Cage Warriors 174: Qadrian wins PrizeFighter, Vucenic makes statement at 155

Cage Warriors’ latest event in London delivered an absolutely packed night of fights as the promotion crowned their first-ever PrizeFighter winner, and saw one of their biggest stars continue to build a strong case for a shot in the UFC.

PrizeFighter crowns new bantamweight contender

The event was dominated by the introduction of Cage Warriors’ PrizeFighter, a series of six-man, one-night tournaments that will crown a number-one contender while also awarding the winner a cool $50,000.

Saturday night saw the bantamweight division take centre stage, as Shirzad Qadrian won his way through his semi-final, then defeated hard-hitting Swede Alexander Loof in the final to win the tournament.

The tournament itself began earlier in the night with the two semi-finals and the reserve bout. The latter contest delivered a wild back-and-forth war between fellow Italians Michele Martignoni and Alessandro Giordano.

Former bantamweight champion Martignoni was looking to position himself for a shot at the belt he never lost in the cage, but found himself outgunned on the night by Giordano, who kept pace with “Italian Thunder” throughout the bout before punishing Martignoni for a late takedown attempt by snatching up a guillotine choke in the final minute of the sudden-victory round to put himself in the reserve spot for the final, should either of the semi-final winners fail to be medically cleared to compete.

Unfortunately for Giordano, he wasn’t called upon, as Qadrian and Loof made it through their respective semi-final matchups to set up a mouth-watering finale.

Qadrian went back and forth over three tightly-contested rounds with old rival Weslley Maia. Again, a sudden victory round was needed after the pair couldn’t be separated on the scorecards after two rounds, and it was Qadrian’s wrestling and positional control that proved decisive as he bossed the exchanges on the mat in the third frame to earn his spot in the final.

Loof’s path to the final was somewhat more straightforward, as he showcased his vaunted punch power en route to a straightforward unanimous decision win over Aidan Stephen after two rounds.

It looked like Loof might get the job done inside the distance as he dropped and hurt the Scot with some heavy shots during the bout, but Stephen hung tough and managed to make it to the end of the second round.

But there were no doubts over who had won the bout at that stage, with Loof getting his hand raised to send him through to the final.

The final itself was a real clash of styles, and it was Qadrian’s wrestling-heavy approach that prevailed, as he effectively shut down Loof’s high-impact striking game to win the final in relatively straightforward fashion.

Slightly strangely, one judge actually scored the bout 29-28 to Loof, but the other two scorers saw the bout as most others did, by giving Qadrian all three rounds, as the youngest fighter in the tournament ended up winning the whole thing. He’ll now bank the $50,000 and look forward to a title shot at reigning Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Liam Gittins later this year.

Jordan Vucenic shows his class, calls for UFC shot

The night’s co-main event saw Jordan Vucenic showcase his dangerous submission skills as he finished Poland’s Adrian Kepa with a lightning-quick guillotine choke just 82 seconds into their 159-pound catchweight bout.

Unable to get more opposition at featherweight, Vucenic opted to move up to lightweight to test the waters in the 155-pound division and potentially put himself in position for a short-notice UFC call-up at lightweight. And his bout with Kepa showed just how quickly he can take an opportunity when it’s presented to him.

After a brief feeling-out process, Kepa shot in for a takedown, and Vucenic struck, locking up a tight guillotine choke and forcing the quick tap mere moments after Kepa had decided to take his ill-advised shot.

It was quick, slick, and decisive, and showed once again that Vucenic is ready for his shot on the big stage – a point he made to the Cage Warriors social media team while returning backstage after his victory.

Also on the main card…

Also on the night there were victories for former middleweight champion James Webb, who defeated Adam Bieganski after moving up to light heavyweight, and Nik Bagley, who submitted Ryan Shelley mid-way through the first round of their featherweight contest.

Flyweights Jawany Scott and Ger Harris produced one of the most technically impressive matchups of the night, with Scott taking the win via split decision after a super-competitive three rounds.

And the main card opener saw Milad Ahady improve his record to 8-1 with a unanimous decision victory over Thomas Paull in their featherweight bout.

Preliminary card highlights

There was plenty to entertain the fans on the prelims, too. In addition to the PrizeFighter semi-finals and reserve bout, we saw a four consecutive finishes in a spectacular run of action.

Returning welterweight Craig Edwards kicked off the chaos with a blistering finish of Italy’s Sergio Gavinelli, while Gheorghe Grozav showcased his slick submission skills to force the tap from Tommy Brunning, courtesy of a Kimura.

Rafael Aronov briefly silenced the Indigo with a dramatic come-from-behind arm-triangle choke finish of Jamie Richardson in their welterweight matchup.

And English bantamweight prospect Jimmy Quinn delivered another highlight-reel finish as he knocked out Spain’s Imad Bouamri with a stunning flying knee and follow-up punches to move his promising career to 3-1.

Cage Warriors 174: Official results

MAIN CARD

• Shirzad Qadrian def. Alexander Loof via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27) – PrizeFighter bantamweight final
• Jordan Vucenic def. Adrian Kepa via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:22
• Jawany Scott def. Ger Harris via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• James Webb def. Adam Bieganski via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Nik Bagley def. Ryan Shelley via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:28
• Milad Ahady def. Thomas Paull via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Jimmy Quinn def. Imad Bouamri via knockout (flying knee and punches) – Round 1, 1:01
• Rafael Aronov def. Jamie Richardson via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:21
• Gheorghe Grozav def. Tommy Brunning via submission (Kimura) – Round 1, 4:13
• Craig Edwards def. Sergio Gavinelli via TKO (elbow and punches) – Round 1, 0:47
• Alexander Loof def. Aidan Stephen via unanimous decision (20-28, 20-17, 20-17) – PrizeFighter bantamweight semi-final
• Shirzad Qadrian def. Weslley Maia via unanimous decision (sudden victory round) – PrizeFighter bantamweight semi-final
• Alessandro Giordano def. Michele Martignoni via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:33 – PrizeFighter bantamweight reserve bout

EARLY PRELIMS

• Rhi-Rhi Hudson def. Jennifer Trioreau via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:13
• Jordan Little vs. Daniel Crooks-May ruled a no contest (illegal knee) – Round 2, 4:04
• Eimear Darcy def. Camilla Bergstrom via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:45
• Giacomo Michelis def. Mush Aslani via TKO (punches) – ROund 2, 1:35
• Nicolas Leblond def. Gerasimos Sioutis via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Francesco Mazzeo def. Vanderlei Junior via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:37
• Matthew Elliott def. Luca Borando via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:24