Cage Warriors returned to London with an incredible comeback from Nathaniel Wood the biggest moment of the evening as he retained his bantamweight title against Welshman Josh Reed.
The main event was billed as “England vs Wales” with unbeaten prospect Josh Reed attempting to grasp the Cage Warriors Bantamweight Title and take it back home down the M4. Nathaniel Wood was looking to make his first defence and potentially earn himself a place in the UFC.
This is the best couple of minutes of MMA I have seen. I highly recommend you sit back, hit the play button and just enjoy it for yourself… but if not, I’ll talk you through the action!
Josh Reed came absolutely flying out of the gate, landing some perfectly timed, and powerful strikes with the champion placed firmly on the back foot. On wobbly legs, backing up against the cage, it seemed as though Nathaniel Wood might just lose his bantamweight title in his first defence.
After some brilliant refereeing from Marc Goddard allowed Nathaniel Wood to stay in the bout, the champion threw a left hand as Reed was teeing off against Wood on the cage. The left connected flush and with one move, the bout had swung in the favour of the Londoner.
Wood span Reed against the cage and continued to apply the pressure before clinching. Two knees followed before Reed valiantly attempted to replicate Wood’s comeback moments earlier but Wood finished him with an array of strikes leaving Reed, somehow still standing but forcing the referee to call and end to this fight.
In just under two and a half minutes, we witnessed Welshman Josh Reed come so close to taking the 135lbs title before having it brutally taken away. Heart was shown by both men, that’s for sure!
In the co-main event, Jamie Richardson gained a big victory over Hakon Foss with a truly brilliant performance. The twenty-two-year-old left his Norwegian opponent slumped on the canvas after a brutal combination followed by a right hand knocked his mouthpiece out.
It leaves Richardson with four consecutive knockout finishes. He will be a marked man after his performance at Cage Warriors 86, that’s for sure.
Sam Creasey obliged with the knock out policy inside the Indigo at the O2 with a first round finish of Romanian Paul Marin. Repeated strikes followed by a straight right from Creasey left his opponent spinning towards the canvas.
Northern Irishman Joe McColgan made it consecutive Cage Warriors victories with a narrow decision victory over Sean Carter. McColgan again showed his improved striking game against the tough and durable Carter.
Carter showed a granite chin, but it was McColgan’s clean and efficient striking which spun the fight in his direction. He moves to 4-1 and will be looking towards a lightweight title bout with champion Chris Fishgold.
Heavyweight Junior Karanta was clearly in a rush, with a nine second knockout of Adel Ghaddou opening the main card proceedings. They even touched gloves in that amount of time!
Karanta walked straight across the cage and landed a body shot on his opponent before a right hand dropped the Frenchman and the Swede rained down strikes forcing a stoppage.
The prelims didn’t see the judges’ scorecards either with three submissions and a knockout leaving fans delighted!
Huge 1st round submission win for Mehdi Saadi 💪
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