Cage Warriors 141 recap following a knockout night in London

Huynh NguyenJuly 26, 2022

International Mixed Martial Arts promotion Cage Warriors staged their 20th-anniversary celebrations in London on Saturday with the action-packed Cage Warriors 141 show. Fights took place at the O2 Arena in the North Greenwich area of London, England, with a sold-out Indigo cheering on their favourite fighters as fighters made their way through a stacked card full of competitive contests. But who were the big winners of the evening?

There was no shortage of shock results, and even more knockout wins on a hard-hitting night of MMA. From the opening bout of the prelims through to the main event when George Hardwick KO’d long-term rival Kyle Driscoll for the Cage Warriors lightweight championship belt, Cage Warriors 141 didn’t disappoint. There was something for everyone on the night, including showreel stoppages and fights that went the distance and appealed to the purists sitting in the stands or watching live on television.

Such was the enormity of the occasion – the 20th anniversary of one of the sport’s best-loved promotions, which has promoted many household names over the years – the world’s media were in attendance. Scribes from Russia joined journalists from Scotland. With an interest in the top bouts of the night, the top online sportsbooks even sent employees to cover the fixtures pre-fight and in-play, with bookies from Manchester to Massachusetts offering odds and accepting wagers. This helped create an extra edge of excitement for those making predictions and watching the action.

McEwan impresses in the prelims

As is often the case when Cage Warriors is in town, a well-matched programme paved the way for more than one upset, with Scotland’s Reece McEwan scoring the most unexpected win of the night over Kingsley Crawford. The bantamweight entered the ring in London, cheered on by a hardy band of travelling supporters down from Greenock, Scotland, knowing it was a bout he had to win if he was serious about reaching the top and challenging for the belt. Reece achieved exactly what he had set out to, beating his higher-ranked opponent on points by margins of three, two and two rounds.

The opening round was a close one – the closest of the three – and many believed Crawford nicked it on skill and work rate, but that only inspired the young Scotsman to fight harder. He snatched the second to level things at one round, each heading into the decider. It then became a matter of which fighter had trained harder and who wanted it more. Reece looked a picture of health in there, fighting at a high level throughout the contest, never looking for a pause or a way out. He seemed to savour the intensity and heat of the battle.

A perfectly delivered head kick sent Crawford sprawling to the canvas in round three, and that attack seemed to change the course of the bout. McEwan was unable to finish the move off, getting too close and crowding his work in a desperate bid to finish the fight, taking the decision out of the judges’ hands. Crawford has seen it all during his time as a professional MMA fighter, and the Englishman used that experience to make it to the final bell and ask a question of the scorers.

Only one man looked confident at the end, and the tartan supporters who had arrived in London by air, rail and coach were in high spirits. Reece got the reward for his efforts with the scorecards reading 30-27, 29-28, 29, 28, all in favour of McEwan, who is now 2-0 fighting under the Cage Warriors banner.

Hardwick KOs Driscoll

In the evening’s main event, George Hardwick had the last laugh over opponent Kyle Driscoll, scoring a fourth-round TKO to land the vacant Cage Warriors lightweight title. He delivered an electric combination of punches to the head and body to get Driscoll out of there, leaving his opponent badly dazed and in no shape to continue.

The referee stepped in at 1.26 of round four, calling the bout and awarding George both the win and the championship belt. That sets up a huge second half to the year for the winner, and he’ll aim to defend his belt before Christmas.