The first of our British MMA double header sees us taking a look at the latest offering from the Cage Warriors promotion. We’re going to take a look at their most recent show, which saw them heading to Bahrain for Fight Night 6, shown this past Tuesday night on Sky Sports here in Britain.
The broadcast began with the main event as Jesse Taylor challenged Gael Grimaud for the Welterweight title.
Ground fighting was the order of the day in this one. Taylor scored with the takedown early in the first round, and from there we saw a great back and forth encounter as both fighters jockeyed for position.
Taylor’s best work came in the second round when he dominated the champion, relentlessly going for a rear naked choke which Grimaud managed to survive.
But just when it looked as if Taylor would continue with his great work into the third round Grimaud took control, taking Taylor’s back. He went for a rear naked choke which Taylor managed to escape from, only to end up in an armbar. Taylor tapped in seconds, giving Grimaud the title retaining submission win.
Then it was down to the featherweight division as Jim Alers faced Matteus Lahdesmaki.
These two began swinging for the fences early on, but it wasn’t long before they took the fight to the ground where we saw an excellent display of ground fighting as both men went for submissions holds.
It was pretty much the same in the second round until Alers rocked his man with a big right. Lahdesmaki wobbled before the fight went to the ground again. Alers proceeded to tie his man up in the crucifix position before unleashing with the ground and pound, and with Lahdesmaki in no position to defend himself the referee stepped in to give Alers the impressive TKO win.
Lightweight action followed as Ivan Buchinger took on Diego Gonzalez.
After two great grappling battles we were treated to an excellent display of striking.
It began quite slowly as both fighters test the waters, but as soon as Buchinger connected with his first spinning back fist he took control. Gonzalez was in some trouble towards the end of the first and was only saved by the bell after Buchinger dropped him to his knees.
The victory came soon enough though. Buchinger dropped Gonzalez with a quick combination, the referee quickly stepping in as he went for the kill to give him the TKO win.
It was up to heavyweight for the next fight as Eddy Bengtsson went up against Jay Mortimore.
Bengtsson scored with the takedown as soon as the fight began and controlled the action throughout, moving form half guard to the back to the mount before getting the submission by smothering his man with his chest, a rather unusual submission and something I’ve never seen before.
The final fight of the broadcast featured middleweight action as Tomas Penz faced John Phillips.
Phillips began his night’s work by unloading with the heavy leather, which Penz countered with a takedown. We then saw some excellent back and forth grappling as both men put on a great display.
It was pretty much the same in the next round, but this time Phillips had more success on the ground, almost getting the win with a rear naked choke before finally making his man tap with a triangle choke.
In conclusion – they’ve done it once again. The latest offering from Cage Warriors is another great advertisement for British mixed martial arts. From top to bottom every fight delivered.
Although there were many close contenders my fight of the night would have to go to the exciting Tomas Penz/John Phillips encounter. The editors certainly saved the best for last with this one.
So with that being said there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s to give Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 the big thumbs up.
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