The fight was billed as Riley’s last of his current Cage Warriors contract, the Next Generation MMA product signed off with yet another impressive finish as he stopped Abbasov with strikes in the second round to improve his perfect professional record to 11-0.
Abbasov looked to put the pressure on Riley early on, using his wrestling to put the Englishman on the back foot for spells during the opening round. But, despite having to showcase his defensive wrestling, in the first round, he punished Abbasov in the second as he stuffed his opponent’s takedown attempt, then lit him up with strikes to claim a crowd-pleasing second-round finish.
In the co-main event, undefeated English lightweight Teddy Stringer added another submission win to his growing resume with a first-round standing rear-naked choke finish of Antonio Sheldon.
Also in the win column on Saturday night was Riley’s Next Generation MMA teammate Adam Cullen, who needed just 106 seconds to stop Nonato Junior with elbows, while former welterweight contender Omiel Brown marked the occasion of his lightweight debut with a third-round TKO victory after his opponent Samuel Blasco’s corner pulled him out of the fight mid-way through the final round.
Cage Warriors 185: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Luke Riley def. Tariel Abbasov via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 2, 3:09
- Teddy Stringer def. Antonio Sheldon via submission (standing rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:25
- Adam Cullen def. Nonato Junior via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 1:46
- Olli Santalahti def. George Smith via unanimous decision
- Omiel Brown def. Samuel Blasco via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 3, 2:10
- Jack Humphries def. Nick Beukema via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:45
- Richard Kallos def. Sam Kelly via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:45
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Ethan Charlton def. Leon Naumann via unanimous decision
- Shay Ingram def. Diamantis Chondronikolas via unanimous decision
- Joe Fields def. Enrico Di Gangi via split decision
- Chris Price def. Alisson Marreira via disqualification (illegal knee) – Round 3, 0:30
- Christian Tebbett def. Ryan Hewett via unanimous decision
- Fran Breen def. Elves Oliveira via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 4:17
- Joshua Adeboye def. Aaron Pierre via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:32
