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Cage Warriors returned tonight for its forty seventh event. As usual the promotion put together an excellent card on paper and fortunately it more than lived up to its potential on the night.

The evening’s professional card got off to a great start with a middleweight matchup between Brett Sizeland and Victor Peixoto. The bout started and Sizeland immediately pushed his opponent back before securing a big take down. As soon as the fight hit the ground he secured mount and landed some big ground and pound to secure his sixth professional win.

The second bout of the evening saw Yuri Malko and Paul Redmond face off in a lightweight contest. The two men put on an excellent fight which was fought at an incredible pace from start to finish. Both men experienced some good spells throughout the first round but after a while the Irishman began to take control of the fight. He mixed up his excellent boxing skills with his wrestling superbly and attacked with some extremely unorthodox attacks whilst on the floor. His power began to shine through towards the end of the first and it helped him force the stoppage in the second round. After dropping Malko he pounced on him and delivered a series of strong unanswered blows which left the referee no choice but to stop the fight.

Next up was a catch weight bout between Jack “The Stone” Mason and a returning Tommy Quinn. The pair went to battle in one of the nights most closely fought affair. From the start of the fight to the finish of the fight the two competitors went back and forth. Mason had the better of the takedowns and Quinn had the better of the striking exchanges but throughout the course of the fight no matter what they threw at each other, the other man had a response to it. There was some guillotine attempts by Mason but Quinns excellent submission defence was outstanding throughout. The fight went the distance and when the judges’ scorecards were tallied, Mason was awarded a split decision win.

The opening fight of the main card was a flyweight attraction between two of Europe’s top five ranked fighters, Mark Platts and Neil Seery. The fight was fought at the high pace flyweights are famed for and although it was a competitive matchup, all of the telling damage was handed out by Seery. Platts did well in the opening round to recover after being dropped by his Irish opponent. He managed to get back to his feet and look for a take down while eating a lot of elbows to the side of his head. The pair continued to have a technical stand up fight for the remainder of the first and into the second however a failed takedown attempt proved to be Platts undoing. Seery stuffed it and took the Englishman’s back. From there he landed some heavy ground and bound before sinking in a fight ending rear naked choke at 2:36 of round two.

The following bout was a welterweight clash between UFC veteran David Bielkheden and SBC Ireland’s Cathal Pendred. Pendred started the fight explosively and it didn’t take him long to take control, dropping the Swede early on. Despite taking some big blows, Bielkheden stayed calm and after they were stood up by the ref he secured a takedown and saw out the round in a dominant position whilst searching for the kimura. The second round saw Pendred change up his game plan and look to tie up his opponent while also landing some of his heavy strikes. The third round saw the fight completely turned on its head as Bielkheden caught the Irishman early on and sent him to the mat. He followed him down and continued to last some heavy blows which could have easily finished a lesser man. After passing to pound he was reversed and then it was Pendred’s turn to hand out the punishment. He handed out a lot of hard punches and elbows from the guard however Bielkheden did extremely well to defend. The fight ended with the crowd in full voice, cheering on the two warriors. The judges’ scorecards were read out and Pendred was awarded a unanimous decision victory.

The second semi-final of the Cage Warriors Flyweight Tournament took place next as Aisling Daly took on Rosi Sexton. The opening round was one of the most action-packed and fast paced rounds in recent memory. Sexton secured a take down and began to unload with a barrage of heavy punches. Daly threatened with some extremely tight armbar attempts but Sextons defence was phenomenal. The second round played out in a similar manner but only this time Sexton seemed a little wiser to the submission attempts of Daly, spending the round handing a relentless assault. The third saw a huge change in momentum as Daly sprung into life and took control of the round. Opening up some powerful strikes and a couple of tight guillotine attempts, Daly looked close to a finish on occasions. Again Sexton’s defence was up to scratch and finished the round looking for a takedown up against the cage whilst eating a lot of shots. The fight ended and again went to the judges’ scorecards and Sexton was awarded a unanimous decision win which moves her into the final to meet Shiela Gaff.

The co-main event was a featherweight title bout between Conor McGregor and Dave Hill. Both men have identical records and despite being mirror opposites of each other stylistically, both men are finishers of fights. The stare down was intense and the fight even more so. McGregor jumped for a guillotine early on but did not get it and popped straight back to his feet. From there he began to take control of the fight, lighting Hill up with his outstanding striking game. After dropping Hill with a head kick he mounted him before taking his back. He secured a body triangle and looked to finish a rear naked choke but Hill would be saved by the bell. The second round began and it was more of the same from McGregor, who looked just as fresh as when the fight started. He was landing his strikes at will and was beginning to look more and more dangerous as the fight went on. After defending an omoplata attempt, he again found himself on Hill’s back with a body triangle sunken in. there would be no bell to save Hill this time though and McGregor secured a submission win via Rear Naked Choke at 4:10. McGregor was overjoyed and jumped the cage fence and ran into the crowd to celebrate with his fans before returning to receive his title.

The evening’s main event was a grudge match for the Cage Warriors Heavyweight Championship as DJ Linderman looked to defeat champion Mike Hayes for a second time and take the title from him. Both men have a mutual dislike for each other but when the fight begun it became apparent that both had a certain respect for each other’s skills as the opening round saw them have a technical yet tentative opening round. The second saw a pickup in pace with Linderman continuing to land nice combos which he mixed up with his takedown attempts. Hayes landed some offence of his own but it mostly came in single shot form. More of the same in the third stanza however at the midway point of the round Linderman finally secured a takedown and when there began to slowly but surerly deliver ground and pound and kicks to Hayes who attempted a kimura that he did not come close to finishing. As we entered the championship rounds there was no sign from either fighter of a change in game plan as the fight continued to go the way it has in the three rounds previous. The final round would be the champions best of the fight as he secured two takedowns and had the better positions in the round which saw him take Linderman’s back and look for a choke however Linderman was calm enough to escape and see out the round. The judges’ cards were scored and DJ Linderman was crowned the new Cage Warriors Heavyweight Champion due to a unanimous decision.

Cage Warriors 47 was an outstanding event and was true testament as to why they are considered to be one of Europe’s premiere organisations.

For more on Cage Warriors be sure to check out The Fight Lounge for all the latest news as it happens.

By Nathan Court (@nathancourt)