Dan Hardy Claims Another Win In Sheffield

Sheffield, England – The highly anticipated Cagewarriors Semi-Pro division “Cagewarriors Quest” made its debut at the Sheffield Octagon Centre on Friday 8th April and went some way to dispel the myth that big names, big fights and big money is needed to sell a mixed martial arts show to the general public.

Like other smaller events dotted around the UK, Cagewarriors Quest focused on the basics and delivered 8 high octane match-ups as the next generation of MMA stars took the first step towards the professional circuit with some impressive performances inside the octagonal cage in a crowd pleasing show which no doubt secured Cagewarriors with a solid base for their return to Sheffield on the 29th July.

However the night belonged to the Nottingham based star Dan Hardy who continued his fine run of form in the Steel City of Sheffield by stopping Andy Walker from Poole Jiu Jitsu midway through round 1.

The fight saw Hardy being on the wrong on of a low blow which stopped the fight from several minutes whilst he recovered. However from the restart the experienced Walker showed he was not intimidated and started brightly against the Rough House star by taking him down and swiftly looking for several submissions which gave Hardy a brief scare.

However Hardy was able to work out of an armbar attempt and went into attack mode by working up past Walker’s guard and striking from the top position. He connected initially with some glancing blows before working further past Walker’s defences and connecting with a series of painful looking hammerfists. After several unanswered blows the referee Richard Pep was left with no choice but to stop the fight as Walker sustained repeated damage after 3.26 of round 1. Hardy now moves to 5-2-0 (which has seen him win 4 times in Sheffield in MMA competition) Hardy was also interviewed inside the octagon where he issued more challenges to other top UK welterweights who he believes are ‘ducking’ him.

Full Results from the show Bout 1 - Featherweight Cage Kickboxing (3x3 minute rounds)
Derek Robinson (Shaun Marsh Barnsley) vs. Amjed Shaffique (Sheffield, Kondei Ryu)
Winner – Amjed Shaffique via Unanimous Judges Decision after 3 rounds

Bout 2 - Featherweight Semi-Pro Women’s MMA (2x5 minute rounds with no head shots on the ground)
Shireen Fullerton (Clay Lane Gracie Barra) vs. Lisa Newton (Lodge Fight Club)
Winner – Shireen Fullerton via Unanimous Judges Decision after 2 rounds

Bout 3 - Lightweight Semi-Pro MMA (2x5 minute rounds)
Andy Denny (Mick Taylor Wakefield) vs. "Psycho" Steve Tetley (Rough House Nottingham)
Winner – “Psycho” Steve Tetley via Unanimous Judges Decision after 2 rounds

Bout 4 - Welterweight Semi-Pro MMA (2x5 minute rounds)
Christian Dashwood (Poole Jiu Jistu) vs. Ben Lukowski (Sheffield Shoot)
Winner – Christian Dashwood via Submission (Guillotine Choke) after 3.38 of round 2

Bout 5 - Middleweight Cage Kickboxing (3x3 minute rounds)
Pete Leaviss (Sheffield, Kondei Ryu) vs. Paul "Collision Course" Clarke (Rough House Nottingham)
Winner - Paul "Collision Course" Clarke via KO after 8 seconds of Round 1

Bout 6 - Welterweight Semi-Pro MMA (2x5 minute rounds)
Craig Ford vs. Mark Ashworth
Winner – Mark Ashworth via Unanimous Judges Decision after 2 rounds

Bout 7 - Heavyweight Semi-Pro MMA (2x5 minute rounds)
Jim Wallhead (Urban Combat Leicester) vs. Steve Matthews
Winner – Jim Wallhead via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) after 27 seconds of Round 1

Main Event - Welterweight Professional MMA Rules (3x5 minute rounds)
Dan Hardy (Rough House Nottingham) vs. Andy Walker (Poole Jiu Jitsu)
Winner - Dan Hardy via Referee Stoppage (Ground and Pound) after 3.26 of Round 1

All in all this was a very successful start to the Cagewarriors Quest franchise “semi-pro” which has already unearthed a number of potential stars that with the correct nurturing could progress through to the big shows with ease.