Christian Leroy Duncan Retains 185-lb Title, Jim Wallhead Crowned at CW 146

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship’s return to Manchester saw
11 finishes on a 14-bout card.

In the CW
146 headliner, Christian
Leroy Duncan notched his first middleweight championship
defense after vanquishing Marian
Dimitrov. Duncan (7-0, 7-0 CW) showcased composure and good
striking skills, putting his adversary through difficulty on
different occasions. In turn, Dimitrov (10-3, 0-1 CW) looked for a
knockout blow that never came, even though he clipped Duncan a few
times. Right before the end of the opening period, Duncan came up
with a well-timed spinning-back elbow that visibly shook Dimitrov.
Smelling blood, Duncan pushed forward with heavy strikes and
dropped his Bulgarian opponent on the canvas. Referee Rich
Mitchell jumped in to save Dimitrov as the official time
indicated four seconds left in Round 1.

🤯 JUDO JIMMY WITH A HUGE KO! 💥
Jim
Wallhead is the interim Cage Warriors Welterweight Champ 🏆

#CW146 pic.twitter.com/IHR28A7IcJ

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
November 12, 2022

In the co-feature,
Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Jim
Wallhead captured the interim 170-pound championship thanks to
a first-round knockout over Mateusz
Figlak. Wallhead (33-11, 13-6 CW) was never in trouble, keeping
his opponent at distance while looking for an opening to unload his
well-known power. The perfect occasion came when “Judo” connected
with a nice two-punch combination that immediately put Figlak on
his back. Figlak (7-2, 4-2 CW) capitulated 99 seconds into the
opening frame.

Elsewhere, 205-pounder Chuck
Campbell (5-1, 1 NC; 2-0 CW) battered Andrew
Clamp (11-2, 1 NC, 0-1 CW) with punches at 4:35 in Round 1;
Stipe
Brcic (11-3, 1-1 CW) outclassed Aaron Aby
(13-6-1, 2-3 CW) en route to a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28) at flyweight; welterweight Adam Cullen
(6-0, 6-0 CW) demolished Martin
Causse (3-3, 1 NC; 0-2 CW) with punches and elbows at 4:05 in
Round 1; Luke Riley
(5-0, 5-0 CW) scored his fifth finish after overcoming Karol
Kutyla (6-5, 0-1 CW) with punches at 2:01 in the opening frame
at featherweight; the 145-pound bout between Antonio
Sheldon (5-3-1, 0-1-1 CW) and Jordy
Bakkes (5-2-1, 0-0-1 CW) ended with a rare split draw (29-27,
28-29, 28-28); at bantamweight, Sam Kelly
(3-1, 1-0 CW) choked out Jack Eglin
(2-2, 2-2 CW) thanks to a guillotine-choke maneuver at 1:31 of the
second period.

In preliminary action, former 145-pound title challenger James
Hendin (7-2, 6-2 CW) tapped Araik
Margarian (25-12, 0-1 CW) via rear-naked choke at 2:48 in
Round; Lukasz
Kopera (11-7, 1-1 CW) submitted Aaron
Johnson (7-3, 0-1 CW) thanks to a slick heel hook at 3:42 of
Round 3 at lightweight; Reece
McEwan (5-2, 2-1 CW) forced Teodoro
Scolieri (3-3-1, 0-1 CW) to tap due to a guillotine choke at
4:05 in Round 2 of their 145-pound clash; featherweight Samuel Bark
(6-1, 2-0 CW) crushed Manny Akpan
(4-2, 3-2 CW) with a knee-punches combination TKO at 2:50 in Round
2; Milad Ahady
(5-1, 2-0 CW) upended Tom Mearns
(9-8, 4-6 CW) on all scorecards (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at
featherweight; 145-pounder Liam
Gittins (9-4, 7-4 CW) defeated Faisal
Malik (5-1, 0-1 CW) with punches at 3:53 in Round 1.