Eleven years ago an undefeated prospect named Tim Wilde stepped into the cage for what was, at that point in time, the biggest moment of his professional fighting career. At Cage Warriors 191 he returns to Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation, looking to build upon a legacy of thrilling throwdowns against the some of the most dangerous opponents he can find.
With a Karate background as his base, Wilde had sampled his very first taste of MMA just a year prior to his 2014 Cage Warriors debut. Having compiled a brief, yet unbeaten four-bout ledger prior to strapping on the Famous Yellow Gloves for the very first time, the 26 year old might have been considered green by regular standards. But with two appearances on the then-popular BAMMA organisation under his belt, plus the fact that he’d actually faced some decent competition in those formative bouts, this was no rookie.
What he was, was an Experiment, and it was time to put the hypothesis to the test.
Cage Warriors commentator Brad Wharton takes a look back at three of the fights that – win or lose – established Wilde as one of the most eye-catching athletes on the circuit.
Damien Brown
If Wilde’s Cage Warriors debut wasn’t a big enough deal in and of itself, it just so happened to fall one one of the biggest and most prestigious cards in the promotion’s history. CW 69, aka ‘Super Saturday’ boasted two main cards, presented back-to-back from London’s HMV Forum.
Wilde had been pencilled in to face UK-based Ukrainian grappler Maksym Matus; a familiar face on the regional circuit who was a lot better than his .500 record suggested. But with an injury ruling his opponent out at the eleventh hour, CW scrambled to find a replacement, landing on one that many thought might have been a bridge too far.
Short notice or not, sixteen fight veteran Damien ‘Beatdown’ Brown was as rough and ready as they come. More to the point, he was coming into the bout jonesing for a victory, after dropping a pair of nail-bitingly close decisions in his previous CW outings.
On a night featuring everyone from Joanna Jedrzejczyk to Jack Hermansson, Arnold Allen to Stevie Ray, on paper it was always going to be a struggle to stand out. Not for Wilde though; who tore up any preconceptions around getting lost in the shuffle, and wrote an essay on violence with his Aussie counterpart, chapter and verse.
Sean Carter
The violence continued in Wilde’s next CW appearance, an absolute barn burner against Sean ‘Sexy Curls’ Carter at Cage Warriors’ debut in London’s Copper Box Arena. It was a bout that had fans salivating long before they filed into the iconic venue (first built as a host venue for the 2012 Summer Olympics) for what was set to be another mammoth CW offering.
Once again, Wilde had landed on a double-header event; CW 74 saw thousands of fans packed into the venue to witness two main cards and a set of spectacular prelims. After his previous performance against Brown, ‘The Experiment’ had punched his ticket to a prominent slot on the second top bill of of the evening.
“It gets said a lot when you hear (the name) Tim Wilde, that you can expect a ‘Fight of the Night’…” said the Cannock man in his pre-fight VT. “Well I’ll say it again: You can expect ‘Fight of the Night!'”.
He wasn’t lying. Even with nothing but straight bangers gracing the cage before them, Carter and Wilde still managed to bring the crowd to life with an absolute barnburner of a scrap.
Wilde led the dance, uncorking all manner of electrifying strikes, feints and combos from angles most of us would need a protractor to work out. Carter meanwhile stayed patient, absorbed the punishment like a champ while letting fly when the opportunity presented itself.
You wouldn’t have known it as the second round got underway, but Wilde had suffered a horrific hand break in the first. And despite landing another hailstorm of blows in an effort to put Carter away, was forced to look for a takedown and take a different approach.
This played right into the BKK Fighters man’s hands (or more accurately legs); with a few deft adjustments he was able to secure a triangle choke, forcing the compromised Wilde to submit and end what was quickly becoming one of the most exciting bouts in Cage Warriors history.
Mickael Lebout
Following the loss to Carter, Wilde had returned to the regional scene and put together a solid streak of wins, capped off by defeating the teak-tough Martin ‘Diesel’ Delany in a high-level domestic title bout.
Come his CW return though, disaster struck. After a comfortable first round, opponent Scott Clist had bundled Wilde to the matt where a volley of clubbing shots had put him out.
While many would have looked for an easy win to get themselves back on track, Wilde stayed true to a career ethos of ‘No Easy Fights’. Just eight weeks removed from the Clist bout, ‘The Experiment’ stepped back into the cage against what was undoubtedly the best-credentialled opponent of his career to that point: UFC veteran Mickel ‘Ragnar’ Lebout.
It was a real ‘do or die’ fight for both men; Lebout was fresh out of the UFC and on the hunt for the kind of spectacular showing that would put his foot right back in the door. Wilde, meanwhile, needed the win to prove to the world – and to himself – that he hadn’t found his level.
The opening frame couldn’t have gone worse for the Englishman, with Lebout, a former welterweight, powering him to the ground and transitioning into a number of advantageous positions while firing off ground ‘n’ pound and prying for submissions.
Wilde knew he was down, and that he needed to pull one out of the fire.
In the second he looked like a different man. The timing was back, the range management and the silky smooth striking. As the round wore on Wide started find a home for bigger punches, splattering Lebout’s nose and staggering him with combinations. The final few minutes devolved into an absolute hiding for the Frenchman, who remained on his feet as much through sheer willpower as anything else.
The third was a battle of attrition, with both men digging deep and then digging some more. It was exhausting to watch and nail-bitingly close for the most part. But as the round drew to a close it was Lebout looking at the clock for a way out, and Wilde looking for more angles to hit him from.
It’s been eight long years since we’ve seen Tim Wilde in the famous Yellow Gloves of Cage Warriors, but next Saturday night at CW 191 he’s back, and once again he’s taking on one of the most dangerous men at his weight.
On July 28th, the Experiment continues.