Cage Warriors 172 was electric, but the event was particularly special for the new Featherweight champion, Harry Hardwick.
The Middlesborough man claimed the strap at 145lbs with a second round stoppage against Orlando Wilson Prins in the main event of the evening.
Speaking to Fight & Talk post fight, Hardwick expressed his elation of now being the Featherweight champion. He said:
“I’m just buzzing, I am elateded. What a special moment this was. Very few people get to experience what I experienced with the entrance, the actual fight itself, he was giving a bit of jib in there, it was fun, the atmosphere was electric. Then that moment of just soaking it all in afterwards, thinking f**k it, I am just going to jump into the crowd and parade around. I did feel like I ended up stuck up there for a bit like I am not going to lie, I got to a point where I thought ‘ I am not going to be able to make my way back to the cage’ but we got back to the cage and I am just a happy chappy.”
Away from the contest itself, the reception Hardwick received whilst walking to the cage at the Vertu Motors Arena was iconic.
‘I never normally high five people during entrances but I high fived one person really hard so sorry that person. It was special, everything about tonight is something that I will never forget. No amount of punches to the head and CTE is going to make me forget how amazing that night was”
Hardwick claimed gold midway through the second round when a body shot dropped Prins, ‘Houdini’ pounced and got the stoppage following a barrage of strikes.
The fight night delivered on a colossal scale, with 11 of the 12 fights finishing within the distance. In the co main event, James Power stopped Daniel Kolasinski 10 seconds into the second round to become one of the top contenders to face George Hardwick at 155lbs. Kennedy Freeman continued her impressive, flawless record with a third round KO.
Watch the full Hardwick interview below:
