Cagewarriors Strike Force 4 – Night of Champions by Jimmy Boogaloo

[Mr Boogaloo]

Cagewarriors Strike Force 4 – Night of Champions

by Jimmy Boogaloo , Team IronLife.com Staff Writer, photos by Robert Swann

Cagewarriors Strike Force 4 – Night of Champions lived up to all expectations and more as the promotion returned to the Coventry Skydome, putting on a record-setting 9 world championship fights and pulling in a massive crowd of fight fans. The fact that Cagewarriors can consistently put on nights like this will surely gain them international recognition as a top event, helping the sport to continue its development in the UK and abroad.

CWFC Women’s Title Bout
(Champion) Rosi Sexton (4-0-0) vs. Dina van Den Hooven (2-0-0) Holland

Rosi, the defending champion, came to the cage with a look of menacing determination, and walked through a pair of mean hooks and a strong knee to take the fight to the floor. The ground fight was exciting with both fighters sweeping, landing punches and attempting submissions, but the edge was with Rosi, whose tough ground and pound left Dina unable to continue after the third round. Rosi wins via TKO round 3.


Rosi punches from mount position

CWFC Bantamweight Title Bout
(Champion) Paul McVeigh (4-3-0) vs. Phil “Billy” Harris (9-4-0)

Paul, representing the Dinky Ninjas, is famous for his submissions but during this fight showed that he can bang too, especially with his right hand. Phil, however, was able to score with some beautiful judo throws and did a great job of frustrating Paul's attempts to pass his guard on the ground.


Paul lands an elbow

After a shoot out to start the third round, Phil took Paul down, but he landed comfortably in his guard and immediately worked his legs high and caught Phil in a triangle choke to force the tap. Paul wins via submission (triangle) round 3.


Phil tries to slam his way out of the triangle.

CWFC Featherweight Title Bout
(Champion) Danny Batten (7-6-2) vs. Augusto Frota 5-1-0 (Frota Team)

Danny Batten again showed why he is one of the most respected fighters on the circuit in this fight against the experienced Augusto Frota. Danny was given a very uncomfortable time in the first round as Augusto did a spectacular job of diving past Danny's guard to land huge right hands.


Danny lands a front kick

After the early scare, however, Danny worked hard to break his opponent down behind a solid jab, landing gruesome right low kicks that had Augusto wincing. Towards the end of the third, Augusto was beginning to look like he was finished and the Swiss corner wisely called the fight off before the fourth round. Danny wins via TKO round 3.


Towards the end of the fight, Augusto looks in trouble

Light-Heavyweight (3x5 minute rounds)
Christian Smith 2-0-0 (Tap or Snap/Derby Shoot) vs. Martin Wojcik (Pro debut) Wolfslair Academy

In the only non-title fight, Christian threatened early from his southpaw stance, but the newest Wolflair product was not intimidated and soon took the fight to the ground with a beautiful high crotch takedown. Martin quickly worked his way to the mount and dished out a terrible series of punches that led the referee, Marc Goddard, to step in. Martin wins via referee stoppage (GNP) round 1.


Christian finds himself on the bottom, taking a beating

CWFC Lightweight Title Bout
(Champion) Alexandre “Xandinho” Izidro (3-4-0) vs. Thomas Hytten 14-3-1 (Team Frontline)

This fight saw another difficult start for the Ze Marcello team as Thomas bullrushed Alexandre and finished the combination with a brutal bodyshot, before dishing out some horrible ground and pound to both the head and body of the floored Brazilian. The assault didn't stop Alexandre from working for numerous foot submissions, but Thomas really made him pay with hard shots to the body.


Thomas with some vicious ground and pound

Alexandre managed to weather the storm and scored well with takedowns in the remaining rounds, for the most part controlling the action to win a majority decision. Alexandre wins via majority decision.


Alexandre bangs in a low kick

Vacant CWFC Welterweight Title Bout
Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy (9-4-0) vs. Matt “12 Gauge” Thorpe (5-3-0)

This fight was an absolute classic. Eagerly anticipated by both camps and fans across Britain, two of the top welterweights in Britain clashed to crown a new champion. Matt stands an amazing 6'4", and therefore had a clear reach advantage standing, which led Dan to take the fight to the floor at every opportunity. This led to some absolutely thrilling ground work as Matt worked fluently from armbar to triangle attempts which forced some fantastic scrambling escapes from Dan, bringing the crowd to it's feet.


Matt works his legs up high for a triangle

A vicious right kick to the body from Dan seemed to make quite a significant difference to the fight, as Dan was then able to work his takedowns through out the fight, smashing home some decent elbows and punches to win a majority decision. It was an absolutely brilliant fight which had the crowd on its feet demanding a rematch. Dan wins via majority decision.


Dan celebrates the win with his Roughouse teammates

CWFC Middleweight Title Bout
(Champion) Martin “Hitman” Kampmann (10-2-1) vs. Damien Riccio (8-10-0 with 1 NC)

In the 8th bout of the night, rising star, Martin Kampmann, added to his last two incredible performances by bashing tough Frenchman, Damien Riccio, and giving him a horrible night's work in the process.

Martin began well by landing a right hand that put Damien on the floor, which allowed Martin to work him over for the remainder of the round.


Martin sinks the rear naked choke

The second round didn't get any better for Damien, who was again put down, this time with a brutal knee in the clinch. Kampmann saw his chance and, after landing a few punches, worked his way to rear mount to secure the rear naked choke that forced Damien to tap. Martin wins via submission (rear naked choke) round 2.

CWFC Light-Heavyweight Title Bout
(Champion) Michael “The Count” Bisping (9-0-0) vs. Ross “The Gladiator” Pointon (4-5-0)


Ross with a massive hook

In another fight that had people talking, Mike showed why he is the number one light-Heavyweight in the country and a solid bet to appear in the next TUF series in America. The pace to the fight was intense, with both men landing kicks and taking each other down.


Mike completes the armbar

Mike bullrushed Ross, pushing him back but a great sprawl by Ross put the Wolfslair man into his own guard. This was only a momentary set back for Mike as, straight away, he adjusted to land a tight armbar, scoring another decisive victory in defence of his title. Mike wins via submission (armbar) round 1.


Mike celebrates his win

CWFC Heavyweight Title Bout
(Champion) Jeff “The Snowman” Monson (17-5-0) vs. Emmanuel Marc 3-3-0 (Haute Tension)


Emmanuel in trouble

Emmanuel began this fight by charging at Jeff to land punches. Jeff, however, has seen it all and immediately took the Frenchman down and worked his way to rear mount. In a mater of moments, Jeff was able to apply a rear naked choke, and, as Emmanuel refused to tap, Jeff had no choice but to choke him to sleep to once again score a submission victory on British shores and further fuel rumours that he is set to return to the UFC. Jeff wins via submission (rear naked choke).


Emmanuel recovers after falling victim to the Monson rear naked choke

Vacant CWFC Super-Heavyweight Title Bout
Antonio “Pezão” Silva Junior (3-0-0) Wolfslair Academy, (Brazil/UK) vs. Ruben "Warpath" Villarreal (9-6-1) No Limits Underground USA

Junior picks Warpath up like a rag doll

In the final fight, Junior came out looking as scary as any fighter out there. His sheer presence was very intimidating, but Ruben was not missing thanksgiving in the states for no reason, and fearlessly stood toe-to-toe with the massive Brazilian. Junior, however, was not to be denied and scooped up his opponent to almost putt him through the floor with an effortless takedown. Once on top, it was all Junior as he rained down blows on his brave, but outclassed opponent. A series of heavy hammer fists forced Ruben to cover up, and, as he had nowhere to go, the referee stepped in to end the fight. Junior wins via referee stoppage (GNP) round 1.


Antonio “Pezão” Silva

This was an absolutely spectacular night of fighting – a fact attested to by thousands of screaming fans. As expected, Cagewarriors has continued to put together exciting fights and, by crowning more worthy champions, 2006 promises to be a busy year for the promotion. I very much hope that the Cagewarriors team decides the repeat the ‘Night of Champions’ format in the future, it was a great evening’s entertainment! Congratulations to the team and all the fighters for putting on a brilliant show.


Another win for Brazil and the Wolfslair!

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For more information about upcoming Cagewarriors events, please visit www.CageWarriors.com and for more action shots by Robert Swan, please visit www.Robertswannphotography.com .

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