Cage Warriors

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship

Type	Private
Industry	Mixed martial arts promotion
Founded	2001
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Website	http://www.cagewarriors.com/

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship or CWFC is a mixed martial arts promotion, based in London, which is currently regarded as the biggest MMA organisation in Europe. Cage Warriors was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Today it is breaking more ground for the sport of MMA than perhaps any other promotion, scheduling historic events in places like Chechnya, Baghdad and Beirut.

Many of the biggest stars in MMA have made their names under the Cage Warriors banner, including Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and Conor McGregor. CWFC are one of the few top promotions to take their events abroad, travelling throughout countries in Europe, North America and the Middle East.^[1] CWFC staged 26 events across 12 different countries in 2012 and 2013.

History

Cage Warriors staged their first event on July 27, 2002, titled 'Armageddon', at which notable fighters like Jean Silva, Rosi Sexton, Matt Ewin and Paul Jenkins were victorious.^[2]

Irishman Graham Boylan assumed control of Cage Warriors in 2010 and has successfully set about returning the promotion to the forefront of MMA in Europe, as well as expanding internationally with shows in Ireland, Russia, Ukraine, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Bahrain. Ian Dean is Cage Warriors' well-known matchmaker, while Paul Dollery is the promotion's Director of Media and Operations. The Cage Warriors head office is located in London.

On October 25, 2012, it was announced that, along with Ultimate Challenge MMA and BAMMA, Cage Warriors have united with The Centre of Health and Human Performance in London to launch SAFE MMA, a non-profit organization established to improve the safety of MMA fighters in the U.K. Chief among the organization's plans is a centralized and confidential database for fighter medical records. SAFE MMA, which officially launches Jan. 1 2013, also will provide affordable, standardized blood and medical tests for all registered fighters, as well as advice from leading world experts in sports medicine, according to today's announcement.^[3][4]

Broadcast deals

All Cage Warriors events are streamed live worldwide on MMAjunkie.com and CageWarriors.tv, and televised live via:

Premier Sports | United Kingdom

Setanta Sports | Ireland

Fight Now TV | USA

Fight Network | Canada, Portugal, Turkey, Angola, Mozambique

Setanta Africa | Africa

FightKlub | Poland

Rules

Cage Warriors' rules 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.^[5] 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, with the exception of five-round championship bouts. 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

Note: Upcoming events are listed in Italic.

Champions

Division	Weight limit	Champion	Next Fight / Opponent
Heavyweight	265 lbs	vacant
Light Heavyweight	205 lbs	vacant
Middleweight	185 lbs	vacant
Welterweight	170 lbs	Cathal Pendred
Lightweight	155 lbs	Ivan Buchinger
Featherweight	145 lbs	Jim Alers
Bantamweight	135 lbs	Brett Johns	James Brum
Flyweight	125 lbs	Neil Seery	Ulysses Gomez

References

External links

• Official Cage Warriors website
• Official Cage Warriors live streaming website
• Cage Warriors event results on Sherdog
• Cage Warriors 2011 promo