In a world where everything is shutting down and the sporting world is grinding to a halt, U.K.-based MMA promotion Cage Warriors simply refuses to be denied.
With the world in crisis during the COVID-19 outbreak, the promotion has been forced to take its event behind closed doors, move to a different city and shuffle the lineup several times over. Still, while other MMA promotions, including the UFC, have postponed their current schedule, Cage Warriors has been committed to getting this fight card in the books.
It all means Friday night’s Cage Warriors 113 event will be the only major MMA show to take place anywhere in the world this weekend, with UFC Fight Pass likely to pick up a huge audience as fans flock to the streaming platform to get their fix of live MMA action.
Ahead of the event, we’ve dived into Cage Warriors’ archive to dig out this video, which showcases the sort of action you can expect to see from the European promotion. You’ll recognize most of the names here, too, with the likes of Nathaniel Wood, Jack Marshman, Jack Hermansson, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Molly McCann all going on to join the UFC after fighting for Cage Warriors.
ONE Championship heavyweight Mauro Cerilli is also featured, as is one of the big stars of Friday’s card, Paddy Pimblett. There’s even a cameo from a young Irishman by the name of Conor McGregor.
The fighters on Friday’s card all harbor dreams of making it to the big stage with the UFC, and will be looking to produce the sort of performance to match those in the video above.
Check out the highlight reel above and relive some of the performances that helped some of Cage Warriors’ alumni earn their shot at the big time.
The latest Cage Warriors 113 card includes:
MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 5 p.m. ET )
- Bartosz Fabinski vs. Darren Stewart
- Mason Jones vs. Joe McColgan – for vacant lightweight title
- David Bear vs. Nathan Jones
- Decky Dalton vs. Paddy Pimblett
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 2:30 p.m. ET)
- Steve Aimable vs. Perry Goodwin
- Coner Hignett vs. Darren O’Gorman
- Adam Amarasinghe vs. Jake Bond
- Matthew Bonner vs. Jamie Richardson
- Kris Edwards vs. James Hendin
- Jack Collins vs. Aidan Stephen
- Kingsley Crawford vs. Lewis Monarch
