Unforgettable.
How did you score it?!#CW128
pic.twitter.com/NHH9HMwaFz— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
October 1, 2021
Proud Irish and French fans packed the York Hall in London for the
second segment of this Cage Warriors Fighting Championship trilogy
series. The CW
128 headliner saw Paul Hughes
(8-1, 5-1 CW) throw down with Morgan
Charriere (16-9-1, 3-3 CW) in a barnburner for the interim
featherweight championship. Both contenders shined brightly in the
first stanza, but the Frenchman scored the more precise shots.
Charriere intelligently protected himself from damage, and ended
the round dramatically with a big judo throw shortly before the
bell. The second round was very close, as the Australian-born
fighter fought off a guillotine choke attempt and retaliated with
crisp punches. Hughes gained momentum after wobbling “The Last
Pirate” with a heavy combination in the third frame. The Fight
Academy Ireland standout dragged his opponent to the canvas, taking
his back and almost ending the fight with a rear-naked choke.
Charriere survived the attempt and made it to the fourth round, but
it was Hughes who dragged the fight back down to the ground.
Hughes’ ground-and-pound caused enough damage as the minutes ticked
by, nearly closing the Frenchman’s right eye with strikes from on
top. The final stanza saw Hughes trying to force a takedown, only
to end up with his back on the mat after a wild scramble. After
fighting back to the feet, Hughes ended the furiously paced fight
by connecting with several elbows from short range. Ultimately, two
of the three cageside judges scored it 49-45 and 48-46 in favor of
Hughes, while the third saw a 47-47 draw, rewarding the fighter out
of Northern Ireland with a majority decision victory and the
interim strap.
One way traffic. Jesse Urholin is a
PROBLEM!Another dominating performance for the Finnish prospect in our
Co-Main Event.Is this the next big name at Welterweight?#CW128
pic.twitter.com/hOwturI9we— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
October 1, 2021
The originally scheduled co-headliner between Jonathan
Bosuku and Will Currie
fell off the card after the Frenchman missed the middleweight
division limit by 8.9 pounds. In the newly promoted co-main event,
Jesse
Urholin (8-0, 2-0 CW) collided with Ioannis
Palaiologos (18-10-1, 0-1 CW) at welterweight. Urholin
overwhelmed his opponent with his impressive grappling skills from
the start and came close to finishing “Greek Emperor” with punches
toward the end of the round. Palaiologos made it to the bell, and
he came out to start the second frame with a powerful kick to the
peninsula south of the equator. The Swede needed ample time to
recover before continuing, but when the action resumed, he
dominated Palaiologos with relentless grappling and
ground-and-pound. Palaiologos threatened off his back with a
kimura, but Urholin pushed through it and battered his foe from
side control, landing a long series of hammerfists until the
referee stopped the fight at 3:36 of Round 2.
Earlier on the card, the highly anticipated 125-pound showdown
between Aurora MMA’s Michele
Martignoni (6-1, 2 NC; 1-1, 1 NC CW) and Adam
Amarasinghe (6-3, 1 NC; 4-3, 1 NC CW) ended anticlimactically
when “Apex” landed an accidental eye poke that prevented Martignoni
from continuing. The second-round no contest from referee Rich
Mitchell was declared at 1:48.
Prior to the eye poke stoppage, Gerardo
Fanny (11-2, 2-1 CW) went to battle with Liam
Gittins (7-3, 3-3 CW) at 130 pounds, and Fanny wiped an
exhausted “Nightmare” out with knees and punches with five seconds
left in the second period; at welterweight, James
Sheehan (3-2, 2-2 CW) edged Omeil Brown
(2-1, 2-1 CW) by a narrow split decision with scores of 29-28,
29-27 and 28-29.
On the preliminary card, Brave Combat Federation alum Aidan James
(5-2, 1-0 CW) hacked Philippe
Rouch (7-5, 0-1 CW) up with elbows to prompt the 66-second
finish in Round 2 at bantamweight; the night began as Luke Riley
(1-0, 1-0 CW) succeeded in his MMA debut by stopping Kamil
Wincenciak (0-1, 0-1 CW) with punches at the 3:39 mark of the
first round in their bantamweight clash.