After a stint in the UFC, one of Cage Warriors’ finest is making his return to Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation and he’s got big plans for comeback season. Long considered one of the best bantamweights to wear the Famous Yellow Gloves, Nathan Fletcher received the UFC call before getting his hands on the 135lb title, and has plans on rectifying that during his second CW run.
Tickets to CW 202: Manchester are availible here!
Prior to his impending return in Manchester, we take a look at some of Fletcher’s best CW moments!
Vs Michele Martignoni
The victory that strapped a rocket to Fletcher’s back during his initial run at the CW title came at the expense of future champion Michele Martignoni. The Italian Thunder was looking to make waves in CW, and saw Fletcher’s scalp as a great opportunity to springboard himself to the top of the division.
He didn’t count on the trademark grappling prowess of the Next Generation man though; Fletch wore his man down with relentless pressure, before submitting the exhausted Italian in the dying embers of the third round. A real deep water performance.
Vs Alessandro Giordano
After coming up short against Dom Wooding for the CW title, injuries kept Fletcher out of the cage for over a year. Undeterred, he returned at CW 148 – a New Year’s Eve extravaganza in London – and took a huge risk against an undefeated unknown.
That ‘unknown’ wasn’t just anybody either, it was highly-touted Italian prospect Alessandro Giordano. A stand-up stud, he gave the Englishman everything he could handle on the feet, but it wasn’t enough. Fletcher was determined to make his comeback a successful one, and did so showcasing an aspect of his game we’d yet to see in Cage Warriors.
Vs Brian Bouland
How much weight you want to put in certain intangibles is entirely up to you, but we reckon that Fletcher’s performance at CW 124 was fuelled – at least in part – by a sense of revenge. Opponent Brian Bouland has cruelly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against teammate Liam Gittins in his previous CW bout; the Next Gen man couldn’t let him have two scalps from the Liverpool gym on the trot.
Bouland may have had other ideas, but he didn’t get to realise them. Fletcher was once again able to implement his trademark pressure grappling, finding both the back and the rear-naked choke submission before the first round had expired.
Vs Johan Segas
Fletcher’s CW 122 appearance taking on Johan Segas was a shot across the bow to remind all bantamweights that that they didn’t just need to be careful of the ‘gentle art’ when Nathan Fletcher had their backs. And if any of them need reminding, here it is in full.
Vs Daan Duijs
Grappling fans were practically salivating at the prospect of fifteen minutes of mat work between Fletcher and Dutch submission savant Daan Duijs at CW 152; a rare occasion where even the most casual of fans wouldn’t be disappointed by the fight going to the floor.
Fletch clearly had other ideas though; he leapt all over a mistake from Duijs and laced him up into a picture perfect triangle choke on what would be his final appearence in the CW cage…until now.
Nathan Fletcher officially resigned with CW this week, and has made it clear that he intends to get his Yellow Gloved hands on the big gold belt en route back to the UFC. With the Next Generation man looking set to begin his campaign in Manchester, fans can grab tickets now to bare witness to the get back!
In the meantime, you can check out every single one of his submission victories here!