Cage Warriors’ next trip to Rome has its main event, as former bantamweight champion Michele Martignoni aims to capture his second world title when he faces flyweight champ Shaj ‘Superman’ Haque.
The bout, which was first announced on the CW 154 broadcast on Saturday night, will serve as the main event of CW 158 on Saturday, July 29th at the Fiera Roma.
Haque (15-5) made history on New Years’ Eve 2022, picking himself up off the canvas multiple times before stopping Sam Creasey to become the first Bangladeshi born champion of a major MMA organisation.
The 32-year-old also holds notable wins over the likes of Ronnie Mann and former CW champion Samir Faiddine, and will carry a five-fight winning streak into his first title defence.
Rome’s Martignoni (8-1) also made history in his previous bout, headlining CW’s first ever card in his home nation and becoming Italy’s first ever Cage Warriors bantamweight champion in the process.
After defeating Dom Wooding over five thrilling rounds last October, ‘The Italian Thunder’ vacated the 135lb title to return to his natural weight of 125lbs and give teammate Dylan Hazan the opportunity to compete for bantamweight gold.
Martignoni will now look to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Dan Hardy, Mason Jones and Conor McGregor in becoming a multi-weight CW champion.
“We’ve put Italian MMA on the map with two incredible shows in Rome, headlined by two of the most memorable title fights in Cage Warriors history…” said CW President Graham Boylan.
“Now we’re returning to the Fiera Roma with a third that could well be the best yet.”
“Shaj Haque is one of the most dangerous flyweights in Europe, but Martignoni wants to bring Cage Warriors gold back to Italy.”
“On July 29th, we’re going to find out who is the best 125lb’er in Europe!”
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