Cage Warriors served up the perfect pre-UFC 304 appetiser in Manchester on Thursday night, as a packed card of fights delivered action aplenty at the BEC Arena.
Headlining the event was Italy’s Cage Warriors middleweight champion Dario Bellandi, and the champion was made to fight all the way to the final bell against a tough, gritty, unchokeable Robin Roos.
Roos survives a 75th submission attempt#CW175 pic.twitter.com/dWiFkPhYiD
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 25, 2024
Bellandi locked up multiple rear-naked chokes and face cranks on the Swedish challenger, but Roos simply would not tap. And, with Bellandi unable to put his man to sleep with his choke attempts, the bout went all the way to the judges’ scorecards, where the Italian earned a unanimous decision to retain his 185-pound crown.
Ok seriously how many chokes is that at this point???#CW175 pic.twitter.com/mRIgYliTVU
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 25, 2024
The co-main event promised one of the best fights anywhere in the world this weekend, as former two-division Cage Warriors champion and UFC vet Mason Jones took on undefeated Italian contender Michael Pagani in a huge fight for the lightweight division.
Pagani started the better of the two, and connected cleanly and with regularity on the Welshman, with the Italian’s crisp striking a standout quality of a back-and-forth opening round.
The action continued to swing one way and the other as both men traded shots throughout every minute of every round, but if Pagani shared the first frame with his cleaner work, it was Jones’ sheer determination and force of will that proved to be the deciding factor in Rounds 2 and 3 as the bout swung in the Welshman’s favour the longer the action wore on.
Despite both men landing some huge, clean shots on each other, they were both standing at the end of the fight. And, with both men bloodied up and battered, they shared a grinning embrace after a wild 15 minutes that will rank highly in 2024’s fights of the year lists by the year’s end.
What a finish.
What a damn fight.#CW175 pic.twitter.com/MInqkXLcnZ— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 25, 2024
There had to be a winner, and it was Jones who got the nod as he handed Pagani the first loss of his career and showed that world that he’s ready for a tilt at the big stage once again.
Our Photographer @DollyClew Captured This from @MasonJones1995’s War at #CW175 😳 pic.twitter.com/iQ5dU1LAGF
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 26, 2024
Cage Warriors 175: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Dario Bellandi def. Robin Roos via unanimous decision – for middleweight title
- Mason Jones def. Michael Pagani via unanimous decision
- Adam Cullen def. Samuel Blasco via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:50
- Stefano Paterno def. Olli Santalahti via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:56
- Ieuan Davies def. Adam Shelley via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:18
- Matthew Camilleri def. Emanuele Sabatino via split decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
- George Smith def. Craig Rawlins via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:48
- Connor Wilson def. Raz Bring via unanimous decision
- Florian Doskja def. Christian Tebbett via unanimous decision
- Manuel Del Valle def. Mariusz Mikolajewski via TKO (retirement) – Round 2, 5:00
- Davide Scarano def. Fran Breen via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:44
- Giuseppe Mastrogiacomo def. Seyed Hossein Mousavi via TKO (elbow and punches) – Round 2, 2:29
- Kallum Parker def. Jack Claffey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:15
- Damon Donald def. Matteo Martignoni via TKO (retirement) – Round 2, 5:00
- Naglis Kaniskauskas def. Leon Naumann via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 4:50
- Dylan Hazan def. Elves Oliveira via knockout (flying knee) – Round 2, 0:12
- Teddy Stringer def. Maicon Kobayashi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:28
- Simone Patrizi def. Diego Dickson via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:53
