The event, which served as the now-traditional Friday night warm-up whenever the UFC heads to London, delivered a spectacular night of fights, with Bahati’s four-second finish of Charles Joyner the highlight-reel moment of the evening.
The finish itself was the fastest in Cage Warriors history, but it drew a mixed response from the fanbase, with many taking to social media to question the sportsmanship of Bahati, who initiated a glove-touch to start the contest, and immediately followed it with a huge right hand that finished the fight.
WOW! 😯 Yannick Bahati with the quickest KO in Cage Warriors history.
Consider the score settled ❌ #CW186 pic.twitter.com/mwns0i9Jdi— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 21, 2025
The main event ended in unusual circumstances after three separate accidental head clashes left featherweight champion Harry Hardwick unable to continue early in the fourth round due to having double vision.
With referee Marc Goddard ruling the head clashes as accidental, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards for a technical decision verdict.
Definitely not how Harry Hardwick envisioned last night unfolding! But he’s still the champ 🏆🙌#CW186 pic.twitter.com/UpBG2zGXey
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 22, 2025
The judges all scored the bout 30-27 to Hardwick up to that point, which meant the champion retained his title, but he was far from happy to take the spoils after an unfortunate finish to his bout.
On a frustrating night for the Hardwick brothers, Harry’s brother George lost his lightweight title after a bruising three-round war with Brazil’s Samuel Silva.
Also in action were rising Cage Warriors stars Nik Bagley and Will Currie, who both picked up hard-earned decision victories in their main card matchups.
Currie battled past an extremely tough Eli Aronov to move to 13-4, while Bagley got the better of Keweny Lopes as he improved his record to 7-1.
There was also a gnarly eye injury to Ermil Xhaferi, who lost via doctor stoppage to another of Cage Warriors’ rising stars, Tariq Pell.
Cage Warriors 186: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Harry Hardwick def. Javier Garcia via technical decision (clash of heads) – Round 4, 0:36 – for featherweight title
- Nik Bagley def. Keweny Lopes via unanimous decision
- Will Currie def. Eli Aronov via unanimous decision
- Yannick Bahati def. Charles Joyner via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:04
- Tariq Pell def. Ermil Xhaferi via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
- Ollie Sarwa def. Yadwinder Singh via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:29
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Samuel Silva def. George Hardwick via unanimous decision – for lightweight title
- Jawany Scott def. Jonny Touma via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:56
- Daniel Crooks-May def. Cameron Stewart via unanimous decision
- Mim Grubb def. Rhi Rhi Hudson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:13
- Rafael Aronov def. Danny Blundell via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:02
- Kadeem Perkins def. Tommy Brunning via unanimous decision
- Joe Middleton def. Craig Rawlins via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 3, 3:00
- Jan Masek def. Harry Shaw via unanimous decision
