Sam Creasey Submits Luke Shanks, Captures Vacant Flyweight Belt at Cage Warriors 129

AND NEW! CREASEY HAS DONE IT!

Pure drama.

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In his third flyweight title fight, Sam Creasey weathers early adversity and secures the submission finish. #CW129 pic.twitter.com/TJWNWE862J

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) October 2, 2021

The final installment of the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship trilogy saw more guillotines than the French Revolution.

In the Cage Warriors 129 main event, Sam Creasey (15-3, 10-3 CW) took on former divisional title holder Luke Shanks (8-3, 4-2 CW) for the vacant flyweight championship. Only “Urai” was eligible to win the title since his Shanks missed the championship weight by 2.7 pounds ahead of their clash. Creasey relied on his wrestling and grappling skills early in the bout, forcing “The Apocalypse” to defend himself from a rear-naked choke from his back. Shanks fought his way out of the sticky situation and back to his feet, but the stream cut off shortly thereafter and left viewers wondering what happened.

When the stream returned midway through Round 2, Creasey was bleeding from his apparently broken nose, implying that a momentum shift happened during the technical difficulties. Shanks looked to attack his opponent’s face for the rest of the bout, while Creasey worked at the body. Both fighters spent the third round on the feet, exchanging combinations that seemed to favor Creasey. In an attempt to cut down his opponent’s offense, Shanks shot for a double leg that “Urai” immediately turned into a guillotine, forcing “The Apocalypse” to tap at the 3:38 mark of Round 3. After coming up short in two previous title bids, Creasey seizes the Cage Warriors 125-pound championship while extending his winning streak to four.

Rhys McKee shines on his return from the UFC A TKO win back in the yellow gloves!

The referee had seen enough after "Skeletor" delivered 3 rounds of punishment #CW129 pic.twitter.com/QSbzHuz6Ok

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) October 2, 2021

The co-headliner featured Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Rhys McKee’s (11-4-1, 4-0 CW) promotional return against Aleksi Mantykivi (13-7, 0-3 CW) in a welterweight affair. “Skeletor” made the most out of his longer reach to attack his Finnish opponent with shots from afar while Mantykivi answered with an abundance of leg kicks. In the second, the Loop Martial Arts rep lost his mouthguard, suffered two eye pokes — which resulted in a point deduction for McKee—and survived through a rear-naked choke and a triangle choke attempt. However, his luck ran out in the next frame, as referee Rich Mitchell stepped in at the 3:18 mark of the third period to save Mantykivi from a series of unanswered shots landed by his Northern Irish opponent. The 26-year-old McKee bounced back following an unsuccessful UFC stint that ended after back-to-back losses.

Earlier on the card, Bellator MMA veteran George Hardwick (8-1, 2-1 CW) rattled off his fourth consecutive victory by submitting Oktagon MMA vet Jakub Dohnal (8-2, 0-1 CW) with a guillotine choke 2:48 into the second frame of their 155-pound encounter; Trojan Free Fighters’ standout Mateusz Figlak (6-1, 3-1 CW) extended his winning streak to four by putting away the “Ninja Viking” Joachim Tollefsen (5-4, 0-1 CW) with punches at 4:49 in Round 1 at welterweight and the main card opened with Steve Aimable (17-8, 7-5 CW) throttling Walter Cogliandro (10-2-1, 0-1 CW) with a guillotine choke with 33 seconds left in the opening stanza at featherweight.

On the preliminary card, former CW middleweight title challenger Jamie Richardson (10-7, 6-4 CW) induced a tapout from Venator Fighting Championship alum Alessandro Botti (15-13, 0-1 CW) thanks to a guillotine choke at the 2:29 mark in Round 2 at welterweight; Michal Figlak (6-0, 4-0 CW) defeated Kieran Lister (7-2-2, 1-2-1 CW) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in a lightweight battle; Harry Hardwick (8-3, 2-0 CW) upended Konmon Deh (11-8, 2-4 CW) with a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27) in a featherweight affair; at flyweight, Aurora MMA’s Dylan Hazan (7-0, 2-0 CW) overwhelmed Scott Malone (9-5, 4-4 CW) with relentless takedowns en route to a split decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).