A Bantamweight banger has been added to Cage Warriors return to the English capital with Weslley Maia set to meet Alexander Loof on November 15th.
The pair of hard hitters will lock horns at Cage Warriors 180, on a card that is set to see two title fights; with Bantamweight king Liam Gittins facing PrizeFighter winner Shirzad Qadrian and Andy Clamp hoping to make the first defence of his Light Heavyweight strap in a contest against former Middleweight champion James Webb.
Both Maia and Loof will be sorely disappointed in the fact they are not facing Gittins, with both men having competed in the Bantamweight PrizeFighter tournament earlier this year. After becoming the first man to defeat Qadrian, last year, Maia was drawn against ‘The Lion’ in the opening round of the tournament. As the two met for the second time, it was Qadrian who would control the contest and grind out a unanimous decision win.
This then led to ‘The Lion’ facing Loof in the final. Heading into the tournament, it was widely believed that the Swedishman would walk away as the PrizeFighter winner but Qadrian had other ideas. After a close three rounds, two of the judges scored the contest in favour of Qadrian and Loof was handed only the second loss of his career.
Prior to the tournament, Loof had spent most of his professional career on FCR. He decided to make the move to Bantamweight following his 2023 Cage Warriors Fight Of The Year against Luke Riley. Although he lost, Loof left fans desperate to see him back in the yellow gloves.
In contrast, Maia has spent a large majority of his career under the Cage Warriors banner. Competing seven times, he holds a promotional record of 3-4. Arguably his biggest win to date came away from the Cage Warriors cage, when he handed top Manchester prospect Lewis McGrillen his first defeat in a showcase bout at the 2023 PFL European championship finals.
Prior to the Cage Warriors 180 bout being announced, the promotion revealed both men had penned new multi-fight deals.
