Haque returned from a two-year hiatus to put his title on the line against Scott, and after the first couple of rounds, it looked like the flyweight champ hadn’t missed a beat as he appeared to edge both of the opening rounds.
But, as the bout headed into the middle rounds, Scott started to come back into the contest, and the Great Britain Top Team contender started to find a home for his shots as he pushed the pace on Haque. That pressure was clear to see before the final round, with Haque cutting an exhausted figure on the stool.
It prompted Scott to turn up the pressure to 11 as he walked down the champion and punished him with strikes. Then, after Haque failed to take the challenger to the mat, Scott turned the tables and looked close to locking up an anaconda choke.
Haque managed to survive, but had to endure a beating through the final moments of the fight as Scott emptied the tank in the bout’s remaining seconds.
With Haque looking physically spent and Scott feeling euphoric, both men waited nervously for the final verdict, with both corners seemingly in the belief their man had done enough.
And, as the scores were read, the judges were split, with Haque taking the victory, and retaining his title, by the narrowest of margins as he edged a split decision with scores of 48-47, 46-49, 48-47.
In the co-main event, surging bantamweight contender Shirzad Qadrian continued his rise with a first-round TKO finish of Cameron Else, while elsewhere on the main card, Leon Hill finished namesake Steven Hill with strikes in the second round.
America’s Anthony Orozco was made to battle all the way to the scorecards by Luan Duarte in a fight he totally dominated en route to a 30-26, 30-25, 30-25 result, and bantamweight Weslley Maia entered into the championship conversation with a first-round rear-naked choke finish of Aidan Stephen.
And the opening main card bout saw rising prospect Tariq Pell add another impressive win to his resumé as he locked up a rear-naked choke to finish Adam Shelley in the first round.
Preliminary card recap
On the preliminary card, there was an impressive victory for Jack “The Ripper” Humphries, who stunned Rory Evans with a head kick before eventually finishing the job with an anaconda choke for a crowd-pleasing first-round submission, while Naglis Kaniskauskas claimed a first-round TKO from crucifix position to defeat Joe Middleton.
It was a disappointing night for the returning Cage Warriors vet Brad Wheeler, as “The Crazy Kid” lost via second-round TKO to hard-hitting Rafael Aronov. And last year’s Cage Warriors submission of the year winner, Mitchell Goode, added another submission finish to his resumé with a first-round rear-naked choke finish of Tye Palmer. There was also a first-round TKO finish in the opening bout of the night, as Tom Creasey needed just 89 seconds to stop Raz Bring.
The featured prelim saw Ollie Sarwa go the distance with Damiano Scogna in a bout that split the judges after 15 minutes of back-and-forth action. In the end, it was Sarwa who edged it, with the scores reading 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
Cage Warriors 192: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Shaj Haque vs Jawany Scott (48-47, 46-48, 48-47)– for flyweight title
- Shirzad Qadrian def. Cameron Else via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:06
- Leon Hill def. Steven Hill via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:50
- Anthony Orozco def. Luan Duarte via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
- Weslley Maia def. Aidan Stephen via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:53
- Tariq Pell def. Adam Shelley via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:06
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Ollie Sarwa def. Damiano Scogna via unanimous decicion (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jack Humphries def. Rory Evans via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 2:39
- Naglis Kaniskauskas def. Joe Middleton via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:37
- Rafael Aronov def. Brad Wheeler via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:38
- Mitchell Goode def. Tye Palmer via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:02
- Yusuf Ali-Taleb def. Antonino Amodeo via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Tom Creasey def. Raz Bring via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 1:29
