Mick Stanton won the battle of the middleweight grapplers at the BT Sport studios to capture the vacant middleweight title after a grueling back-and-forth war of attrition at Cage Warriors 151 in Stratford, London.
It didn't take long for the action to hit the canvas, as both men scrambled for position. But it was Currie who appeared to be the stronger man, and the 24-year-old achieved top position and bossed the early exchanges on the mat. It was a similar story in Round 2, with Currie all over Stanton, denying the 36-year-old the room to escape. Stanton attempted sweeps and briefly managed to reverse position on a couple of occasions, but Currie swiftly adjusted and returned to a dominant position. But, from the mid-way point in Round 2, Stanton started to gain a foothold in the fight. He briefly saw an opening for a straight armbar, then an Americana, but Currie was wise to the danger and defended well as Stanton looked to wear down the younger fighter to sap his gas tank.
Both men swung for the fences early in Round 3, but a quick shot from Stanton saw the action head to the mat again, but with Currie on top. But, just as he escaped in Round 2, Stanton repeated the same escape in Round 3 as he ended up on top, with a Kimura lock. Once again, Currie stayed calm and managed to escape, but Stanton's constant pressure was giving the younger fighter no room to work as he moved into mount and unloaded strikes on "Drago." Stanton looked to rain strikes down on Currie, who desperately tried to defend off his back as the seconds counted down to end a dominant round for "The Huyton Hammer."
The momentum was clearly with Stanton heading into the championship rounds, and he managed to take Currie to the mat early in the round as he looked to wrestle the life out of Currie's title challenge. But, despite Stanton holding the advantage on the mat, Currie managed to move out of danger and into top position. With the pace of the scrambles understandably slowing, Currie put Stanton on his back and moved to side control, but Stanton managed to roll into mount with 90 seconds to go in the round. Stanton looked to posture up to make space to go for the finish, but Currie held on gamely to nullify him.
It meant the bout headed into the final round, with Currie needing something big to turn the tide, and a big head-kick attempt landed before the pair went to the mat once again. This time it was Currie dictating terms as he looked to work from top position, but Stanton continued to work off his back, throwing up punches and working for sweeps and submissions. Currie then moved to Stanton's back and avoided the same roll-through escape Stanton had succeeded with in the previous two rounds. It looked as if the 24-year-old had learned from the previous rounds, and he unloaded big shots from top position as he dominated the action in the final round. Then, with just 30 seconds remaining, Stanton reversed and ended up in north-south position, but the clock ran out before he could take advantage of the position.
After a grueling war of attrition over five hard-fought rounds, the pair shook hands and bumped fists, neither fully sure who would walk away with the belt. And, when the scores were tallied, it was Stanton who shaded it on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring it 48-47 for the veteran, who claimed the biggest win of his career.
Show 2 recap
The co-main event saw a solid promotional debut for Alberth Dias, who shaded Cage Warriors veteran Steve Aimable over the full three-round duration to claim victory on his first appearance for the UK promotion.
Dias held sway through the opening two rounds and, despite a late rally from Aimable in the third round, ran out the unanimous decision victor with scores of 29-28 on all three scorecards to get his Cage Warriors run off and underway with a win.
The night also saw a decision win for former Cage Warriors lightweight champion Agy Sardari, who returned to the promotion to claim a unanimous decision victory over Spain's Yan Blasco.
Sardari looked comfortable throughout the bout as he consistently beat his man to the punch and forced Blasco onto the back foot for long spells of their bout to earn scores of 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 and snap a two-fight skid under the Cage Warriors banner.
The opening two bouts of Show 2 delivered a pair of impressive finishes as the event delivered seven successive finishes. Show 2 opened with a slick triangle-choke submission for Naglis Kanisauskas, who finished Michael Tchamou in less than a round, while Italy-based Brazilian flyweight Jhonata Silva produced a stunning late knockout to finish Croatia's former flyweight championship challenger Stipe Brcic with a perfectly-timed knee with just 64 seconds remaining in their 125-pound showcase.
Show 1 recap
Show 1 served up a fistful of finishes, with the five bouts producing enough high-octane action to create its own mini-highlight reel.
The night kicked off with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it TKO finish for Sam Kelly, who needed just 10 seconds to finiah Pav Sahota via TKO, while Spain's Ander Sanchez followed up with an impressive-heel-hook submission as he claimed a come-from-behind win over Ryan Hewitt.
The most energetic performance of the night undoubtedly came from Germany's Shawn Da Silva, who danced his way to the cage, and produced a breathless display of wild striking through the opening round before being flash-knocked down by Kiru Singh Sahota in the closing seconds of the opening round. That didn't deter him, however, and he resumed his high-energy performance in Round 2 and connected with big punches as he unloaded a blistering salvo of strikes to force the standing TKO finish before dancing in celebration with his team as James Brown played over the BT Sport studio's speakers.
There was a big win for former middleweight champion Matthew Bonner, who produced a disciplined performance to shut down the grappling attack of Brazilian veteran Guilherme Cadena before finishing his man with heavy ground and pound for a first-round TKO victory. And the featured bout of Show 1 saw Birmingham light heavyweight Matty Byfield pick up an impressive victory as he showed calmness and composure en route to a second-round rear-naked choke submission win over American Prince McLean.
Cage Warriors 151: Official results
SHOW 2
- Mick Stanton def. Will Currie via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) – for vacant middleweight title
- Alberth Dias def. Steve Aimable via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Agy Sardari def. Yan Blasco via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jhonata Silva def. Stipe Brcic via knockout (knee) – Round 3, 3:56
- Naglis Kanisauskas def. Michael Tchamou via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:21
SHOW 1
- Matty Byfield def. Prince McLean via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:50
- Matthew Bonner def. Guilherme Cadena via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:54
- Shawn Da Silva def. Kiru Singh Sahota via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:06
- Ander Sanchez def. Ryan Hewitt via submission (heel hook) – Round 2, 4:36
- Sam Kelly def. Pav Sahota via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 0:10
