Cage Warriors

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship or CWFC is a mixed martial arts promotion, based in London, England. Cage Warriors was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002.^[1] Warrior Promotions, the organisation behind CWFC, is a UK management agency for MMA fighters. In December 2011, Cage Warriors signed an exclusive television broadcast deal with Sky Sports.^[2]

Regarded as one of Europe's top MMA promotions, several of the biggest names in UK MMA have fought on Cage Warriors cards, including UFC stars Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and Ross Pearson.

History

Cage Warriors showed their first event on July 27, 2002, titled 'Armageddon', at which notable fighters like Jean Silva, Matt Ewin and Paul Jenkins were victorious.^[3]

Irishman Graham Boylan assumed control of Cage Warriors in 2010 and has successfully set about returning the promotion to the forefront of MMA in the UK, as well as expanding internationally with shows in Ireland and Jordan. Ian Dean is Cage Warriors' well-known matchmaker, while Pat Vickers was appointed Director of Talent Relations in July 2011. The Cage Warriors head office is located in Camden, north-west London.

On October 11, 2011, Cage Warriors announced that they will carry out mandatory blood testing on fighters before allowing them to compete at Cage Warriors events. British promotions can decide to do so at their own discretion as, unlike MMA promotions in the USA, there is no governing body for Mixed Martial Arts in the UK.^[4]

On October 13, 2011, Cage Warriors director Graham Boylan revealed their 2012 schedule to MMAJunkie.com.^[5]

The UK’s longest-running promotion will continue its international expansion from February, 2012 by travelling to several new countries, including Lebanon, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Hungary and Turkey.

Cage Warriors' third show in the Middle East - Fight Night 3 in Lebanon on February 9 - will feature a debut for the organisation for veteran UFC lightweight Kyle Watson, who hasn't fought since his defeat to John Makdessi at UFC 129 on April 30, 2011.^[6]

A new CWFC middleweight champion will be crowned in 2012 via an eight-man tournament which will kick off at Cage Warriors Fight Night 3 on February 9. Six of the eight participants have verbally agreed to take part in the tournament, which will take place across four shows, culminating in a July finale in London. However, two highly coveted places remain up for grabs. The six confirmed fighters are Jack Mason (17-9-0), Tony Machado (4-0-0), Danny Roberts (5-0-0), Chris Fields (8-3-0), Valentino Petrescu (12-2-0) and Victor Cheng (7-2-0).

Specific opening round match-ups have yet to be determined. Cage Warriors director Graham Boylan will issue “additional perks and bonuses” for the finalists and the eventual winner will clinch the vacant CWFC middleweight title. The first two quarter-final fights will take place at Fight Night 3 in the Middle East (venue TBC) on February 9, followed by the remaining two bouts on February 18 at Cage Warriors 45 in London. The semi-finals are scheduled for Amman, Jordan on April 15, with the final taking place in London on July 7.^[7]

On November 28, 2011, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship CEO Graham Boylan told MMAjunkie.com the group has acquired the US-based Fiore MMA. As part of the deal, the upstart training facility will be part of MMA Clinic Gyms and Warrior Promotions Fighter Management (WPFM) will take over its client list. Marc Fiore will remain with the company as a full-time trainer and fighter manager. WPFM now has more than 50 fighters competing for the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce and Cage Warriors from this deal.^[8]

Rules

Cage Warriors rules's are based upon the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts that were originally established by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board and modified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.^[9] These rules have been adopted across the US in other states that regulate mixed martial arts. As a result, they have become the standard de facto set of rules for professional mixed martial arts across the US and for cage-based MMA worldwide.

All Cage Warriors fights are contested over three, five minute rounds. There is a one minute rest period in-between rounds. As per the Unified Rules of MMA, Cage Warriors only allows competitors to fight in approved shorts, without shoes or any other sort of foot padding. Fighters must use approved light gloves (4-6 ounces) that allow fingers to grab. The referee has the right to stop the fighters and stand them up if they reach a stalemate on the ground (where neither are in a dominant position nor working toward one) after a verbal warning.

Match outcome

Matches usually end via:

• Submission: a fighter taps on the mat or his opponent three times (or more) or verbally submits.
• Knockout: a fighter falls from a legal blow and is either unconscious or unable to immediately continue.
• Technical Knockout: stoppage of the fight by the referee if it is determined a fighter cannot "intelligently defend" himself or by ringside doctor due to injury.
• Judges' Decision: Depending on scoring, a match may end as:

• unanimous decision (all three judges score a win for one fighter),
• split decision (two judges score a win for one fighter with the third for the other),
• majority decision (two judges score a win for one fighter with one for a draw),
• unanimous draw (all three judges score a draw),
• majority draw (two judges score a draw).
• split draw (the total points for each fighter is equal)

A fight can also end in a technical decision, technical draw, disqualification, forfeit or no contest.

Judging criteria

The ten-point must system is used for all Cage Warriors fights; three judges score each round and the winner of each receives ten points, the loser nine points or less. If the round is even, both fighters receive ten points. The decision is announced at the end of the match but the judge's scorecards are not announced.

Fouls

The following are considered fouls in Cage Warriors:

1. Butting with the head.
2. Eye gouging of any kind.
3. Biting.
4. Hair pulling.
5. Fish hooking.
6. Groin attacks of any kind.
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent. (see Gouging)
8. Small joint manipulation.
9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head. (see Rabbit punch)
10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow. (see Elbow (strike))
11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
13. Grabbing the clavicle.
14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck. (see piledriver (professional wrestling))
19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
21. Spitting at an opponent.
22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
30. Interference by the corner.
31. Throwing in the towel during competition.

When a foul is charged, the referee in their discretion may deduct one or more points as a penalty. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, then the match may end in a disqualification if the foul was intentional, or a no contest if unintentional. If a foul causes a fighter to be unable to continue later in the bout, it ends with a technical decision win to the injured fighter if the injured fighter is ahead on points, otherwise it is a technical draw.

Events

Champions

References

External links

• Official Cage Warriors website
• Official Cage Warriors live streaming website
• Cage Warriors 2011 promo