UNBELIVEABLE SCENES IN BELFAST!
Rhys McKee KOs his opponent in the third. We have a new
welterweight champion at
#CW140 pic.twitter.com/Ft8Hmg6zdF— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
June 25, 2022
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The Cage Warriors Fighting Championship welterweight division has a
new kingpin after the promotion’s event at the SSE Arena in
Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday.
In the CW
140 headliner, Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Rhys McKee
and Dana White’s Contender Series vet Justin
Burlinson fought for the vacant 170-pound championship.
Burlinson (7-2, 2-1 CW) put his punches to work early in the
opening frame, mixing his shots with some successful takedowns. On
the canvas, Burlinson’s relentless ground-and-pound opened a deep
cut on his opponent’s forehead. The cageside physician took a close
look at McKee (12-4-1, 5-0 CW), but the action was allowed to
continue into Round 2. McKee had a better second round after taking
advantage of some unfortunate choices by Burlinson, who lost his
dominant position and fought most of the stanza off his back. McKee
landed severe damage on his foe, and this time Burlinson had to
overcome the physician’s examination to see the third period.
The opening seconds in Round 3 were pure madness. Burlinson waged
war on his adversary out of the gate, landing some dirty boxing in
close quarters. McKee backed down against the fence before scoring
with his jab. Burlinson attempted a nice spinning back elbow that
partially landed, followed by a one-two combination from McKee that
put his opponent out on his knees. Referee Daniel Movahedi rushed
to save Burlinson, as the official time of the stoppage indicated
25 seconds into the third period.
Caolan Loughran dominates his opponent for
the TKO finish and the
#CW140 crowd goes wildA huge win for The Don pic.twitter.com/96oqjT12ce
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
June 25, 2022
The co-main event featured a bantamweight clash between Caolan
Loughran and Festus
Ahorlu. Loughran (6-0, 2-0 CW) came close to finishing Ahorlu
in Round 1 after capturing his opponent’s back. While “The Don”
spent most of the time in control of his foe, Ahorlu’s (5-1, 0-1
CW) defense held up to survive until the end of Round 1. In the
second frame, Loughran took Ahorlu down again and quickly trapped
his opponent in a tight Dagestani handcuff. Ahorlu had no choice
but to take his foe’s heavy punches before ultimately conceding his
back. Loughran made the most out of the advantageous spot and
landed some more bombs until referee Declan Larkin was forced to
stop the action at the 3:20 mark.
After a back and forth round one, James
Sheehan overcomes his opponent with strikes to get the finish.What’s next for “Jimbo Slice”?
Watch
#CW140 live on @UFCFightPass
https://t.co/nFDeCTOXWm
SSE Arena, Belfast pic.twitter.com/IBXydrgmcr— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
June 25, 2022
Elsewhere, welterweight James
Sheehan (5-2, 4-1 CW) crushed Martin
Causse (3-2, 1 NC; 0-1 CW) with punches at 1:16 into Round 2;
Italian 145-pounder Federico
Pasquali (7-0-1, 1-0-1 CW) and Harry
Hardwick (8-3-1, 2-0-1 CW) fought to a majority draw (28-28,
28-28, 28-29); Ryan
Shelley (5-0, 3-0 CW) edged Matthew
Elliott (2-1, 1-1 CW) thanks to a controversial split decision
(30-27, 29-28, and 28-29) at featherweight.
Michael “Jaguar” Tchamou silences the crowd
with a HUGE KO at the 30sec mark of round oneThese prelims are
Watch the
#CW140 prelims live on @UFCFightPass
https://t.co/nlA59x8SKK
SSE Arena, Belfast pic.twitter.com/JsLAE3EQ2M— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors)
June 25, 2022
On the preliminary card, Michele
Martignoni (7-1, 2 NC; 2-1, 1 NC CW) dominated Scott
Malone (9-6, 4-5 CW) en route to a unanimous decision victory
(30-26, 30-27, 29-28) in a 132-pound catchweight bout; at
lightweight, James Power
(3-0, 1-0 CW) smashed Adam
Shelley (2-2, 1-1 CW) with punches and knees 4:23 into Round 2;
185-pounder Michael
Tchamou (3-1, 2-1 CW) knocked out Glenn
Irvine (3-4, 0-1 CW) with a hefty combination 30 seconds out of
the gate; Adam Darby
(1-0, 1-0 CW) stopped Dorian
Cliucinicov (2-2, 0-1 CW) with punches with only 31 seconds
left in the opening frame of their 160-pound catchweight clash.