory of the winner.
From London we move to Newcastle, for a card that’s even more top-heavy with no less than three titles up for contention.
Let’s begin with the long-awaited return to action of flyweight champion Shaj ‘Superman’ Haque.
Tickets for CW 181: Newcastle are availible here!
The South Shields man may not have seen regular action of late, but each of his last three wins have come against a former or current CW champion.
Generally regarded as among the top unsigned 125lber’s in Europe, Haque is a triple threat of precision, pressure and unparalleled fight IQ.
He’ll face one of the biggest hitters in the weight class in the shape of France’s Nicolas Leblond.
A Judoka who’ll smoke ya, Leblond has been racking up a litany of brutal finishes en route to a shot at CW gold.
The stage is set of a clash of styles; precision versus power…you know the rest.
There aren’t many bigger shoes to fill in UK MMA than those of the pioneering Ian ‘The Machine’ Freeman, but that’s the unenviable position ‘The Machine 2.0’, a.k.a. daughter Kennedy, finds herself in.
And while there’s no point trying to hide the familial link (and why would you want to?) its fare to say that Kennedy is now well on the way to carving out her own path in the sport of MMA.
Back in the cage following a hiatus from the sport, Freeman signed with Cage Warriors in late 2023 and has tuned up a pair of opponents with highlight-reel knockouts since.
Now it’s a title fight, in her own backyard no less.
And from there, the only way is up.
With original opponent Emilia Czerwińska not medically clear, Freeman now faces Mafalda ‘Monstrinho’ Carmona, arguably an even tougher test…but then again, nothing worth having comes easy…
Let’s finish with a bang, shall we?
As far as bangers go, they don’t hit much harder than the CW 182 main event, as Harry ‘Houdini’ Hardwick returns to make the first defence of his featherweight title against Brazilian buzzsaw Keweny ‘Leao’ Lopez.
They haven’t exactly been queueing up to fight the elder Hardwick brother, and that’s become something of a curse for those who have found themselves opposite him in the cage.
‘Houdini’ has been taking out his frustrations on recent opponents, picking up dramatic finishes in his last two outings.
He recieved a hero’s welcome when capturing the title earlier this year, one that should increase tenfold as he returns to the Vertu Motors Arena in an effort to keep all the gold within House Hardwick.
Kewany Lopez is a violence machine; a wrecking ball made flesh.
The explosive striker hasn’t lost a bout since his second professional outing in 2016, smashing through opponent after opponent with perpetual brutality.
And so the stage is set for Cage Warriors to finish the 2024 European calendar with a thunderous crescendo; five title fights, two shows, eight days…nobody does it better.