Cage Warriors have announced their Prize Fighter semi-final and reserve bouts following the official draw earlier today.
The tournament will see six of their Bantamweight athletes battle it out over one night to become the Cage Warriors Prize Fighter champion and collect a cool $50,000 in the process. The first two fights will serve as the two semi-final contests, with the third bout playing as a reserve contest.
The one night tournament will go down on an already stacked Cage Warriors 174 on July 20th at the Indigo At The O2, with Shaj Haque putting his Flyweight belt on the line against Nicolas Leblond and a Light Heavyweight bout between James Webb and Yannick Bahati as two stand out bouts set for the night.
The first of the semi-finals will play host to a rematch as Shirzad Qadrian faces Weslley Maia. The first time the two met just last year at Cage Warriors 157, in a bout which Maia get his hand raised with a unanimous decision win. The bout was a big step up for Quadrian, who was only 3-0 prior to the contest, as Maia entered the fight 1-2 in his last three. The tension was palpable in the opening round, with the opening two minutes being a mental battle between both men, throwing several feints and trying to get a read on their opponent. Although neither landed anything of significant value, Maia had started chopping away at the lead leg and the reddening was already becoming apparent on the leg of Qadrian. Maia capped off the round in style landing a huge flying knee with just 5 seconds left. The second round played out much like the first, with not a huge volume of strikes from either man but Maia edging it on the feet and doing well to defend several Qadrian take down attempts. Things took a turn when still with three and a half minutes left on the clock in the third round, Quadrian looked as though he was about to eventually secure a meaningful takedown but Maia used his experience to turn the tides once more and finish the third round strong.
In the second semi-final clash, Aidan Stephen will meet Alexandar Loof in what is sure to be a fan friendly bout. With seven stoppage wins between them, there’s a chance that the judges will not be needed in this contest. After just shy of two and a half year away from the sport, ‘The Phenomenal’ returned in front of a home crowd and collected a well worked unanimous decision. Loof’s only other appearance in the yellow gloves still lives in the minds of many MMA fans, with a Cage Warriors 2023 Fight Of The Year against Luke Riley. In an interesting titbit, the two men will be no strangers to eachother, with Stephen having previously fought Loof’s team mate Tobias Harila at Cage Warriors 122.
The reserve contest will be between former Bantamweight champion Michele Martignoni in an all Italian affair against Alessandro Giordano. The winner of the contest between the two will serve as the reserve finalist and will only compete in final if one of the semi-final winners is unable to progress to the final due to injury.
