Following on from their event on New Year’s Eve, Cage Warriors have brought some more good news to Irish MMA fighters and fans alike.
By Fergus Ryan
Title shot for ‘The Punisher’ Pendred at Cage Warriors 52
There’s a passage in the bible that says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” I’m not sure if Cathal Pendred is a religious nut but he’s been asking for a title shot for some time now and finally, he has received.
Current champ Gael Grimaud has agreed to defend his CWFC welterweight title for the second time at Cage Warriors 52 against Cathal in London on March 9th in what will be the first Cage Warriors event of 2013. JOE recently spoke to Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan and he promised MMA fans another packed schedule in 2013.
Frenchman Grimaud (17-5) has been at the summit of Cage Warriors’ welterweight division since September 2011 when he clinched the vacant title courtesy of a second-round TKO victory over Pendred’s SBGi Ireland team-mate, Arni Isaksson, at CWFC Fight Night 2 in Jordan.
Currently riding an eight-fight win streak, 33-year-old Grimaud made a successful first defence of the strap at CWFC Fight Night 6 in Bahrain back in May, submitting Jesse Taylor via third-round armbar.
Pendred (11-2-1), who’s unbeaten in five Cage Warriors outings, catapulted himself into the top contender’s slot courtesy of two impressive decision wins last year.
The 25-year-old Irishman overcame UFC veteran David Bielkheden at June’s Cage Warriors 47 in his hometown of Dublin, before edging out Bruno Carvalho in the main event at Cage Warriors 49 in Cardiff in October. You can check out his fight with Carvalho here.
More Cage Warriors 52 bouts will be announced in the coming days. Keep track of Cage Warriors on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and updates. Tickets for Cage Warriors 52, which takes place at London’s HMV Forum on March 9, are available to purchase HERE.
You can follow Cathal on twitter @PendredMMA.
Paul ‘Redser’ Redmond added to Cage Warriors roster
Cage Warriors has long been a happy hunting ground for Irish fighters such as Conor, McGregor, Paul McVeigh, Aisling Daly, Neil Seery, Cathal Pendred and Chris Fields to name but a few. In recent months we’ve seen their roster increase to include Greg Loughran, Owen Roddy, Paddy Holohan and Philip Mulpeter. With the amount of events Cage Warriors intend on running in 2013 we can probably expect more Irish fighters to appear in their number.
The latest additions were announced last week with Team Ryano’s prospect Paul Redmond one of six new signings added to Europe’s largest MMA promotion. Also signed were Dave Hill, Tommy Maguire (brother of the UFC’s John Maguire), Davey Grant, Alex Enlund and Chris Scott, all of whom, along with Paul, will be committed to Cage Warriors over the next 18 months.
“We increased our roster of exclusive fighters significantly in 2012 but we’ll continue to do the same this year. I’m very happy that we’ll have even more fighters of the calibre of these six guys competing for Cage Warriors in the near future,” said CEO Graham Boylan.
“At Cage Warriors we only offer exclusive contracts to fighters who we believe have all the tools to go far in this sport, and that’s certainly the case with these new signings. They’re all extremely talented guys and, just as importantly, they have the right attitude too.”
Paul (6-3) who fights out of one of Dublin’s top MMA gyms, Team Ryano, was one of the major success stories of 2012, joining Conor McGregor and James Brum as one of only three fighters to win three CWFC bouts last year.
The 26-year-old Irishman stopped Yuri Malko and Ryan Roddy in Dublin at Cage Warriors 47 and 51 respectively, either side of a career-best victory over Lewis Long at October’s Cage Warriors 49 in Cardiff.
Check out Paul’s limb snapping performance on New Year’s Eve at Cage Warriors 51 below.
We believe several more exclusive Cage Warriors signings will be announced shortly.
You can follow Paul on twitter @redsermma.
Photos: Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors
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