Saturday night proved to be a monumental night in the career of Shirzad Qadrian.
‘The Lion’ was crowned the Cage Warriors PrizeFighter winner, defeating both Weslley Maia and Alexander Loof on the same night at Cage Warriors 174.
Not only did the unanimous decision win against Maia bout book Qadrian’s place in the final but also avenged the only loss of his career. Heading into the tournament, Loof was considered by many, including current Bantamweight champion Liam Gittins, to be the favourite. Although he was pushed all the way throughout their 15 minute contest, Qadrian ultimately done enough to take the contest via a split decision.
Following the tournament, Qadrian spoke to Edith Labelle and admitted that as good as it was to claim the prize money, the guaranteed title shot means more to ‘The Lion’ than anything else. He said:
“(It feels) Amazing! 50G's baby. That was good money, good opportunity, but I am more happy for the title fight because obviously, I am the best in the world, so I want my belt. I promised the London people is going to come back to the home.”
When asked if he had a message for the current champion, the 23 year old was respectful but gave a clear message to Gittins.
“I have big respect for you, champion. I have big respect for you, for your gym, for everything but this is my belt. I am coming for you because the belt is from London, not from Manchester, I am coming. “
The two fights in one night was always going to be a tough task for those competing. It was made even tougher for Qadrian, as he revealed he picked up an injury in the first fight,
“In the first fight, when I fought Weslley Maia, I think I broke it but I said ‘Okay, I don’t need one hand’ and like I say let’s make the history, and I am history so I can wrestle people with one hand and everyone saw what I can do with one hand so think about what I can do with two hands! Let’s f***ing go!”
In preparation for the PrizeFighter tournament, Qadrian spent time in Dagestan training with one of the best to ever compete in Khabib Nurmagomedov. ‘The Lion’ plans on spending some of his $50,000 prize money on getting back out to Russia and spending more time under the tutelage of the former UFC champion.
“100%. I mean, the Khabib team, if I don’t go back there, Khabib will come here and kill me! I love training with the guy. I say this every time, he is the best, killers and I love it.”
