Cage Warriors featherweight champion Harry Hardwick entered the arena to Spandau Ballet’s classic anthem “Gold” and finished the night singing the same song as he retained his title in style with a fourth-round stoppage of Brazil’s Keweny Lopes at Cage Warriors 181 in Newcastle.
Lopes arrived in Newcastle on an 11-fight win streak, but despite a high-octane start to the fight, he had no answer for Hardwick, who weathered the early storm, broke down his opponent, then finished him with strikes in the fourth round to cap off a superb night of fights at the Vertu Motors Arena.
Ain’t no show like a Harry Hardwick show 😉#CW181 pic.twitter.com/70B9Q9HTBJ
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 23, 2024
Lopes started fast and had the champion on the back foot early with wild flurries of strikes that left Hardwick with a cut over his right eye. But, as the round wore on, Hardwick appeared to have weathered the storm and began to make his own strikes pay.
That striking success continued early into the second round as Hardwick caught the Brazilian square and dropped him to one knee in the opening seconds of the round. It showed that, while Hardwick may not have been loading up with full power on his punches, he was doing enough to hurt Lopes, whose nose was streaming blood as Hardwick took him to the mat.
With Lopes seemingly struggling to deal with Hardwick on the mat, the champion took the Brazilian’s back, locked up a body triangle to control the challenger’s position, and set to work in search of a rear-naked choke finish.
The Brazilian’s hand fighting, coupled with his bleeding nose, made life tricky for Hardwick as he hunted the finish. But, with the Englishman repeatedly hammering the challenger with shots the opening finally came and Hardwich went all out for the choke, but a combination of the slipperiness of his opponent, plus Lopes’ toughness, ensured the bout went to the third round.
If Hardwick was close to a finish at the end of Round 2, he got even closer as the horn sounded at the end of Round 3. After the pair grappled on the mat in the early part of the round, Hardwick managed to get top position on Lopes in the final moments of the round and hammered the Brazilian with strikes. With referee Rich Mitchell warning Lopes to move, the Brazilian did just enough to avoid a TKO stoppage as the horn saved the challenger for the second time in successive rounds.
Harry Hardwick is relentless 😮💨 Not an inch of space for his opponent to escape.
He successfully retains his Featherweight Championship in Newcastle 👏#CW181 pic.twitter.com/blkVj1GTeV— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 23, 2024
With the bout heading into the championship rounds, Hardwick was clearly on top. Some solid strikes had Lopes hurt early. And, with the Brazilian not throwing anything back as the champion poured on the pressure, referee Mitchell decided he’d seen enough and stepped in to wave off the bout.
An elated Hardwick charged out of the cage and celebrated with the crowd before eventually returning for the official verdict, as he claimed the fourth-round TKO finish to retain his title in fine style.
Freeman stops Carmona to capture vacant women’s bantamweight crown
Portugal’s Carmona proved to be a tricky opponent for Freeman through the first two rounds, as she looked to shut down Freeman’s striking by closing the distance and engaging her in wrestling exchanges. And, although she struggled to get Freeman to the mat, her work effectively reduced the amount of shots she had to take from the heavy-handed English contender.
After two tightly-contested rounds, Freeman put her foot to the gas in Round 3 as she walked down Carmona and hammered her with multi-punch combinations, with two particular flurries looking close to forcing a TKO stoppage. But Carmona gamely stayed in the fight to take the bout into the championship rounds.
Freeman stayed on the front foot through Round 4 as she exerted controlled pressure on Carmona, walking her down methodically and scoring with heavy strikes. Carmona attempted to fire back, and shot for a couple of takedowns, but her strikes, and her takedown attempts, didn’t have the same pep as in the first two rounds, and Freeman easily shrugged them off.
And, after the fighters returned to their stools at the end of the fourth round, Carmona looked broken and bereft of ideas. Her coach spoke to her before turning to referee Dan Movahedi and telling him to wave the fight off.
🤩 Kennedy Freeman has done it! The NEW Cage Warriors Bantamweight Champion 👑
Domination from bell to bell, forcing her opponent’s corner to throw in the towel at the end of round 4 👏#CW181 pic.twitter.com/TM9WCCOfTc— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 23, 2024
It meant an emotional Freeman earned the fourth-round TKO finish, and captured the vacant bantamweight title as a result.
English contenders claim hard-earned victories
The main card in Newcastle also saw two other English stars claim stoppage victories as they edged closer to title shots in their respective weight classes.
🪓 The King of Violence does it again! James Power gets another incredible KO 💥
Absolutely vicious striking from one of Europe’s top lightweights👏#CW181 pic.twitter.com/QEnGdtSIiC— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 23, 2024
James Power fended off a grapple-heavy attack from Italian contender Dumitru Girlean before knocking him out with a short elbow in their lightweight matchup, while Justin Burlinson completed a remarkable career comeback with a submission finish of Swedish contender Theodor Berggren.
Burlinson battled back from injury and testicular cancer earlier in the year. And, after getting the all clear, he returned to action in Newcastle and submitted Berggren with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their welterweight matchup.
🛑 You just can’t stop Justin Burlinson, he would not be denied!
What a fight and what a incredible display of MMA 👏📺 Watch #CW181 live on @UFCFightPass
🔗 https://t.co/Nb53jfXAwy
📍 Newcastle, England pic.twitter.com/HrLGBcjpmI— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 23, 2024
Rising star adds to his resume with stoppage win
The main card also saw another victory for rising Scottish star Sean Clancy Jr. who stopped Brazil’s Andrey Augusto with a nasty body shot early in the third round of their welterweight contest.
Sean Clancy Jr hands his opponent his first KO lost 💥
BIG power from the 21 year old prospect 🏴 Welterweights, take notice 👀Watch #CW181 live on @UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/eUDF9jurvG
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 23, 2024
Cage Warriors 181: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Harry Hardwick def. Keweny Lopes via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 1:04 – for featherweight title
- Kennedy Freeman def. Mafalda Carmona via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 3, 5:00– for vacant women’s bantamweight title
- Justin Burlinson def. Theodor Berggren via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:44
- James Power def. Dumitru Girlean via knockout (elbow) – Round 2, 2:08
- Sean Clancy Jr. def. Andrey Augusto via knockout (body shot) – Round 3, 1:23
- Charles Joyner vs. Yannick Bahati ruled a split draw (technical decision) – Round 3, 2:54
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Daniel Konrad def. Aiden Lee via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:52
- Bailey Gilbert def. Alberth Dias via unanimous decision
- Leon Armes def. Michal Folc via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:41
- Qendrim Pallata def. James Dixon via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 2:12
- Michael Tchamou def. Delmar Silva via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:20
