We go the distance!!#CW122
pic.twitter.com/Y9u6LvNgAy— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
March 20, 2021
The latest installment in the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
“Trilogy” series crowned a new champion.
The Cage
Warriors 122 main event saw Jordan
Vucenic (8-1) dethrone Morgan
Charriere (16-8-1) thanks to a narrow decision at the end of a
featherweight championship encounter at York Hall in London on
Saturday. The challenger looked sharper than the defending champion
from the first frame, attacking “The Last Pirate” with a variety of
punches and continuously switching stances. Charriere didn’t look
impressed by his opponent’s striking, but it took a while before he
got himself out of first gear and began to focus on close-range
combat and wrestling.
“The Last Pirate” looked better in the championship rounds, where
his grinding started paying dividends, coinciding with Vucenic
starting to go low on his energy tank. The last two stanzas were
arguably the most evident rounds in favor of the Frenchman, who
kept Vucenic with his back against the fence for most of the time.
Ultimately, the judges were split, as Jon Hand and David Lethaby
saw a 48-47 score for “The Epidemic,” while Ben Cartlidge scored it
49-46 for Charriere. A very emotional Vucenic took home the split
decision victory and the belt.
JUST LIKE THAT!!!
Dana, Sean, Mick…. The handle is @PaddyTheBaddy
#CW122 pic.twitter.com/KCFUqlHLjQ— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass)
March 20, 2021
In the co-main event, Paddy
Pimblett (16-3) had no difficulties in overcoming Italy’s
Davide
Martinez (8-3) in their 155-pound clash. “The Baddy” returned
to the cage after a one-year hiatus and proved that cage rust is
something that doesn’t concern him. Early on, a head kick from
Pimblett put Martinez on the defensive. The English fighter then
closed the distance and landed a few shots before throwing
“Ispanico” on the mat.
Once on the ground, “The Baddy” took full mount with ease and
secured the position. Martinez attempted his best to escape from
the sticky situation but ended up conceding his back. Sensing that
the end was near, Pimblett put the hooks in and hunted for a
rear-naked choke. The submission attempt was very tight, and the
Italian fighter had to tap after a few seconds. The official time
indicated 1:37 into Round 1.
Elsewhere, Tobias
Harila (9-1) walked through Aidan
Stephen (8-4) with punches after only 74 seconds of their
145-pound encounter; in a bantamweight clash, Brian
Bouland (10-3) stopped Liam
Gittins (6-2) with a couple of perfectly-landed punches at the
0:52 mark in the opening frame and Jean N’Doye (9-2) put Corrin
Eaton (10-4, 1NC) out of his senses with a knee as the official
time indicated 1:30 into Round 2 of the featherweight affair.
In preliminary action, Nathan
Fletcher (5-0) submitted Michele
Martignoni (6-1, 1 NC) with an unexpected rear-naked choke with
only 38 seconds left in the third frame in the bantamweight
division; Yassine
Belhadj (7-3) outpointed Tom Mearns
(6-7) and swept up 29-28 nods from all three judges in the
lightweight division and in a 125-pound clash, Nicolas
Leblond (6-3) landed a perfect two-punch combination that left
Darren O’Gorman (6-6) unconscious at the 3:20 mark of the second
stanza.