Cage Warriors 183 Preview: Two Title Fights

Cage Warriors kick off their year today in Rome, Italy. The fighters have once again gone through the most stringent medical testing in European MMA to give us a Saturday feast. The Pala Pellicone hosts Cage Warriors 183 and will be treated to a bumper fifteen-fight event with two title fights. Best wishes to the great Brad Wharton, the voice of the promotion, who misses out due to illness. Get well soon.

Liam Gittens (13-4) returns after a year out due to an injury. The CW Bantamweight Champion won the strap in a five-round decision over Reece McEwan, and defended it with a fifth-round submission on Roberto Hernandez a year ago. The Englishman has won his last six and is an exciting, offence oriented fighter. He’s got big power in his punches and he likes to brutalise on the inside with his elbows and knees. “Nightmare” pushes the pace and doesn’t let his opponents breathe. Alessandro Giordano (9-3) is our suave title challenger. The Italian has hit a hat trick of wins whilst Gittens has been out, showing he’s dangerous everywhere along the way. The 27-year-old is a dangerous kickboxer who utilises leg kicks well and has a massive left hand. Durability is a big strength and he’s never been finished.

The co-main event features a rematch. Dario Bellandi (8-1) is the CW Middleweight Champion having beaten Mick Stanton by decision to win the belt, and then repeating the feat against Robin Roos in July. The Italian has won six in-a-row and he’s got a very dangerous grappling game. He likes to take people down, rough them up with strikes and search for a submission. Watch out for his guillotine and don’t underestimate his striking prowess. Naglis Kanišauskas (8-3) has impressed in his recent outings in the famous yellow gloves, earning two knockout wins back-to-back. The Lithuanian is looking to avenge a decision loss to the champion in July 2023. The 24-year-old has displayed vicious striking of late and has been entering into kickboxing contests to sharpen his weapons. He was originally known as a slick Jiu Jitsu player with an awesome triangle choke.

Simone D’Anna (10-5) is a veteran who trains out of the Aurora MMA team in Rome. The Italian is a very capable grappler who loves ground and pound, and to sink in chokes. The 29-year-old is attack minded and always looks for a finish. He’s won three of his last four. Gianluca Scottoli (9-4) comes from a similar kind of background. The Italian has a neat triangle choke that he’s had success with and his durability has improved in recent years. The 32-year-old is good at guiding to a decision and is a very competent striker. He’s won four of his last five.

Dylan Hazan (10-2) is a former title challenger and one of the men who brought these shows to Rome in the first place. The Bari man had a wonderful flying knee knockout win last July, however his biggest threat is his wrestling. The Aurora MMA man has great takedown success and he’s fantastic at holding you there. He’s very good at making people wilt with his ground and pound. Michelangelo Lupoli (8-4) has won his last two bouts via decision and he’s looking to make a leap forward towards title contention here. The Naples man is a good kickboxer and has the cardio to go at a quick pace over fifteen minutes. He’s more of a decision fighter, and he’ll be hoping to keep this standing and use his work rate as a weapon.

Michael Pagani (7-1) is a Venator veteran who has beaten some pretty good competition on his way to CW. Only Mason Jones has beaten him. The 26-year-old is a quality striker with big power in his hands and is known to throw some flashy techniques. The Brescia man has five knockout victories on his record and will be looking for more of the same. Konstantinos Ntelis (9-3) is a man with a lot of hype behind him and he’s shown a lot of promise despite his young age. The 23-year-old is a fantastic grappler with a great nose for submissions, whether that’s grabbing a leg or an arm and taking it home with him, or sinking in a choke. The Greek has shown leaps in skill in his striking game lately, earning a knockout victory last November with a big right hook.

Giuseppe Mastrogiacomo (6-0) is one of the top prospects out of the Aurora gym in the capital. The Italian has picked up a hat trick of wins so far in CW, and he takes his stiffest test to date. The Rome man has had great success with his striking, proving to be a knockout threat late into fights. Before joining the promotion, he showed his grappling prowess with a pair of submission wins by choke. Aiden Lee (12-9) isn’t really a man you want to be playing around on the floor with. The English veteran is a high level black belt in BJJ, and he’s got eight tap outs on his record. That defence isn’t impervious as he did lose his last one to a rear naked choke in November. The 29-year-old is an LFL and Bellator alumnus, as well as a former CW title challenger. He’s got massive experience, can hang on the feet and can attack a submission from any position.

Manuel De Valle (4-0) is an exciting kind of fighter who has brought great excitement to his CW bouts to date. The Spaniard had a long amateur career before switching to pro, where he remains undefeated. The 27-year-old is fun on the feet and he’ll throw with ill intent, and has a good grappling game to match it. He loves to hit big ground and pound, and he’s got some nice chokes. Marco Doda (5-1) also had a decent amateur career, and he makes his first CW appearance here. The Genova man has a plethora of chokes he uses to get the tap. The 28-year-old earned his shot with an eleven-second knockout a year ago.

Adam Shelley (5-4) looks to get back into the win column after dropping his last two. The Team KF man is a Taekwondo black belt. The Irishman is tall and uses his footwork and movement to control the distance, and has some pop in his punches and kicks. Simone Patrizi (7-3) is the hometown favourite and he’s only lost to top competition. The Aurora MMA man has displayed good wrestling in the past, where he mixes up ground and pound with submission attacks. His striking defence has cost him in the past and he’ll be looking to get this down ASAP.

Orlando Wilson Prins (5-3) is a former title challenger and has won two of his last three. The Dutchman is a very proficient submission player with a nice back take. He’s fun on the feet, throws with a bit of volume and his last win earned him his first knockout. Giuseppe Ruggeri (8-1) is looking to bounce back from his first career loss a year ago. The Rome man has a good wrestling game and he does damage with ground and pound. The 25-year-old is difficult to shift when he gets on top.

Damiano Scogna (4-0-1) is another Aurora MMA prospect, and he looked good in his CW debut last November with a quick rear naked choke win. The 24-year-old is a grappling specialist who routinely gets opponents down to the floor, softens them up with strikes and sinks in the choke. He’s won his last four. Gerasimos Sioutis (5-8) is a competitive veteran whose record isn’t as bad as it looks, winning four of the last six. The Greek is yet to get a finish in pro MMA competition, and he usually prefers to keep things standing where he can use his kickboxing.

Davide Scarano (5-3) could do with a win after only being victorious once in his four CW bouts. That does sound harsh in writing, to be fair, those losses were to Jawany Scott, Connor Wilson and Lone’er Kavanagh. The Turin man is a grappler with a beautiful armbar in his back pocket. Florian Doskja (6-3) was born in Tirana and calls Italy his home. The 33-year-old has an amazing guillotine choke, and he generally has success using his Jiu Jitsu. The Albanian was an IMMAF veteran at amateur level.

Pietro Mochetti (2-2) trains out of the capital and is making his CW debut here. The Italian has a good ground game and is serviceable on the feet. Both career wins have been via decision. Yohan Salvador (4-6) makes his fourth walk for the promotion. The Frenchman is a fun fighter who takes chances. The 30-year-old has an action style and will be looking to push the pace on the feet. Like his opponent, all victories were decisions.

Francesco Tumminiello (debut) is an unknown quantity in MMA, and comes in from the kickboxing world. The Italian was a national champion in K-1, as well as some Mediterranean WAKO titles. Riccardo Sartirana (0-1) has had some pro boxing experience. The 23-year-old was unsuccessful in his pro debut, losing via ground and pound near the end of the first round. Both men make their promotional debuts here.

Niko Ceraglia (2-0) looks to earn his first hat trick of wins in CW. The Italian had a nice knockout victory back in November in his last appearance. The Aurora MMA man is tough and durable, and is good at securing decisions. Mirco Negrisoli (1-1) makes his first CW appearance. The Italian likes to use his striking where he’s got some power. He’s most dangerous after he makes his reads and pushes the pace after the first round.

Kevin Caperna (1-1) makes his promotional debut here. The Italian gets most of his joy in striking exchanges, with his sole victory coming via knockout. Jordan Molinari (1-1) trains out of Next Gen in Liverpool, and is a good allround talent. The Englishman combines a dangerous kickboxing game with slick Jiu Jitsu. He’s got a lot of amateur experience to back up his pro fights.

Cage Warriors 183 is live and exclusive this Saturday on UFC Fight Pass. The action kicks off at 16:00.