Cage Warriors Fight Night 3 results
Cage Warriors held their first event of 2012 today, with Fight Night 3 in Beirut in Lebanon. The card was packed full of excellent fights and great finishes. Here are the results.
Kyle Watson vs. Juha-Pekka Vainikainen
A tough JPV fought a former UFC fighter in Kyle Watson, with a win putting either fighter in contention for the lightweight belt and the champion Ivan Musardo.
It was Vainikanen who succeeded.
Watson never really got going as a laid back JPV stuffed all takedown attempts before landing some strikes to the UFC veteran’s head. The second round saw an elbow catch the head of Watson. With blood pouring in vast measures, the referee stopped the fight to bring in the doctor. It was advised to call off the fight and Vainikainen got the win.
Tommy Speer vs. Mats Nilsson
A former finalist on The Ultimate Fighter, Tommy Speer took on Matts Nilsson.
Many (including ourselves) expected the strong wrestler to grid out a decision, yet it was Nilsson who gained a win. Speer came out fast and actively searched for a takedown yet it was defended nicely. Nilsson ended up getting the fight down himself and controlled from the top.
The second round started and Nilsson caught Speer off guard with a leg kick, forcing the fight back to the mat again. Speer was having trouble on his back and towards the end of the five minutes the Swedish fighter managed to grab an arm-triangle to force the tap
Graham Turner vs. Matteus Lahdesmaki
A beautiful transition on the floor by Lahdesmaki finished off Graham “Afterburner” Turner quickly in this fight. Turner looked comfortable as always on the feet but Matteus bided his time before rushing in ataking the fight to the ground. Turner initially made his was back up but was taken back down. Lahdesmake looked for a kimura from half guard but then switched to take the back and sink in a rear-naked choke.
Impressive win for Lahdesmaki.
Gareth Joseph vs. Faycal Hucin
A middleweight tournament fight and it didn’t last long. Joseph looked fantastic very early on in the fight, gaining a takedown straight into a high mount to rain down elbows. Hucin escaped and tried to latch on a guillotine choke but the American powered out. Once back on the feet, Hucin landed some clean strikes to wobble Joseph, a couple more on Joseph was out on his feet.
A great win for Hucin who know moves onto the next round.
Victor Cheng vs. Matt Gabel
The first fight in the eagerly anticipated middleweight tournament pitted Cheng versus an American wrestler in Gabel.
After impressing in his loss at Cage Warriors Fight Night 1, Cheng got the win in this fight by effectively shutting out Gabel. An unfortunate low blow to Gabel got the fight to a slow start, but once he was recovered both men came forward swinging, yet it was Cheng who had the cleaner and crisper strikes. Gabel did attempt a guillotine choke but couldn’t sink it in. A point was removed from Gabel at the end of the round for an illegal upkick.
Cheng came out with more confidence in the second round, hurting his opponent with some vicious knees. The fight went to the ground and Cheng grabbed a rear-naked choke to force the tap and move onto the next round.
John Donnelly vs. Domingos Mestre
A welterweight fight got the main card started and it was the grappling of Mestre that sealed a decision from the judges.
Using takedowns and control, Mestre dominated the majority of the fight although Donnelly did have some success on his feet with his counters; he even managed to land a spinning back fist early on. Mestre made numerous attempts to finish the bout with a submission including guillotine, D’arce and brabo chokes.
When the final bell rang Donnelly was cut from elbow and bleeding from his face and Mestre was visibly disappointed not to finish decisively. It was a strong performance though and he gained the nod
By Mike Clarke
