Mick Stanton Outpoints Will Currie, Captures Middleweight Title at CW 151

Aaaaaand NEWWWWWWW Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion -
Mick "The Huyton Hammer" Stanton #CW151 pic.twitter.com/0mYJYH5wQo

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 24, 2023

The fourth Cage Warriors Fighting Championship Unplugged event saw the coronation of Mick Stanton as the new middleweight king.

Stanton’s stalwart defense kept Will Currie at bay in the CW 151 headliner. Currie (9-3, 5-3 CW) relied heavily on takedowns to move the action to his world, where he overwhelmed his opponent from every position and dominated the first two stanzas. While “Drago” accumulated ample control time, Stanton (11-7, 8-5 CW) was the one who accumulated more damage while attacking with occasional submission attempts. In Round 3, “The Huyton Hammer” reversed his opponent in a remarkable keylock attempt. Even though it wasn’t successful, the effort gave Stanton the boost he needed to end the frame on top, pummeling his adversary until the bell rang.

In the championship rounds, Stanton’s confidence grew as he landed an early single-leg takedown in the fourth round. After a a scrambling exchange, Stanton secured mount and spent most of the round punishing Currie from there. Currie bounced back in the final round with plenty of hammerfists and ground-and-pound, looking very eager to stop his foe. In the heat of the action, referee Rich Mitchell delivered a stern warning after Currie landed repeated shots to the back of the head in the heat of battle. With one final push, Stanton reversed the position and ended the battle on top of his foe. After full 25 minutes, the judges issued three 48-47 scorecards for the victor, Stanton.

Relentless calf kicks and an educated jab led Bellator MMA alum Alberth Dias to a unanimous decision win over veteran Steve Aimable in the co-headliner. Dias (6-3, 1-0 CW) showed he was focused on taking home the victory, constantly pressuring Aimable (18-10, 8-7 CW) in the first two periods. The leg kicks, coupled with quick, straight strikes, showed some appreciable damage, including marking up Aimable’s right eye. An inadvertent eye poke from the Brazilian severely impacted “Diddy Kong,” who needed a few minutes to recover. Aimable tried valiantly to push the pace in the third frame, arguably the best one for the Englishman, but it was too late. When the dust settled, the cage announcer revealed Dias took home the decision with matching 29-28 tallies from all three judges.

THAT, is all she wrote... #CW151 pic.twitter.com/xZCnZwu6Aq

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 24, 2023

Earlier on the billing, former lightweight kingpin Agy Sardari (16-4, 3-2 CW) outclassed Samuel Blasco (9-10, 0-1 CW) en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28); Jhonata Silva (8-1, 1-0 CW) put Stipe Brcic (11-4, 1-2 CW) away with a knee and punch combination at 3:36 of the third stanza in their 125-pound tilt; middleweight Naglis Kanisauskas (6-2, 1-1 CW) tapped Michael Tchamou (3-3, 2-3 CW) with a triangle choke at 3:21 of Round 1.

Sam Kelly has left us speechless! He needed just 10 seconds to defeat his opponent and open up the show with a BANG!

📺 Watch the #CW151: Unplugged live on @UFCFightPass
➡️ https://t.co/1WtOmcAHq0
📍 BT Sport Studios, London. pic.twitter.com/I2ya7GBbTs

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 24, 2023

Capping off the first portion of the card, light heavyweight, Matthew Byfield (6-1, 1 NC; 3-0, 1 NC CW) forced Prince McLean (9-10, 0-1 CW) to tap due to a rear-naked choke at 2:50 in the second frame; former Cage Warriors 185-pound titleholder Matthew Bonner (14-8-1, 11-6-1 CW) smashed Guilherme Cadena Martins (26-20, 0-2 CW) with punches at 2:54 in the first period; Shawn Marcos Claudino da Silva (5-0, 1-0 CW) punched out Kierandip Singh Sahota (8-2, 0-1 CW) at 2:06 of Round 2 in their flyweight clash; 125-pounder Ander Sanchez (2-1, 2-1 CW) landed a sudden heel hook on Ryan Hewitt (1-1, 0-1 CW) at 4:36 in Round 2; the event kicked off with bantamweight Sam Kelly (4-1, 2-0 CW) dispatching Pav Singh Sahota (4-2, 0-1 CW) in just 11 seconds with a barrage of punches.