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| Cage Warriors |
We asked three of Kingdom MMA's finest for their opinions on the event:
In what way does the home field advantage help Curt Warburton against Steven Ray?
Ben Heather: Having the home support will be crucial for Curt on Saturday. I do expect a lot of Scots to make the trip though so I can't see it being a totally one sided crowd. The other thing to factor in is that the first time they fought, when Curt won it was in the same arena and that may also come into play for Curt Warburton.
Chris Houten: I have never personally had the pleasure of attending a fight in Newcastle, however I have meet several Geordies in my time and I expect the fans up there to be on point by the time Ray vs Wartburton rolls around.
Having spoken to a lot of fighters in my time, many often speak about how they don't even notice the crowd when they get in there, and from what I've seen the ones that do are usually the ones who get encouraged into wild exchanges.
Warburton and Ray are both professionals and I genuinely don't think the crowd will have much of an effect on the fight - a positive effect for Warburton and an adverse effect for Ray. I was in attendance for their last fight too and if the amount of Scots in London were anything to go by, I don't think the home field advantage will even be that great.
Alex Dillon: I'd have to say not an awful lot! I imagine Ray will take a good following down from Scotland seeing as it's not too far away from Newcastle, it's not like he's fighting a guy in a different country for me.
Will it be Alex Enlund or Nad Narimani who becomes the first English Cage Warriors champion in three years?
Ben: Yes, obviously what ever happens we will end up with our first English Cage Warriors champion since Danny Batten (Featherweight), but I think Alex has the better game at this stage in his career and I believe that he will finish Nad in Newcastle.
Chris: I think the fact that Cage Warriors has not had an English champion in three years shows just how international the promotion has become.
Alex Enlund enters the fight on Saturday and with good reason having finished all 10 of his opponents to date, which includes an impressive run of three first round submissions on route to his title shot with Narimani. Enlund is a star. His jiu-jitsu wizardary might be too much for anyone in the 145lb at this point.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not automatically ruling Nad Narimani out, Narimani is coming off an impressive run of two first round submissions himself. I’ just making the point that it certainly feels like this is Alex Enlund’s fight to lose.
Alex: Yeah I think Enlund takes it, he's been on a tear.
Haque vs Rooney or Casswell vs Lasota, which two fighters will advance to face off for the belt next year?
Ben: I really can't pick who will win the Haque vs Rooney fight, it's such a great match-up and either man could end the night with their arm raised but if I have to pick one it would be Haque. I think Casswell will win the other fight. He has such a high level judo game which will cause a lot of problems for most fighters in the division.
Chris: I have great regard for Brett Caswell, he comes from a ridiculous high level judo background and if he can get his hands right he could be easily be the best prospect the UK has at 125lb. He's a guy all UK MMA fans should be excited about. That said Lasota is no easy task with great wrestling and a solid ground. Listening to Connor Hutton's interview Caswell earlier in the week though, I genuinely feel this he should be able to control the fight, take Lasota down at will, and grind out a clear-cut decision.
Haque vs Rooney is a great fight with either man able to win. Haque has shown he has solid wrestling throughout his Cage Warriors career but also showed in his last fight with Martin McDonough that he he can stand with a good striker and has the ability to really push the pace for 15 minutes. His opponent Rooney has shown he has a solid ground game picking up a number of impressive submissions in his career and definitely have the ability to catch Haque, at any stage, where Haque has struggled to finished fights thus far in his career.
I like Haque to winning potentially setting up a title fight with Caswell in the new year, but I wouldn’t count Rooney out either.
Alex: Rooney and Caswell, I actually put Rooney in my top five Irish fighters the UFC could sign within the next year and i'll stick with that, he's an exceptional finisher and probably the best in the division for me.
Is it game over for Leeroy Barnes if he loses to Kyle Redfearn?
Ben: I expected Cage Warriors and Leeroy to have parted company after his last loss. That being said, to be fair to Leeroy that loss was against by far the hardest opponent he has faced since joining Cage Warriors and he showed great heart to carry on for so long in the state he was. So based on that last fight I think he deserves one last shot. A loss to Redfearn will make it 0-5 for Cage Warriors and surely will be the end for his time with the promotion, and maybe even his career in MMA.
Chris: Leeroy Barnes is a promoter's dream, he's got a loud mouth, a huge social media presence, he's not a bad looking lad, and to his credit he will fight anyone. I genuinely believe if Leeroy Barnes was a better fighter he has the total package to be a huge star.
If Barnes was to loss on Saturday to Redfearn, I personally would want to see him fighting for Cage Warriors again under his current run of form. He certainly wouldn't be game over for Barnes if he were to loss to Redfearn with the likes of Made 4 the Cage, and FCC providing an excellent stage for Barnes to continue his career and build back up toward the big stage, a stage his personality justifies, it's just his skills in the cage that let him down.
Alex: He's lost his last four fights (all on CW) 3 of which were finishes so really if he doesn't turn it around against Kyle Redfearn surely its the end for him. I know he signed a new deal recently but something has to give. In fairness I've always thought he belongs at welterweight and not middleweight anyway.
Now you have heard what we all think, let us know your thoughts below.
i really don't think there will be much home advantage for Warburton as i no off a lot of people coming down from Scotland including myself and come fight time they will make them self heard.
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