Christian Leroy Duncan with the flying Knee
KO! 🔥
Incredible scenes at
#CW136, a new middleweight champ is crowned!!#AndNew
pic.twitter.com/I0DtGxIPUl— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
April 2, 2022
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship put on a serious Event of
the Year candidate for its latest card at BEC Arena in Manchester,
England, concluding with all 13 bouts ending before the final
horn.
The main attraction at CW
136 was a middleweight championship affair between defending
titleholder Djati Melan
and Christian
Leroy Duncan. Things appeared to be going the champion’s way as
Melan (8-1, 2-1 CW) secured an excellent takedown early in the
first frame and kept the challenger on the ground for almost the
whole round before Duncan made his way up on the feet. The
situation changed in the following stanza as Duncan pushed forward
right out of the gate. The Englishman looked more at ease in
hitting his adversary with a variety of punches and kicks. In turn,
Melan seemed to have some vision issues after losing contact lenses
in both eyes.
Duncan took the match’s fate into his own hands right out of the
gate in Round 3. The challenger’s striking put endangered Melan,
who struggled to see where the shots were coming from. Shortly
before the one-minute mark, Duncan teased his foe with an ax kick
before rushing for a flying left knee that hit its mark and
immediately dropped Melan, who covered his head as his opponent
finished the job with a couple of hammerfists. Referee Mark Goddard
officially stopped the action after 48 seconds of the third period,
allowing Duncan to take home the 185-pound championship.
In the co-headliner, Aaron Aby
relied on takedowns and relentless pressure to submit Gerardo
Fanny. Fanny (11-3, 2-2 CW) moved the action to the floor early
in Round 1, but Aby (13-4-1, 2-1 CW) fought his way on top. Once he
pinned his opponent with his back on the floor, Aby kept scoring
punches from above and worked to improve his position, ending the
frame in full mount. The fighters spent a couple of minutes on the
feet in the second stanza before Aby pulled guard, managing to
reverse position a few seconds later. Once he regained the
favorable spot, the Welshman landed more punishment on his helpless
foe. In Round 3, Fanny scored with solid punches before Aby
voluntarily went to the canvas once again. This time, Fanny seized
his opponent’s back and quickly switched to an armbar. Aby survived
the challenging situation only to capture his adversary’s back in
his turn and lock a tight rear-naked choke attempt that forced the
Dutchman to tap. Eventually, Aby secured the victory at the 2:25
mark.
Adam Cullen needed just 15secs to secure the
W 😧
He scorched his opponent! And with style points 🔥#CW136
pic.twitter.com/YCAOgYlqWW— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
April 2, 2022
Earlier, Adam Cullen
(4-0, 4-0 CW) cracked El Hadji
Ndiaye (4-1, 0-1 CW) with punches in a mere 14 seconds into
their lightweight affair; 135-pounder Reece
McEwan (4-1, 1-0 CW) forced Sam Spencer
to tap thanks to a rear-naked choke at the 4:33 mark of Round 3;
Luke
Riley (3-0, 3-0 CW) demolished Jack Eglin
(2-1, 0-1 CW) with punches with only 16 seconds left in the second
frame of their bantamweight battle.
🔥 🤯 Manny Akpan
WITH A HIGHLIGHT REEL KO!
A crazy back and forth fight ends in stunning fashion at
#CW136. pic.twitter.com/vkVB9pBVKI— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
April 2, 2022
In the featured middleweight preliminary clash, Mick
Stanton (8-6, 6-5 CW) wrecked Alexis
Fontes (4-2, 0-1 CW) with punches (Punches) at 1:28 of the
third stanza; Aleksi
Mantykivi (14-7, 1-3 CW) demolished Jeanderson
Castro (4-6, 0-1 CW) with an overhand that halted the 165-pound
catchweight battle at the 2:27 mark in Round 2; Liam Molloy
(3-2, 1-1 CW) defeated Ben Rees (3-5,
1-3 CW) with punches 26 seconds out of the gate in their
featherweight encounter; Manny Akpan
(4-1, 3-1 CW) knocked out Connor
Hitchens (6-2, 0-1 CW) thanks to a spectacular spinning wheel
kick that ended the 145-pound contest at 4:36 of Round 2; Italian
flyweight fighter Dylan Hazan
(8-0, 3-0 CW) forced Raymison
Bruno (12-4, 1NC; 0-1 CW) into retirement at the end of the
first frame; Jan
Quaeyhaegens (9-4, 2-1 CW) crushed Kieran
Lister (7-3-2, 1-3-1 CW) with punches at the 3:08 mark of Round
3 at lightweight; in a 175-pound catchweight, Chasen
Blair (1-0, 1-0 CW) stopped Rickie
Moore (0-1, 0-1 CW) via TKO (Punches) at 2:47 of the opening
frame; middleweight Michael
Tchamou (2-1, 1-1 CW) smashed Piotr
Chmielecki (5-2, 0-1 CW) with punches at the 1:35 mark of the
first stanza.