WHILE CONOR McGREGOR spent 2015 establishing himself as a UFC champion and the biggest star in mixed martial arts, the promotion where he made his name was experiencing vastly contrasting fortunes.
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship ended 2014 with a superb card at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Olympic Park, which featured current UFC fighters like Joseph Duffy, Tom Breese and Nicolas Dalby.
However, the UK-based organisation has been dormant ever since, after Corkman Graham Boylan announced his resignation as CEO in February of last year. That news left the future of Cage Warriors shrouded in confusion, but signs of a return began to emerge last June when Boylan spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
With the promotion having previously been backed by investment from the Middle East, Boylan announced that he has now taken sole ownership of Cage Warriors after acquiring the IP [intellectual property].
Boylan promised that Cage Warriors — which staged its first show in 2002 — would return “bigger than what it was” and their quest to do so begins this Friday night when Cage Warriors 75 takes place at the Camden Centre in London.
At its zenith, Cage Warriors was regarded by many as the leading MMA show in Europe. The promotion staged events in 11 different countries across Europe and the Middle East, establishing itself as the leading platform for up-and-coming European fighters to attract the attention of the UFC.
Advertisement
Conor McGregor, Cathal Pendred and Neil Seery are all former Cage Warriors champions, while Aisling Daly, Artem Lobov, Paul Redmond and Joseph Duffy also competed for the promotion prior to graduating to the very highest level in MMA.
The most recent example of that is Anna Elmose, who was originally scheduled to fight this Friday at Cage Warriors 75, but is instead preparing for her UFC debut after being signed to fight Germaine de Randamie at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam on 8 May.
It’s widely agreed that the return of Cage Warriors is a positive development for the sport in this part of the world, but in its absence, other promotions have certainly capitalised — none more so than BAMMA, who have snapped up several former Cage Warriors stars, as well as hosting two hugely successful shows at Dublin’s 3Arena.
Despite being contracted to Cage Warriors previously, the likes of John Phillips, Nad Narimani and Shaj Haque have all featured for BAMMA in recent months, along with Irish fighters such as Chris Fields, Damien Rooney and Brian Moore.
However, Cage Warriors has managed to retain plenty of its biggest names, some of whom will be on show this Friday night — middleweight champion Jack Hermansson, featherweight prospects Paddy Pimblett and Chris Fishgold, and undefeated light-heavyweight Darren Stewart.
Another incalculable commodity for the promotion is Ian Dean, whose extensive knowledge of the European scene marks him out as the region’s leading matchmaker. Furthermore, there has been strong speculation linking Cage Warriors to a broadcast deal with UFC Fight Pass, which would certainly help to put the promotion back on the map.
Cage Warriors
Cage Warriors
Fans in Ireland will also be keen to observe the impact of Cage Warriors’ return. Some of the promotion’s most memorable events took place on Irish shores and the promotion played a key role in laying the foundations for the current period of popularity that MMA is enjoying in this country.
If Cage Warriors can restore itself to the forefront of European MMA with the kind of star-studded, well-matched, sleekly-produced events that it was once renowned for, it will again become a huge asset to the sport in the region and both fans and fighters stand to benefit.
Having set such high standards for themselves in the past, that won’t be an easy task.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
The show that helped to launch Conor McGregor's career returns this weekend
WHILE CONOR McGREGOR spent 2015 establishing himself as a UFC champion and the biggest star in mixed martial arts, the promotion where he made his name was experiencing vastly contrasting fortunes.
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship ended 2014 with a superb card at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Olympic Park, which featured current UFC fighters like Joseph Duffy, Tom Breese and Nicolas Dalby.
However, the UK-based organisation has been dormant ever since, after Corkman Graham Boylan announced his resignation as CEO in February of last year. That news left the future of Cage Warriors shrouded in confusion, but signs of a return began to emerge last June when Boylan spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
With the promotion having previously been backed by investment from the Middle East, Boylan announced that he has now taken sole ownership of Cage Warriors after acquiring the IP [intellectual property].
Boylan promised that Cage Warriors — which staged its first show in 2002 — would return “bigger than what it was” and their quest to do so begins this Friday night when Cage Warriors 75 takes place at the Camden Centre in London.
At its zenith, Cage Warriors was regarded by many as the leading MMA show in Europe. The promotion staged events in 11 different countries across Europe and the Middle East, establishing itself as the leading platform for up-and-coming European fighters to attract the attention of the UFC.
Conor McGregor, Cathal Pendred and Neil Seery are all former Cage Warriors champions, while Aisling Daly, Artem Lobov, Paul Redmond and Joseph Duffy also competed for the promotion prior to graduating to the very highest level in MMA.
The most recent example of that is Anna Elmose, who was originally scheduled to fight this Friday at Cage Warriors 75, but is instead preparing for her UFC debut after being signed to fight Germaine de Randamie at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam on 8 May.
It’s widely agreed that the return of Cage Warriors is a positive development for the sport in this part of the world, but in its absence, other promotions have certainly capitalised — none more so than BAMMA, who have snapped up several former Cage Warriors stars, as well as hosting two hugely successful shows at Dublin’s 3Arena.
Despite being contracted to Cage Warriors previously, the likes of John Phillips, Nad Narimani and Shaj Haque have all featured for BAMMA in recent months, along with Irish fighters such as Chris Fields, Damien Rooney and Brian Moore.
However, Cage Warriors has managed to retain plenty of its biggest names, some of whom will be on show this Friday night — middleweight champion Jack Hermansson, featherweight prospects Paddy Pimblett and Chris Fishgold, and undefeated light-heavyweight Darren Stewart.
Another incalculable commodity for the promotion is Ian Dean, whose extensive knowledge of the European scene marks him out as the region’s leading matchmaker. Furthermore, there has been strong speculation linking Cage Warriors to a broadcast deal with UFC Fight Pass, which would certainly help to put the promotion back on the map.
Fans in Ireland will also be keen to observe the impact of Cage Warriors’ return. Some of the promotion’s most memorable events took place on Irish shores and the promotion played a key role in laying the foundations for the current period of popularity that MMA is enjoying in this country.
If Cage Warriors can restore itself to the forefront of European MMA with the kind of star-studded, well-matched, sleekly-produced events that it was once renowned for, it will again become a huge asset to the sport in the region and both fans and fighters stand to benefit.
Having set such high standards for themselves in the past, that won’t be an easy task.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Revenue takes precedence over rankings as the UFC bend the rules to suit McGregor’s needs
John Kavanagh: Conor is the more skilful fighter and he’ll prove that in July
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Cage Warriors Conor McGregor CWFC mixed martial arts MMA Proven platform UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship