A new Light Heavyweight king will be crowned as Liam Gittins looks to make the first defence of his Bantamweight title when Cage Warriors descend on the BEC Arena on March 16th.
All athletes successfully made weight ahead of the monster card set to take place in the BEC Arena, tonight.
The promotion kicked their back to back Manchester shows off in style with Cage Warriors 167: Unplugged.
In the main event, Matthew Byfield and Andy Clamp will eventually get to square off, having originally meant to be competing for the strap at Cage Warriors 164 but Byfield had to withdraw through an injury.
The two men are undoubtedly at the top of the promotion's 205lbs division, so it made sense to rebook the matchup at the earliest convenience.
Byfield is unbeaten since signing with Cage Warriors in 2022. After a no contest against Hugo Guillon in his promotional debut, 'Farda' has since ranked up three stoppages victories against Szymon Szynkiewicz, Daniel Ladero and Prince McClean.
Clamp will be looking to right the wrongs of his last performance at the BEC arena, where he was handed only the second loss of his career, in his promotional debut, at Cage Warriors 146. He bounced back into the win column and lived up to 'The Vice' nickname, at Cage Warriors 156, when he beat Ghassan Abdenabi with a first round rear naked choke.
In the co-main event, one of Cage Warriors' biggest rising starts, Luke Riley, will make the walk at the BEC Arena once more, having previously delivered two of the most memorable fights in recent Cage Warriors history, at the venue.
If his current trajectory continues, the Next Generation Featherweight looks set to follow in the footsteps of team mates Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann, in becoming one of the biggest names in UK MMA.
At only 24-years old, Riley has dazzled in the yellow gloves, with his fan friendly style lending itself to incredible fights. Having already starting building a name for himself, having amassed 5 KO/TKO finishes in his first five professional bouts - the Liverpudlian faced Kallum Parker at Cage Warriors 152.
The two went to war over the 15 minute affair, with both men looking in trouble at several points in the bout, only to turn the tides and recover.
Riley was back at the BEC at Cage Warriors 160, when he squared off against fellow unbeaten prospect, Alexander Loof. Much like the Parker contest, neither man took a step back, as they both landed huge shots in the incredibly close encounter. In the third round, Riley heaped the pressure on and forced the finish less than a minute into the round.
The win further confirmed that Riley was the full package. A hard hitter with slick striking and the ability to dig deep when needed. He may need to call upon that again when he faces the vastly more experienced American, John De Jesus, at Cage Warriors 168.
De Jesus currently holds a 3-1 promotional record, with his only loss coming in a razor close split decision against Roberto Hernadez, the man who will challenge Liam Gittins for the Bantamweight title.
The 135lbs title fight will serve as the featured preliminary bout of the evening- with Gittins looking to defend the title he won in emphatic fashion at Cage Warriors 164.
Ending 2021 on a two fight skid, Gittins turned his form entirely on its head. After a unanimous decision win against Edward Walls, the Next Generation man picked up three brutal stoppage victories against Faisal Malik, Rory Evans and Janne Elonen-Kulmala.
This all led to a showdown with Scotsman Reece McEwan for the Bantamweight strap. On his path to the title shot, Gittins had found shown time and time again that his use of elbows and knees can change a fight in an instant and this was on display early in the title bout.
The 'Nightmare' cut McEwan early in the contest with two huge elbows and the Scotsman struggled to recover from them throughout the contest. Gittins dictated the full contest at his pace and cruised to a unanimous decision win.
Now entering his eighth fight with the promotion, you would be forgiven for thinking that Hernandez had been signed with Cage Warriors for some time, but you would be wrong. Having only made his promotional debut in March 2022, 'Green Light' has been exceptionally active and looked very impressive throughout.
After making the walk three times in 2022, and securing 3 wins, the 30-year old competed four times in 2023. The first outing came at Cage Warriors 149 in his split decision win over De Jesus, before going on to beat Moses Diaz and Toby Misech. All of his previous bouts were at 145lbs but Hernandez decided to make the move to Bantamweight and successfully defeated Trevin Jones to secure his shot at the belt.
Elsewhere on the card, James Power returns to British shores and looks to get back to winning ways, having been handed his first professional loss last time out against Michael Pagani.
Adam Cullen also features in a tough Lightweight contest against the unbeaten Harel Cohen. After a shock defeat to Dumitru Girlean at Cage Warriors 152, a much matured and tactical Cullen returned against Amaury Junior to get back in the win column with a first round stoppage.
