In Cage Warriors return to the Echo Arena in Liverpool this evening Paddy Pimblett failed to defend his featherweight title when he slumped to a unanimous decision loss against Nad Narimani.
From the get go Niramani looked to put pressure on his opponent and was the aggressor from the off, after stuffing a takedown attempt from Pimblett and finding himself on top where he smothered the former champ for the remainder of the first round.
Niramani’s maintained his dominance in rounds 2 and 3 as he pressed forward and would land the harder strikes. As the pair entered the championship rounds, Pimblett’s title looked to be slipping from his grasp as he found himself on his back once again. In the latter stages of the round, the “Baddy” did manage to take the back of Niramani but failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
It was more of the same in the final round as the former champion would continue to struggle and as a result, his opponent would earn a unanimous decision win to dethroned Pimblett in his hometown and walks away with the featherweight belt.
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Nathaniel Wood secures biggest career win to earn title shot
The co-main event of Cage Warriors 82 featured a bantamweight match-up which saw Nathaniel Wood secure the biggest win of his career against UFC veteran Vaughan Lee.
This was set to be by far Wood’s toughest test to date and the first round followed that pattern, as the former UFC man’s experienced looked to be the difference as he controlled the pace from the outset.
However, in the second stanza, it would be Wood’s who would control the action as ‘The Prospect’ would begin to land with increasing frequency against Lee.
Wood continued to pile up the pressure which would prove to be too much for his opponent as he opened up with a quick combination and changing levels before Lee slumped to the mat leaving the referee no choice but to intervene.
Best of the rest at Cage Warriors 82
Leading up to Paddy Pimblett’s title defense fellow Liverpudlian Lee Chadwick did all he could to pump up the home crowd when he made quick work of Tommy Quinn in their middleweight match-up. It took only 58 seconds for ‘The Butcher’ to get the submission victory, after landing a huge right hand which dropped his opponent, Chadwick saw the opportunity for a standing guillotine and took full advantage to get the tap.
This submission victory somewhat mirrored that of Ross Houston’s during the prelims when he submitted local lad Dylan McLoughlin in just 31 seconds before dropping the name of Aaron Khalid as someone he’d like to face next.
Former TUF competitor Frantz Slioa survived some nasty submission attempts from Dean Trueman early on to then claim a submission victory. Cornered by Jimmy Manuwa, Siloa had to stay focused from the outset after Trueman came out all guns blazing; and after weathering a triangle choke and an armbar attempts Siloa managed to lock in a submission of his own, via rear naked choke to get the stoppage.
In a night which was riddled with submission victories, fans in attendance were treated to a highlight reel knockout when Frenchman Johan Romming landed a huge right hand which left Leeroy Barnes out cold. After a tentative opening, the two looked to stand and bang but it would be Barnes who would be on the wrong end of the violent exchange when he was then dropped to the canvas with a big right hand leaving him out cold.
In the opening main card bout of Cage Warriors 82, Molly McCann secured a hard earned unanimous-decision victory over Lacey Schuckman. The two women were embroiled in a back and forth battle, but the screams of Molly rang out through the stadium helped McCann to grind out the win in what was an emotional night for the fighter. After starting positively and taking the first round McCann found herself on her back for the majority of the second round and some of the third but rose to her feet just in time to press forward once more and leave no doubt in the judges mind that she was the rightful winner.
In one of the most exciting fights of the evening, both Lloyd Manning and Paul McBain entered the bout undefeated however it was McBain who walked away with the unblemished record. The Irishman had a lot of hype behind him and started the bout well knocking down his opponent but McBlain was quick to recover and land some strikes of his own. After weathering the early storm and three hard fought rounds the Scotsman gas tank looked to be the difference as he continued to apply pressure on the gassed Manning until the final bell rang.
For all of last night’s Cage Warriors 82 results click here.