- Mason Jones, 24, extended his unbeaten record on Friday with a crunching knee strike KO, becoming the new Cage Warriors lightweight champion – the same title Conor McGregor had before promotion to UFC.
- Later in the show, Bartosz Fabinski’s head was sliced open by Darren Stewart’s elbow tip but Fabinski won every round and claimed a decision victory.
- Popular prizefighter Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett returned to winning ways after an 18-month hiatus with a ground-and-pound triumph over Decky Dalton.
- Cage Warriors 113 took place behind closed doors at the BEC Arena in Manchester because of the coronavirus pandemic, and was not without controversy. One reporter called it “shameless.”
- Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan said he consulted fighters, trainers, and staff, and the feedback was that everyone wanted to get paid.
- Watch highlight clips of the event below.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Mason Jones won the Cage Warriors lightweight title with a face-mashing knee strike.
The Dragon roars in Manchester 🐉 #CW113
A devastating finish in round, Mason Jones is the NEW lightweight champion! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/rDRPR9LPgf
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 20, 2020
Mason Jones extended his unbeaten run in Manchester, advancing to 9-0 (3 KOs, 3 submissions, and 3 decisions) after finishing Joe McColgan in the first round.
Jones ended the fight with a highlight-reel knee strike, maximizing leverage and cracking his knee cap into McColgan’s face, sending the Northern Irishman to the canvas.
With the victory, Jones won the Cage Warriors lightweight title – one of the two Cage Warriors belts Conor McGregor used to wear before he was promoted to the UFC.
Elsewhere, Darren Stewart cut Bartosz Fabinski's head open with a slicing elbow …
https://twitter.com/UFCFightPass/status/1241131931129065474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
… but Fabinski overcame the wound and the slippery blood which had leaked all over his head and back, to grind out a convincing decision win.
Stewart and Fabinski were supposed to fight at the UFC Fight Night 171 show in London's 02 Arena on the Saturday, but concerns over the coronavirus saw AEG - the firm which owns the 02 Arena - shut down events inside its buildings, and so UFC withdrew from London.
Cage Warriors 113, which was supposed to take place at the nearby Indigo at 02 Arena, moved to the BEC Arena 225 miles away in Manchester.
Many UFC athletes were left without a bout but Stewart and Fabinski headlined Cage Warriors, instead.
Popular prizefighter Paddy "The Baddy" Pimblett returned to winning ways.
A triumphant return for The Baddy, he picks up the TKO victory at #CW113 in Round 1 👌
What's next for Paddy?
Tune in to #CW113 on @UFCFightPass pic.twitter.com/gC1OzYlS31
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) March 20, 2020
Pimblett usually has one of the most raucous fanbases in British MMA, but as Cage Warriors 113 could only go ahead behind closed doors, the 25-year-old lightweight had to compete in near silence.
But that did not distract him as he went to work, tried to submit Decky Dalton with a pair of rear-naked chokes, then switched strategy to beat his man with strikes.
Victory ended an 18-month spell on the sidelines for Pimblett.
"It's been that long out the cage, 18 months, 19 months, I just wanted to get back in … get hit in the face and hit someone in the face," Pimblett said after his win.
"I was sick of just sparring in the gym. It went perfect, unscathed, I don't think I've got one mark on me … I took a left hook, he hit me with it and it woke me up.
"From there on, it was just me. I hit him with a 1-2 down the pipe and got on top. As soon as I get your back, that's it.
"As soon as I got the back, I knew it was the start of the end," Pimblett said.
One of the first fights at the show featured a guy bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas like a basketball.
A 23-year-old nicknamed "Hand Grenade" landed three right hands so hard his opponent's head bounced off the canvas like a basketball.
Coner Hignett, an English flyweight, scored a third-round win over Darren O'Gorman, finishing the show late but doing so in style with a fight-ending sequence of strikes.
Watch the painful highlight right here.
Cage Warriors boss Graham Boylan was rebuked for proceeding with the show during a pandemic.
MMA promoter Graham Boylan, the president of Cage Warriors, refused to postpone his Friday event and said earlier in the week it would take "tanks" and "men with guns" to stop it from happening.
Such governmental measures were not introduced, though the show did not enforce social distancing which is one way to try and reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
The Bloody Elbow reporter Karim Zidan called the decision to go ahead "shameless."
But speaking at the BEC Arena in between fights, Boylan said the fighters, his staff, all wanted to work and get paid.
"Fighters, coaches, managers, staff … some of them came back and said, 'We need this. We have to earn money,'" Boylan said.
"'We do not know how long we're not going to be able to earn money for. We need the show to happen.'"
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