Dumitru Girlean furthered his case for a shot at the Cage Warriors lightweight title with an impressive second-round submission of Scottish veteran Chris Bungard at Cage Warriors 171 in Glasgow.
The event saw Cage Warriors make their return to Scotland with a packed card, but the night’s headliner didn’t send the Scottish fans home with a local victory, as Girlean shut out the noise of a raucous Glaswegian crowd and locked up a tight guillotine choke to force the finish at the 3:47 mark of the second round.
Girlean’s win joins his other notable Cage Warriors victories over Adam Cullen and Simone Patrizi as he continues to build his case for a shot at lightweight gold.
Another fighter who did his chances of a title fight no harm was Cameron Else, who battled back and forth with former bantamweight title challenger Reece McEwan, and earned a split-decision victory.
Else looked to push the pace throughout their all-action 135-pound clash, and his 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 win has pushed him right into the thick of the bantamweight title conversation.
Arguably the biggest Scottish win of the night came courtesy of welterweight Sean Clancy Jr, who demonstrated just why he’s considered one of the best prospects to come out of Scotland for years with a second-round TKO finish of Lucas Rodrigues.
Also claiming a notable home win for Scotland was Aidan Stephen, who pushed his bantamweight title aspirations with a unanimous decision victory over Italy’s Gianluca Scottoli.
There was also a wild three-round scrap between Daan Duijs and Jack Eglin, with the Dutchmen edging a split-decision verdict after a highly entertaining preliminary card matchup.
Cage Warriors’ relentless 2024 schedule will see them head back south of the border to Newcastle for Cage Warriors 172 at the Vertu Motors Arena on May 25, with Harry Hardwick taking on Zafar Mohsen for the vacant featherweight title.
Cage Warriors 171: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Dumitru Girlean def. Chris Bungard via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:47
- Cameron Else def. Reece McEwan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Sean Clancy Jr def. Lucas Rodrigues via TKO (punches and elbows) – Round 2, 4:04
- Aidan Stephen def. Gianluca Scottoli via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Nicolas Leblond def. Scott Malone via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:27
- Keir Harvie def. Kaique Modesto via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Jan Quaeyhaegens def. Konstantinos Ntelis via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:11
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Paull McBain def. Alberth Dias via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
- Daan Duijs def. Jack Eglin via split decision (29-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jordan Little def. Jordan Stronge via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Nell Ariano def. Jamie Macdonald via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:45
- Michael Blair def. Dec Dean via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Igor Wojtas def. Ronal Siahaan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Iain Postlethwaite def. Pav Sahota via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Khadim Dia def. Mush Aslani via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Cornellius Aritonang def. Thomas Hepburn via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:05
