Cage Warriors 113 Preview

Cage Warriors 113 comes to us live from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England on Friday, 20th March. The event will be held in an empty arena following the global Coronavirus pandemic. The location of the card was moved to Manchester from London after venue owner AEG closed the Indigo at the O2. 

This card will feature 2 UFC fights. Cage Warriors President Graham Boylan made an agreement with the UFC to hold these fights after UFC London was cancelled. Swansea’s John Phillips (22-9) takes on undefeated Serbian Duško Todorović (9-0). The hard hitting Welshman recorded his first UFC win in his last outing and will be looking to swing from the opening bell against the up and coming Serbian. In the other UFC fight, Darren Stewart (11-4) returns to fight under the Cage Warriors lights against Poland’s Bartosz Fabiński (14-3). Both men had their original bouts cancelled, but have agreed to fight each other.

In the main event of the evening, the interim featherweight championship will be on the line between French superstar Morgan Charriere (15-7-1) and The Bosnian Face Smasher Darko Banović (17-7). Charriere is potentially the most popular fighter on the Cage Warriors roster and is on a roll at the moment with an impressive finish against Dean Trueman last time out. Banović will be a stiff test for the Frenchman, with the Bosnian known for an aggressive striking style.

Northern Ireland’s Joe McColgan (6-2-1) competes against Wales’ Mason Jones (8-0) for the vacant lightweight championship. Both men had their original bouts cancelled due to travel issues, so the promotion has pitted them against each other for the belt. Both men are known for their exciting fighting styles, McColgan in particular having won fight of the year in 2019. This is one not to be missed.

In the card’s third title bout, flyweights Samir Faiddine (11-6) and Luke Shanks (6-1) do battle for the 125lb strap. Both competitors are coming in off TKO wins and will be looking to swing from the off. Expect this to be a fast paced affair from the first second to the last.

Liverpool’s Paddy Pimblett (14-3) makes his long awaited return to the cage, taking on Belfast’s Decky Dalton (11-4). Pimblett has been out of action since his defeat to Soren Bak in September 2018. He will be looking to come back with a bang to get into title contention and make up for lost time. Standing in his way is late replacement Dalton. The popular heavy hitter is taking the fight at short notice after Pimblett’s original opponent was unable to travel.

Cork’s Darren O’Gorman (6-4) returns to face England’s Connor Hignett (7-5). This will likely be another fast paced affair, with neither man fond of going the full 15 minutes. Expect heavy leather and scrambles here.

Nathan Jones (13-9) is looking to extend his 2 win streak against Frenchman David Bear (8-1). Bear has come from the highly competitive Brave FC and will be hoping to record a debut win against domestic veteran Jones.

James Hendin (4-0) takes another step up in competition as he faces experienced Welshman Kris Edwards (13-11). Edwards will be a tough test for the undefeated Englishman. He will make Hendin work for the duration of the bout and he’s very tough to get out of there.

Elsewhere on the card, Adam Amarasinghe (4-2) takes on Jake Bond (3-2) in a fun flyweight scrap, Perry Goodwin (9-6) faces Steve Aimable (14-6) in a very competitive 145lb duel, Lewis Monarch (10-5) competes against Kingsley Crawford (4-2) in the featherweight division, Matthew Bonner (6-5-1) fights Jamie Richardson (8-5) at 185lbs and Scotland’s Aidan Stephen (6-2) takes on undefeated promotional newcomer Jack Collins (3-0).

The action kicks off at 17:30 on Friday with the pro prelims available for free on cagewarriors.com. The main card is live on UFC Fight Pass from 21:00.