The most hotly anticipated rematch in Cage Warriors history is now official, as Jordan Vucenic and Paul Hughes will face off once again on 18th March at The Indigo at the O2 in London.
The pair first met in 2020, with their fight becoming an instant classic and winning Cage Warriors’ Fight of the Year award, and since then, both men have won Cage Warriors gold.
In March, Jordan Vucenic out-pointed Morgan Charrière to become the featherweight champion, before an injury forced him to take some time out of the cage.
Whilst Vucenic was sidelined, Hughes would take full advantage, coming back from his loss to “The Epidemic” by beating James Hendin before putting on another classic Cage Warriors fight with Charriere to capture the interim title.
On the announcement of this huge fight, Cage Warriors president, Graham Boylan, said: “With Christmas just around the corner we decided we’d give our fans an early present!
“I really want to see how the dynamic of having five rounds will play a part in this rematch.
“It’s going to be great having this fight at the Indigo too. We’ve had some incredible fights there such as Wood vs Reed and Frederick vs Webb 2 and I think we’ll be adding this fight to that instant classic category.”
Vucenic enters the rematch with an 8-1 record, with his durability being one of his key strengths with five decision wins to his name.
When asked about how it felt to be getting back in the cage to face off with Hughes again, the champ told Cage Warriors: “This is a really great fight to solidify myself as the CW champion!
“We’re not going to go to the championship rounds.
“I’m getting a second round KO.”
Hughes can unify the division with a win, which would take his record to 9-1. The young Irishman trains in Belfast with former lightweight champion Joe McColgan and has shown his ability both on the feet and on the mat with three KO wins and three submissions.
The interim champion told Cage Warriors: “This is not a unification, I am the champion, Vucenic is fighting for my belt.
“Jordan had one fight last year, a skimpy split decision win over Morgan (Charrière) who I battered so he’s fighting for my belt.
“18th March is St.Paddy’s weekend so I’m gonna blow the roof off that place!”
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