Paul Hughes Outclasses Jordan Vucenic, Unifies Featherweight Championship at CW 145

AND NEW! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/fHs1jEGQmW

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 4, 2022

Paul Hughes left no doubt as to who was the better man tonight inside of the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship cage.

The CW 145 headliner saw the championship unification clash between featherweight titleholder Jordan Vucenic (9-2, 5-1 CW) and interim champion Hughes (9-1, 6-1 CW). The two first met at CW 119 in 2020, and Vucenic emerged with a narrow split decision after 15 minutes of combat. In their 25-minute rematch, the contestants put on an entertaining back-and-forth clash that turned into a blood bath. After a fairly close first round, Hughes spent most of the second frame on his opponent’s back fishing for a rear-naked choke that never materialized. Hughes’s speed gave him the upper hand towards the end of Round 3, when he caught Vucenic with a clean uppercut and attempted to finish the job before the sound of the horn.

Sensing that his foe had not recovered entirely between rounds, Hughes kept pressuring Vucenic in the fourth stanza, clipping him with a potent combination that forced Vucenic to dive in for a takedown. The damage was done, and the corner of Vucenic’s left eye split wide open to start spraying blood on the mat. In the subsequent scrambles, Hughes again hunted for submissions, but at least in part thanks to the copious blood flow, he could not lock one down. Hughes dropped Vucenic again in the fifth period, and scored with more punches as he kept a high pace, but fell short of finishing his opponent from the back as the fight went the distance. Ultimately the cageside judges cast 49-46, 50-43 and 49-43 scorecards for Hughes, who officially became the undisputed featherweight champion and exacted revenge on the only man to defeat him as a pro.

The shots and the frustration really starting to build#CW145 pic.twitter.com/D4tY6mGBv7

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 4, 2022

In the welterweight co-main event, James Sheehan outsmarted Jamie Richardson to take home a well-deserved unanimous decision triumph. The pair kept the contest on the feet for much of their encounter, as both fighters scored with their jabs and marked up one another’s faces. The 170-pounders were evenly matched going into the third round, until Sheehan (6-2, 5-2 CW) scored a takedown and trapped the arm of Richardson (11-8, 7-5 CW) between his back and the cage. The favorable position allowed “Jimbo Slice” to land several effective shots, and swinging the bout in his direction. The ring announcer read three 29-28 scorecards in favor of the Irish fighter, who advanced his win streak to five straight under the Cage Warriors banner.

Loughran gets the stoppage and Shanks is NOT happy!!!! Is a crack at Cage Warriors gold on deck?!#CW145 pic.twitter.com/u3hyHZOUw6

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 4, 2022

Earlier on the billing, Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Modestas Bukauskas (12-5, 6-1 CW) outworked former CW champ Lee Chadwick (28-17-1, 3-2 CW) en route to a unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28, 30-27); 155-pounder Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar (6-0-1, 4-0-1 CW) notched a unanimous decision victory over Xavier Sedras (8-3-1, 0-1 CW); unbeaten bantamweight Caolan Loughran (7-0, 3-0 CW) stopped former flyweight kingpin Luke Shanks (10-4, 6-3 CW) with punches at 3:46 of Round 2.

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On the preliminary card, former 185-pound titleholder James Webb (9-4-1, 8-4-1 CW) upended Paddy McCorry (2-1, 0-1 CW) courtesy of three matching 29-28 scorecards; 145-pounder Ryan Shelley (6-0, 4-0 CW) forced Josh Reed (12-8, 8-8 CW) to tap to a rear-naked choke at 3:00 in the opening frame; in a featherweight affair, Harry Hardwick (9-3-1, 3-0-1 CW) defeated Steve Aimable (18-9, 8-6 CW) via lopsided decision with a trio of 30-26 tallies on his side; Oban Elliott (7-2, 7-2 CW) outpointed Sean McCormac (2-2, 1-1 CW) on all three scorecards (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at middleweight; the event began with Adam Shelley (3-2, 2-1 CW) defeating El Hadji Ndiaye (4-2, 0-2 CW) at lightweight by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).