Cage Warriors

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship

Type	Private
Industry	Mixed martial arts promotion
Founded	2001
Founder	Dougie Truman
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	Graham Boylan (Owner/President) Casimir Knight (CEO) Ian Dean (Matchmaker)
Website	http://www.cagewarriors.com/

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship or simply Cage Warriors is a mixed martial arts promotion, based in London. Cage Warriors was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002.

Many big MMA stars have made their names under the Cage Warriors banner, including Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Gegard Mousasi, Bigfoot Silva, Jeff Monson, Martin Kampmann, Dan Hardy, Joe Duffy, Cathal Pendred, Neil Seery, Dennis Siver etc.^[1] CWFC are one of the few top promotions to take their events abroad, travelling throughout countries in Europe, North America and the Middle East.^[2] CWFC staged 26 events across 12 different countries in 2012 and 2013.

History

Cage Warriors was founded by Dougie Truman back in 2001, the first event titled 'Armageddon', at which notable fighters like Jean Silva, Rosi Sexton, Matt Ewin and Paul Jenkins were victorious,^[3] was staged on July 27 of that year.

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.^[4] The Cage Warriors head office is located in London.^[5][6]

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.^[7][8]

Broadcast deals

Cage Warriors Events to be Streamed Live on UFC Fight Pass

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

^[9]

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.^[10] 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

Scheduled events

Past events

Champions

Division	Weight limit	Champion	Since	Title Defenses	Next Fight	Days
Heavyweight	265 lbs	Vacant
Light Heavyweight	205 lbs	Karl Moore	CWFC 81 (March 4, 2017)	0		159
Middleweight	185 lbs	Vacant
Welterweight	170 lbs	Karl Amoussou	CWFC 80 (February 18, 2017)	0		173
Lightweight	155 lbs	Chris Fishgold	CWFC 77 (July 8, 2016)	2	vs Alexander Jacobsen at CWFC 88 (October 28, 2017)	399
Featherweight	145 lbs	Nad Narimani	CWFC 82 (April 1, 2017)	0		131
Bantamweight	135 lbs	Nathaniel Wood	CWFC 84 (June 2, 2017)	0	vs Josh Reed at CWFC 86 (September 16, 2017)	69
Flyweight	125 lbs	Vacant
Women's Bantamweight	135 lbs	Vacant

Cage Warriors Title history

Cage Warriors Super Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: Unlimited

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Antonio Silva def. Ruben Villareal	CWFC: Strike Force 4 Coventry, United Kingdom	March 26, 2005	1. def. Tadas Rimkevicius at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on March 25, 2006
Silva vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for K-1. Cage Warriors later disbanded the Super Heavyweight division.

Cage Warriors Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: 265 lb (120.2 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Steve Thomas def. Jarrod Speed	CWFC 1: Armageddon London, United Kingdom	July 27, 2002	1. def. Phil Holmes at CWFC 2: Fists of Fury on November 30, 2002
2	Tengiz Tedoradze	CWFC 3: Cage Warriors 3 Southampton, United Kingdom	July 16, 2005	1. def. Andy Ryan at Cage Warriors 7: Showdown on May 9, 2004
3	Jeff Monson	Cage Warriors 9: Xtreme Xmas Sheffield, United Kingdom	December 18, 2004	1. def. Tengiz Tedoradze at CWFC: Ultimate Force on April 30, 2005 2. def. Marc Emmanuel at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on November 26, 2005
Monson vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
4	Mike Hayes def. Andreas Kraniotakes	Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 Dubai, United Arab Emirates	March 16, 2012
5	D.J. Linderman	Cage Warriors: 47 Dublin, Ireland	June 2, 2012
Linderman vacated the title when he left the promotion.

Cage Warriors Light Heavyweight Championship

Weight limit: 205 lb (93.0 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Michael Bisping def. Dave Radford	CWFC: Ultimate Force Sheffield, United Kingdom	April 30, 2005	1. def. Miika Mehmet at CWFC: Strike Force 2 on July 16, 2005 2. def. Jakob Lovstad at CWFC: Strike Force 3 on October 1, 2005 3. def. Ross Pointon at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on November 26, 2005
Bisping vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
2	Karl Moore def. Josh Clark	Cage Warriors 81 Dublin, Ireland	March 4, 2017

Cage Warriors Middleweight Championship

Weight limit: 185 lb (83.9 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Matt Ewin def. Ross Pettifer	CWFC 4: UK vs. France Portsmouth, United Kingdom	July 27, 2003	1. def. Greg Bouchelaghem at Cage Warriors 7: Showdown on Sep 5, 2004 2. No contest vs. Damien Riccio at CWFC: Strike Force on May 21, 2005
2	Martin Kampmann	CWFC: Strike Force 2 Coventry, United Kingdom	July 16, 2005	1. def. Damien Riccio at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on February 11, 2005
Kampmann vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
3	Gegard Mousasi def. Greg Bouchelaghem	CWFC: Enter The Rough House Nottingham, United Kingdom	December 9, 2006
Mousasi vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for M-1 Global.
4	Chris Fields def. Pavel Kusch	Cage Warriors Fight Night 5 Amman, Jordan	September 1, 2012
5	Jesse Taylor	Cage Warriors: 51 Dublin, Ireland	December 31, 2012	1. def. John Phillips at CWFC 54: Cage Warriors 54 on May 4, 2013
Taylor vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the World Series of Fighting.
6	Jack Hermansson def. Norman Paraisy	CWFC 69: Super Saturday London, United Kingdom	July 7, 2014	1. def. Deyan Topalski at CWFC 71: Cage Warriors 71 on August 22, 2014 2. def. Alan Carlos at CWFC 75: Cage Warriors 75 on April 15, 2016
Hermansson vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
7	Jack Marshman def. Christopher Jacquelin	CWFC 77: Cage Warriors 77 London, United Kingdom	July 8, 2016
Marshman vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
8	Oskar Piechota def. Jason Radcliffe	CWFC 85: Cage Warriors 85 Bournemouth, United Kingdom	June 24, 2017
Piechota vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.

Cage Warriors Welterweight Championship

Weight limit: 170 lb (77.1 kg)

Formerly known as two weight divisions: Welterweight (175 lb (79.4 kg)) and Light Welterweight (165 lb (74.8 kg))

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Adrian Degorski def. Paul Jenkins	CWFC 4: UK vs. France Portsmouth, United Kingdom	July 27, 2003
2	Abdul Mohamed	P&G 1: Pride & Glory Cardiff, United Kingdom	February 1, 2004	1. def. Paul Jenkins at Cage Warriors 6: Elimination on February 11, 2004 2. drew with Paul Daley at Cage Warriors 9: Xtreme Xmas on December 18, 2004
Mohamed vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for Cage Rage Championships.
3	Dan Hardy def. Matt Thorpe	CWFC: Strike Force 4 Coventry, United Kingdom	November 26, 2005	1. def. Diego Gonzalez at Cage Warriors 6: Elimination on March 25, 2006
4	Forrest Petz	FF: Fight Fest 2 Canton, OH, United States	April 14, 2006
Petz vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
5	Dan Hardy def. Alexandre Izidro [fn 1]	CWFC: Enter The Rough House Nottingham, United Kingdom	December 9, 2006	1. def. Willy Ni at Cage Warriors: Enter The Rough House 2 on April 28, 2007 2. def. Manuel Garcia at Cage Warriors: Enter The Rough House 5 on December 8, 2007
Hardy vacated the Cage Warriors Light Welterweight Championship when he won the Cage Warriors Welterweight Championship. Cage Warriors later chose to disband the Light Welterweight division.
6	Dan Hardy def. Chad Reiner	Cage Warriors: Enter the Rough House 6 Nottingham, United Kingdom	April 19, 2008
Hardy vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
7	Pascal Krauss def. John Quinn	Cage Warriors 37: Right to Fight Birmingham, United Kingdom	May 22, 2010
Krauss vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
8	Gael Grimaud def. Arini Isaksson	Cage Warriors: Fight Night 2 Amman, Jordan	September 8, 2011	1. def. Jesse Taylor at Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 on May 24, 2012
9	Cathal Pendred	Cage Warriors: 52 London, United Kingdom	March 9, 2013	1. def. Che Mills at Cage Warriors: 55 on June 1, 2013
Pendred vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
10	Nicolas Dalby def. Sergei Churilov	Cage Warriors: 66 Ballerup, Denmark	March 22, 2014	1. def. Mohsen Bahari at Cage Warriors 74 on November 15, 2014
Dalby vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
11	Karl Amoussou def. Matt Inman	Cage Warriors 80 London, United Kingdom	February 18, 2017

Cage Warriors Lightweight Championship

Weight limit: 155 lb (70.3 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Paul Sutherland def. Ozzy Haluk	CWFC 4: UK vs. France Portsmouth, United Kingdom	July 27, 2003
Sutherland vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for Cage Rage Championships.
2	Alexandre Izidro def. Jani Lax	CWFC: Strike Force 3 Coventry, United Kingdom	October 1, 2005	1. def. Thomas Hytten at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on November 26, 2005 2. def. Mario Stapel at CWFC: Strike Force 6 on May 27, 2006 3. def. Franco de Leonardis at CWFC: Showdown on September 16, 2006
Izidro vacated the title when he left the promotion.
3	Kenneth Rosfort def. Greg Loughran	Cage Warriors 37: Right to Fight Birmingham, United Kingdom	May 22, 2010
4	Matt Veach	Cage Warriors 38: Young Guns London, United Kingdom	October 1, 2010
Veach vacated the title when he left the promotion.
5	Ivan Musardo def. Joseph Duffy	Cage Warriors: 44 London, United Kingdom	October 1, 2011
Musardo vacated the title when he left the promotion.
6	Conor McGregor def. Ivan Buchinger	Cage Warriors: 51 Dublin, Ireland	December 31, 2012
McGregor vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
7	Stevie Ray def. Sean Carter	Cage Warriors: 60 London, United Kingdom	October 5, 2013
8	Ivan Buchinger	Cage Warriors: 63 Dublin, Ireland	December 31, 2013
Buchinger vacated the title when he left the promotion for M-1 Global.
9	Stevie Ray def. Curt Warburton	Cage Warriors: 69 London, United Kingdom	June 7, 2014	1. def. Curt Warburton at Cage Warriors 73 on November 1, 2014
Ray vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
10	Chris Fishgold def. Adam Boussif	Cage Warriors 77 London, United Kingdom	July 8, 2016	1. def. Jason Ponet at Cage Warriors 78 on September 10, 2016 2. def. Nic Herron-Webb at Cage Warriors Unplugged on November 12, 2016

Cage Warriors Featherweight Championship

Weight limit: 145 lb (65.8 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Paul McVeigh def. Chin Weakasingh	CWFC 3: Cage Warriors 3 Southampton, United Kingdom	March 16, 2003	1. def. David McLaughlin at CWFC 4: UK vs. France on July 27, 2003
McVeigh vacated the title to compete in the Bantamweight division.
2	Emmanuel Fernandez def. James Lutman	Cage Warriors 6: Elimination Barnsley, United Kingdom	March 7, 2004	1. def. Ian Butlin at Cage Warriors 7: Showdown on May 9, 2004
3	Danny Batten	CWFC: Strike Force Coventry, United Kingdom	May 21, 2005	1. def. Tom Niinimaki at CWFC: Strike Force 2 on July 16, 2005 2. def. Augusto Frota at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on November 26, 2005
Batten vacated the title when he left the promotion.
4	Conor McGregor def. Dave Hill	Cage Warriors: 47 Dublin, Ireland	June 2, 2012
McGregor vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
5	Jim Alers def. Joni Salovaara	Cage Warriors: 53 Glasgow, United Kingdom	April 13, 2013	1. def. Martin Svensson at Cage Warriors: 59 on September 14, 2013 2. def. Graham Turner at Cage Warriors: 63 on December 31, 2013
Alers vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
6	Alex Enlund def. Nad Narimani	Cage Warriors: 73 Newcastle, United Kingdom	November 1, 2014
Enlund vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.
7	Paddy Pimblett def. Johnny Frachey	Cage Warriors 78 Liverpool, United Kingdom	September 10, 2016	1. def. Julian Erosa at Cage Warriors Unplugged on November 12, 2016
8	Nad Narimani	Cage Warriors 82 Liverpool, United Kingdom	April 1, 2017

Cage Warriors Bantamweight Championship

Weight limit: 135 lb (61.2 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Paul McVeigh def. Chin Weakasingh	Cage Warriors 8: Brutal Force Sheffield, United Kingdom	September 18, 2004	1. def. Phil Harris at CWFC: Strike Force 4 on November 26, 2005 2. def. Neil McLeod at CWFC: Strike Force 6 on May 27, 2006 3. def. Anderson Pereira at Cage Warriors: Enter The Rough House 4 on October 14, 2007 4. def. Steve McCombe at Cage Warriors: Enter the Rough House 7 on July 12, 2008 5. def. Andreas Bernhard at Cage Warriors: 40 on February 26, 2011
McVeigh vacated the title to compete in the Flyweight division.
2	Brett Johns def. Jordan Desborough	Cage Warriors: 59 Cardiff, United Kingdom	September 14, 2013
Johns was stripped of the title when he failed to make weight for his Cage Warriors: 67 title defense.
3	Toni Tauru def. Cory Tait	Cage Warriors: 72 Newport, United Kingdom	September 13, 2014
Tauru vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the ONE Championship.
4	Nathaniel Wood def. Mario Kovacevic	Cage Warriors 84 London, United Kingdom	June 2, 2017

Cage Warriors Flyweight Championship

Weight limit: 125 lb (56.7 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Neil Seery def. Mikael Silander	Cage Warriors: 55 Dublin, Ireland	June 1, 2013
Seery vacated the title when he left Cage Warriors for the UFC.

Cage Warriors Women's Bantamweight Championship

Weight limit: 135 lb (61.2 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Rosi Sexton def. Dina van den Hooven	CWFC: Strike Force 4 Coventry, United Kingdom	November 26, 2005
Sexton vacated the title when she left Cage Warriors for Bellator.
2	Pannie Kianzad def. Eeva Siiskonen	Cage Warriors 74 London, United Kingdom	November 15, 2014
Kianzad vacated the title when she left Cage Warriors for Invicta FC.

Notable competitors

Footnotes

References

External links

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