Former UFC flyweight title challenger Wilson Reis joins a list of fighters who have been signed to Cage Warriors’ growing roster of fighters.
Brazilian Reis, who unsuccessfully challenged then-UFC champ Demetrious Johnson in April 2017, first fought under the Cage Warriors banner back in December 2012, and most recently earned a victory over former Bellator athlete Jeremiah Labiano at Cage Warriors 133 in San Diego in March.
Now Reis has put pen to paper on a contract with the promotion, where he’ll look to build on his 25-12 record and eventually challenge for the flyweight title currently held by Sam Creasey.
Joining Reis on the Cage Warriors roster is a quartet of European-based talent, led by former Bellator lightweight Gavin Hughes, who said he was looking forward to competing for the renowned UK-based promotion.
“There has been a lot of success from Liverpool with Cage Warriors and I plan on being the next Scouser to take that lightweight belt,” he said.
Also signed to Cage Warriors are Dutch featherweight Orlando Prins, Romanian bantamweight Bogdan Barbu and London-baed Ghanaian bantamweight Festus Ahorlu.
Wilson Reis, Gavin Hughes, Festus Ahorlu, Orlando Prins and Bogdan Barbu have all penned multi-fight deals with Europe’s leading MMA organisation.
In addition to the five new signings, Cage Warriors also announced former middleweight champion Matt Bonner has also signed a contract extension with the promotion.
Bonner was one of the promotion’s breakout stars during the pandemic as he won four fights in nine months to capture the middleweight title, but he lost his belt to Frenchman Djati Melan in December 2021.
Now Bonner is transitioning from middleweight to welterweight and so far this year he has fought twice – and won twice – in 177-pound catchweight bouts as he looks to position himself for a shot at the 170-pound title currently held by Rhys McKee later this year.
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A Bantamweight banger has been added to Cage Warriors return to the English capital with Weslley Maia set to meet Alexander Loof on November 15th. The pair of hard hitters will lock horns on at Cage Warriors 180, on a card that is set to see two title fights with Bantamweight king Liam Gittins facing PrizeFighter winner Shirzad Qadrian and Andy Clamp hoping to make the first defence of his Light Heavyweight strap in a contest against former Middleweight champion James Webb. Both Maia and Loof will be sorely disappointed in the fact they are not facing Gittins, with both men having competed in the Bantamweight PrizeFighter tournament earlier this year. After becoming the first man to defeat Qadrian, last year, Maia was drawn against ‘The Lion’ in the opening round of the tournament. As the two met for the second time, it was Qadrian who would control the contest and grinded out a unanimous decision win. This then led to ‘The Lion’ facing Loof in the final. Heading into the tournament, it was widely believed that the Swedishman would walk away as the PrizeFighter winner but Qadrian had other ideas. After a close three rounds, two of the judges scored the contest in favour of Qadrian and Loof was handed only the second loss of his career. Prior to the tournament, Loof had spent most of his professional career on FCR. He decided to make the move to Bantamweight following his 2023 Cage Warriors Fight Of The Year against Luke Riley. Although he lost, Loof had fans desperate to see him back in the yellow gloves. In contrast, Maia has spent a large majority of his career under the Cage Warriors banner. Competing seven times, he holds a promotional record of 3-4. Arguably his biggest win to date came away from the Cage Warriors cage, when he handed top Manchester prospect Lewis McGrillen his first defeat in a showcase bout at the 2023 PFL European championship finals. Prior to the Cage Warriors 180 bout being announced, the promotion revealed both men had penned new multi-fight deals with the promotion.
