AND NEW
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 10, 2020
Jake Hadley dominates his opponent at #CW117 to become the new CW Flyweight Champion. pic.twitter.com/RcjpbzVfYn
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship returned with the first of three consecutive events on Dec. 10.
Starting the second round, the fight slowed in pace but allowed Hadley to showcase his impressive grappling skills. The former Extreme Fighting Championship titleholder scored repeat takedowns and dominated on the ground. Even though Hadley couldn’t stop “The Apocalypse” inside the distance, “White Kong” gave Shanks a taste of his own medicine and became champion after one of the most one-sided fights in Cage Warriors history. The official scorecards read 50-42, 50-45 and 50-44 in favor of Hadley.
After dropping his opponent in the previous round, a combo of knees and punches to the body and head sealed the deal for Sam Creasey at #CW117.
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 10, 2020
Worthy of another title shot?
Watch #CW117 now on @UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/izVeEmmoet
The co-main event saw Sam Creasey (13-3) take on Adam Amarasinghe (6-3) in a 125-pound bout. Creasey’s karate style kept Amarasinghe guessing in the early going, but Amarasinghe was able to retaliate with his wrestling. In the second round, Creasey dropped Amarasinghe with a short right hook, but he could not finish his opponent as “Apex” maintained the clinch for the remainder of the round. Shortly after the midpoint of the third round, Creasey hurt Amarasinghe with a combination of hooks followed by a knee to the body. With Amarasinghe recoiling from his opponent’s shots and falling back into the cage, the referee halted the fight at 2:51 of Round 3. With his win, “Urai” looked towards the title that would be contested in the next bout.
Earlier that night, Michele Martignoni (6-0) defeated Weslley Maia (6-5) by unanimous decision in a bantamweight battle. Maia started strong in the opening stanza and went near to finish his opponent, but “The Italian Thunder” survived and retaliated by controlling his opponent on the canvas in the second and third stanza. Eventually, the Bellator MMA vet took home the first decision victory of his professional career.
Elsewhere, Mehdi Ben Lakhdar (5-0-1) flattened Steve McIntosh (6-2, 1 NC) with a pair of punches at the 4:38 mark in the opening stanza; Aidan Stephen (8-3) prevailed over Emrah Sonmez (11-3) by unanimous decision in a featherweight contest; Michal Figlak (4-0) knocked out Anthony O'Connor (4-4) 17 seconds into Round 2 at lightweight; the card opener saw Adam Cullen (1-0) tap out Oscar Ownsworth (1-2) with a rear-naked choke at 2:53 in the opening stanza.