CWFC 72: TAIT vs. TAURU

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship will crown a new bantamweight world champion on Saturday, September 13, when England's Cory Tait (8-2-0) and Finland's Toni Tauru (9-1-1) clash for the vacant title at Cage Warriors 72 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.

A new CWFC bantamweight world champion will be crowned when Cage Warriors Fighting Championship makes its inaugural visit to Newport, Wales, on Saturday, September 13, 2014.

Cage Warriors 72, which is set to take place at the Newport Centre, will see Cory Tait and Toni Tauru collide for Europe’s leading promotion’s vacant 135lbs title.

The eleventh Cage Warriors event of 2014, Newport will become the third Welsh city to play host to CWFC, following a trio of shows in Cardiff from October 2012 to September 2013, in addition to a debut in Swansea earlier this year.

Tait (8-2-0), a 26-year-old Englishman who has taken all of his career wins inside the distance, is one of the UK’s top bantamweights and earns his shot at the CWFC gold on the back of a four-fight win-streak. Following a number of impressive victories on the British domestic circuit, Tait was signed exclusively by Cage Warriors last year and announced his arrival on the international scene with a superb first-round submission of the hotly-favoured James Pennington in the main event at CWFC 64 in London back in February.

Despite hailing from a kickboxing background, Tait has as an equal number of (T)KO and submission wins - four each - with five of his victories coming in the very first round.

“I’m truly excited to be fighting for the Cage Warriors title,” said Tait, who holds other notable wins over fellow Cage Warriors veterans Spencer Hewitt, Dino Gambatesa and Nathan Beer.

“The fights keep on getting bigger and bigger for me. Winning this belt will prove that I’m the top bantamweight in the UK, and I’m looking forward to being recognised as just that.”

A 29-year-old Finn, Tauru (9-1-1) hasn’t tasted defeat since losing to former CWFC title challenger Mikael Silander in his second professional bout back in August 2011.

Since then, Tauru has embarked on a run of nine successive wins - the last six of which have come via submission - which has seen him climb to second place in the Nordic bantamweight rankings.

After submitting TUF 18 contestant Emil Hartsner via first-round gogoplata last November, Tauru was snapped up by Cage Warriors and picked up another first-round submission win over Martin Akhtar in his promotional debut at CWFC 66 in Copenhagen this past March.

Tauru said: “I’m very confident coming into this fight. It’s going to be my tenth straight win and I’m going to be the Cage Warriors champion, so I’m excited and grateful for this opportunity. But I also believe I have earned this title shot and I’m looking forward to becoming Finland’s first MMA world champion.”

The CWFC bantamweight belt was last held by Brett Johns until this past April, when his failure to make weight ahead of his CWFC 67 title bout against James Brum saw him relinquish the strap, despite picking up a unanimous-decision win.

Officials have also confirmed several other bouts today for September 13’s CWFC 72 bill in Newport, including a welterweight clash between Lewis Long and Steve Dinsdale. Check out the updated fight card below, with many more bouts and ticket news to be announced shortly.
 
Cage Warriors 72 (more bouts to be announced)
Cory Tait vs. Toni Tauru - vacant CWFC bantamweight world title bout
Jack Marshman vs. Che Mills
Steve Dinsdale vs. Lewis Long
Jordan Desborough vs. Kris Edwards
Jamie Rogers vs. Mario Saeed
Nick Nembherd vs. Simas Norkus
Paulina Bonkowska vs. Kate Jackson

Cory Tait forces Pennington to tap in the first round

Cory Tait vs James Pennington: Cage Warriors 64 Main Event Fight Review

by Ben Heather @benheather

Photo: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors

James Pennington came in to the fight having spent some time on the sidelines due to injury which was incurred the night of the Cage Warriors bantamweight title tournament and prevented him fighting for the title after winning his semi final fight against Kris Edwards. A win on Saturday night would have surely put Pennington next in line for a fight with Cage Warriors champ Brett Johns.

Cory Tait came in to the main event a 2-1 underdog with the bookies but was determined to prove them wrong by winning on Saturday night in the main event of Cage Warriors 64. It wasn’t just the win that made this fight special it was the way he did it. I can’t imagine many fans in the audience expected Cory Tait, the man famous for his highlight reel knockouts to win via first round submission but that’s exactly what happened.

James Pennington came out and began the better of the two fighters getting the better of the early exchanges before taking down Tait twice. Tait didn’t stay down for long though and after getting back up for the second time Pennington looked to shoot in again as he aimed to keep the renowned striker on the mat.

Tait this time managed to not only defend the takedown but got a hold of the head and neck of Pennington locking in a standing guillotine choke. Once Tait knew he had it locked in he cranked on it and it didn’t take long before Pennington tapped.

I am sure that Pennington will be back soon and try to go on another run which will push him back in to contention. The loss for James Pennington drops his record to 9-2 while Cory Tait improves his record to 8-2 keeping up his 100% finish percentage when he wins, with 4 wins by TKO and 4 by submission.

The win for Tait makes the title picture a bit clearer as I imagine now that Pennington’s team mate James Brum will be next in line for the title fight with Brett Johns while Cory Tait should be part of a number one contenders fight next time out.

James Pennington vs Cory Tait Set for Cage Warriors 64

James Pennington vs Cory Tait Set for Cage Warriors 64
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Photo: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors

A bantamweight contest between James Pennington and Cory Tait has been added to Cage Warriors 64 in February.

Cage Warriors 64 takes place February 15th at The Forum in London with Tickets for the event available now HERE. Cage Warriors 64 will the promotions first event in 2014.

GYM01 fighter James Pennington (9-1) enters the bout looking for his forth straight victory when he meets Tait in February. A top 10 UK Bantamweight Pennington has taken 7 of his victories by submission with his only loss of his career coming to TUF 18 finalist Davey Grant.

Pennington will be hoping victory over Tait will be enough to earn a title shot, having missed out at a shot at CW gold, after having to pull out of Cage Warriors 59's Bantamweight tournament final due to injury.

A former UCMMA Featherweight and Bantamweight title holder, Cory Tait (7-2) enters the bout with Pennington on the heels of a huge TKO victory over Spencer Hewitt. Original scheduled to fight Jordan Desborough at Cage Warriors 62, Tait was forced out of the bout due to injury.

Widely considered one of the finest prospects on the UK scene, Tae Kwon Do blackbelt Tait has taken all of his 7 wins by stoppage, drawing comparisons to Anderson Silva along the way thanks to highlight real finishes over Nathan Beer, and Dino Gambatesa by spinning back first and crescent kick respectively.

Stay tuned to KingdomMMA.co.uk for all the latest Cage Warriors news.

Cage Warriors 62 Adds Jordan Desborough vs Cory Tait

Cage Warriors 62 Adds Jordan Desborough vs Cory Tait
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Cory Tait (Photo: Fight Agents)

An intriguing Bantamweight battle between Jordan Desborough and Cory Tait has been added to Cage Warriors 62.

Fighting out of SBG Manchester, 21-year-old Jordan Desborough (7-3) who joined Cage Warriors on an exclusive 5 fight deal earlier in the year, is widely considered one of the finest young talents on the UK MMA scene.

With 4 finishes in 7 career victories, Desborough narrowly missed out on the Cage Warriors Bantamweight title by split decision when he stepped into to Septembers 4 man Bantamweight final as a replacement for James Pennington, who had injured himself in the previous round.

Cory Tait (7-2), A former UCMMA Featherweight and Bantamweight title holder, enters the bout with Desborough on the heals of a huge TKO victory over Spencer Hewitt.

A formidable striker who holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Tait, who recently signed a 5 fight exclusive contract with Cage Warriors also, has taken all of his 7 wins by stoppage, drawing comparisons to Anderson Silva along the way thanks to highlight real finishes over Nathan Beer, and Dino Gambatesa by spin back first and crescent kick respectively.
 
Cage Warriors 62 takes place on the 7th of December at the Metro Arena in Newcastle and features a Flyweight title fight in the main event, where newly crowned champion Neil Seery will defend his title against former UFC fighter UFC fighter Ulysses Gomez; former Bamma champion Curt Warburton is also on the card. Tickets start from £35 and are on sale now HERE

Cory Tait Signs 5 Fight Deal with Cage Warriors

Cory Tait Signs 5 Fight Deal with Cage Warriors
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Cory Tait (Photo: Fight Agents)

Highly touted bantamweight Cory Tait (7-2) has signed an exclusive 5 fight deal with Europe's leading promotion Cage Warriors.

Currently riding a 3 fight win streak, Tait made his professional MMA debut at Cage Warriors 38 before moving to UCMMA where he went on to win the promotions Featherweight & Bantamweight titles.

A formidable striker who holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Tait has taken all of his 7 wins by stoppage, drawing comparisons to Anderson Silva along the way thanks to highlight real finishes over Nathan Beer, and Dino Gambatesa by spin back first and crescent kick respectively.

Speaking on his Cage Warriors deal, the 25 year old said: “I’m excited to be signing with Cage Warriors,” said Tait. “Like myself, the promotion has come a long way in the last few years. I think this is the perfect time for me to show what I’m capable of and for Cage Warriors to have me.”

Tait becomes part of a bantamweight roster that already includes the likes of James Brum, Ronnie Mann, Martin McDonough, James Pennington and Brett Johns.

For all the lastest Cage Warriors news stay tuned to kingdomMMA.co.uk