Connect with us

Cage Warriors

Cage Warriors 169: English trio eye UFC call-ups after impressive wins

It was a big night at the Indigo for Jordan Vucenic, Lone’er Kavanagh and Will Currie.
Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

The three Englishmen at the top of the fight card at Cage Warriors 169 all delivered standout performances to put themselves in the shop window for the UFC.

The event, at London’s Indigo at The O2, delivered a packed night of fights in front of a lively crowd, with former featherweight champion Jordan Vucenic, flyweight contender Lone’er Kavanagh and middleweight contender Will Currie all making big statements in the English capital.

Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

“The Epidemic” continues to spread

Every time Vucenic fights at the Indigo, he brings a huge and raucous fanbase with him, and tonight was no different as he faced Italy’s Simone D’Anna in the main event.

His walkout, to Chase and Status’ “All Goes Wrong,” has become one of the top fight night entrances in UK MMA, and he stood and lapped up the crowd as he made his way to the cage, then delivered a crowd-pleasing performance to claim the 12th win of his career.

D’Anna headed into the bout on a three-fight win streak, and the Italian came out aggressively from the opening bell. But Vucenic showed his now-familiar composure as he fended off the hard-charging Italian early, then punished him with strikes on the counter.

The finish came in the second round, when Vucenic went to the ground with D’Anna, escaped a guillotine choke to end up in mount, then finished his man with a Kimura.

It was Vucenic’s fifth career submission finish, and extended his win streak to three after losing his featherweight title to Paul Hughes at Cage Warriors 145 in November 2022.

Hughes’ performances have put him on the radar for a possible UFC call-up, and few would begrudge Vucenic also being offered a shot on the big stage. The Corby native is 10-1 from his last 11 outings, and with a victory over current UFC featherweight Morgan Charriere, who he dethroned to win the Cage Warriors 145-pound title in 2021, Vucenic’s resume certainly stands up.

Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

Kavanagh books title shot with Da Silva win

Put simply, Lone’er Kavanagh might well be the most exciting prospect to come out of the UK in years, and now the 24-year-old is set for a championship bout against reigning 125-pound champ Shaj Haque after arguably his most impressive performance to date.

Kavanagh’s co-main event against fellow undefeated contender Shawn Da Silva was viewed by many as the must-see fight of the night, and the action certainly didn’t disappoint.

In the opening round, Kavanagh was outstanding. He looked a beat faster than the also-swift Da Silva, and dropped the German on multiple occasions with sublimely-timed counter punches as he timed his man’s blitzes with clean punches.

By the end of the first round, he had even managed to time Da Silva’s flying knee attempts, and clipped him at least once with a perfectly-judged counter.

The second and third rounds saw Da Silva make some smart adjustments as he attempted to gain a foothold in the matchup, but despite the rounds being much closer than the first, it was Kavanagh who held the advantage throughout to earn the unanimous decision victory after a hugely entertaining 15 minutes.

It was confirmed after the bout that the matchup was a title eliminator, with Kavanagh now set to face Haque for the belt later this year. And, while his latest performance may not have delivered another finish for his highlight reel, the skill the Great Britain Top Team prospect displayed in victory suggested that the has the talent to be a future superstar for the UK on the world stage.

Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

Currie makes statement with first-round finish

The event also saw a big win for rising middleweight contender Will Currie, who put himself firmly in line for a second title shot with a first-round stoppage victory over Italian contender Leon Aliu.

Aliu came into the fight with a first-round knockout of former middleweight champ James Webb and a unanimous decision victory over Alan Carlos as his two most recent victories. He’d also gone the distance with UFC veteran Darren Stewart in a losing effort last May.

But against Currie he was simply outmatched. “Drago” took control of the bout from the start, and used his range well in the early exchanges. But, despite enjoying some success on the feet, Currie got the finish with his ground work, as he ended up on top of the Italian and rained down vicious elbows until the horn sounded to end the round.

A demoralised Aliu returned to his corner, bloodied and battered, and shook his head to his corner team, who informed referee Marc Goddard that he was unable to continue. It gave Currie a first-round corner-stoppage TKO, and extended his win streak to three. Overall, the 25-year-old has won seven of his last eight, with his latest win over a former Contender Series fighter staking a claim for his own shot in the UFC.

Whether that comes via the Contender Series, or via direct entry to the UFC middleweight roster, the time seems right for “Drago” to make the jump.

Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

Elsewhere on the card…

Earlier in the night, there were impressive wins for Carlos Pereira, who knocked out Darren Stewart in a wild firefight in their 195-pound catchweight fight, and for Jimmy Quinn, who bounced back from his first career defeat with a second-round high-elbow guillotine finish of Yohan Salvador.

Mitchell Goode had a night to remember as he marked the occasion of his professional mixed martial arts debut with a third-round buggy choke submission with less than a minute left on the clock, and Amir Malekpour engaged in a three-round war with Tom Creasey to claim a majority decision victory in the fight of the night.

The early prelims saw former Cage Warriors amateur welterweight champion Shaun Fraser claim an impressive victory over former amateur lightweight champ Tariq Pell in their lightweight pro matchup, and there was a huge flying knee knockout, courtesy of Mariusz Mikolajewski, whose finish of Joshua Onwordi was undoubtedly the KO of the night.

Cage Warriors 169: Official results

MAIN CARD

  • Jordan Vucenic def. Simone D’Anna via submission (Kimura) – Round 2, 2:53
  • Lone’er Kavanagh def. Shawn Da Silva via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-25)
  • Will Currie def. Leon Aliu via TKO (retirement) – Round 1, 5:00
  • Carlos Pereira def. Darren Stewart via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:28
  • Olli Santalahti def. Jamie Richardson via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Thomas Paull def. Dimitry Solimeis via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Jimmy Quinn def. Yohan Salvador via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:55
  • Mitchell Goode def. Angus Hewett via submission (buggy choke) – Round 3, 4:24
  • Ermil Xhaferi def. Aaron Johnson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:10
  • Amir Malekpour def. Tom Creasey via majority decision (29-27, 30-26, 28-28)
  • Tommy Brunning def. Simon Kevin Cesari via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:23
  • Shaun Fraser def. Tariq Pell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Mariusz Mikolajewski def. Joshua Onwordi via knockout (flying knee) – Round 2, 2:10
  • Jawany Scott def. Jean Matos via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:08

Related Topics

A sports editor and MMA reporter with 25 years' experience in sports media, Simon has covered mixed martial arts since 2009 for a host of national and international outlets, including BBC Sport, MMA Junkie/USA Today, BT Sport and the Daily Mirror.

More in Cage Warriors