Introducing Cage Warriors new recruits

Cage Warriors signs up four more fighters

by Ben Heather @benheather

Cage Warriors have signed four more fighters to exclusive contracts, which will commit each of them to fight for Cage Warriors for at least the next 18 months. Jack Hermansson, Doni Miller, Julien Boussuge and Mike Johnson are the latest fighters to be snapped up by Cage Warriors and each have put pen to paper on five fight contracts.

Jack Hermansson (5-2) who has already fought twice under the Cage Warriors banner picking up wins over Ali Arish and Mike Ling back in 2011. After this he was signed by Bellator but unfortunately went 0-2 and now returns to Cage Warriors looking to return to the form he was in before leaving the promotion.

With four KO's out of his five wins you know you will see an exciting fight when Hermansson returns to the Cage in 2014 and this is what he had to say about the return to Cage Warriors.

“I’m really glad to be back with the best organisation in Europe,” said 25-year-old Hermansson. “This is the place for me right now and I’m looking forward to showing who the best European middleweight is.”

Doni Miller (5-2) who was last in action at Cage Warriors 61 losing to rising star Arnold Allen at featherweight plans to move to the bantamweight division in 2014. Miller who fights out of Scotland’s Dinky Ninjas camp with renowned stars Joanne Calderwood, Robert Whiteford and Stevie Ray to name a few.

Before his fight with Arnold Allen last month Miller was on a run of four straight victories. Even though Miller lost at Cage Warriors 61 he certainly impressed taking the fight as a late-notice replacement and putting up a good fight and even testing Allen on a couple of occasions in the first round.

Miller had the following to say about signing for Cage Warriors:

“I’m absolutely ecstatic about signing with one of the biggest organisations in the world and I’m really looking forward to being involved in some exciting scraps against the best of the CWFC bantamweight division.”

Julien Boussuge (10-3) also fought at Cage Warriors 61, defeating the Australian fighter Damien Brown by decision to secure his tenth professional victory and his third on the trot. The 32 year old French lightweight, who fights out of Paris is looking to test himself as he makes his Cage Warriors debut in 2014.

“It’s a real honour for me to have signed with Cage Warriors,” Boussuge said. “I’ll be looking to challenge CWFC’s best lightweights in order to get to the very top of the division.”

The last of the four new recruits is Mike Johnson (9-6). Johnson is a top 25 ranked English welterweight who is only looking to improve on his place in the rankings and knows that if he puts on a show in his Cage Warriors debut his place in the rankings will only go one way.

Johnson unfortunately lost his last fight at the hands of Wayne Murrie, in a BAMMA Lonsdale British Welterweight title fight which ended the run of four consecutive victories.
Johnson said:

“I want to thank Cage Warriors and my management for giving me this opportunity. I can’t wait to get in there and showcase my skills for the CWFC fans around the world.”

All four of these fighters will be looking to kick off 2014 with a bang, keep tuned to Kingdom MMA for more news on Cage Warriors as well as updates on when the four new recruits will be fighting. I am sure it won't be long before we see them all in action.

UFC finally sign another flyweight

Montague gets a tough debut at UFC 166

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

On October 16th, Darrell Montague will step foot in to the UFC's octagon to make his debut against John Dodson. There are plenty of very good flyweight fighters around and the UFC Flyweight division is very shallow. It should therefore come as no surprise the UFC have added Darrell Montague to its ranks.

Montague has long been rumoured to be in the UFC crosshairs and they've finally got there man. He brings a credible 13-2 record into the Octagon. In 2011 he defeated former UFC fighter Ulysez Gomez for the Tachi Palace flyweight title. He was defeated by current contender Ian "uncle creepy" McCall. He has since gone on a 4 fight winning streak.

His debut will be as tough as they come as he takes on former title challenger John Dodson. Dodson gave champion Demetrius Johnson everything he could handle but ultimately came up just short. He will be looking to bounce right back into title contention with a win here and in the process knock back another potential challenger. 

Chael Sonnen was never the shy and retiring type

Chael Sonnen signs new contract and will drop to middleweight after fight against Shogun

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

The UFC has confirmed Chael Sonnen has signed a new deal, the deal will coincide with his return to the middleweight division.

Sonnen confirmed a 5 fight deal which will kick in after his August 17 fight with Shogun Rua which headlines the first UFC on Fox Sports 1 event. Sonnen also told of a move in his training camp to help with the drop back to middleweight. He has moved to California to train at Mark Munuz's 'Reign'.

With the former Middleweight and Light Heavyweight contender known to talk his way into several huge fights there is no shortage of opponents for him. Vitor Belfort is stuck in a bit of a no mans land at the minute and has asked for the fight at the massive end of year ppv on Dec 28th.

Wanderlei Silva is another possible opponent. First and foremost though Sonnen has to deal with a very tough opponent in Shogun Rua who certainly can't be taken lightly.

Cage Warriors sign Ronnie Mann

Cage Warriors buy out Ronnie Mann from his Bellator contract

A press release issued by Cage Warriors confirmed the news that Ronnie Mann has signed an exclusive deal to fight only for Cage Warriors, you can read that press release in full below.

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship is pleased to confirm that it has signed top English bantamweight Ronnie Mann.

The five-fight deal will see the 26-year-old compete exclusively for Cage Warriors over a minimum of 18 months, after CWFC paid a fee of $5,000 to Bellator to have Mann released from his contract with the promotion.

Cage Warriors 57 at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on July 20 has been pencilled in for Mann’s CWFC debut, with the Cheltenham native keen to make his mark on Europe’s most competitive bantamweight division.

“I’m extremely happy to have signed with Cage Warriors,” said Mann. “It’s very flattering that they were willing to buy my contract from Bellator.

“Graham Boylan and all the guys at CWFC are great, and I’m very thankful for what they’ve done. In my opinion it’s the best promotion in Europe and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Currently ranked fourth in the UK, Mann accumulated a 3-3 record in Bellator after debuting for the promotion in April 2011. In his 28 professional bouts, Mann has been stopped just twice.

He added: “Bellator are a good promotion but I needed to be active again because I wasn’t fighting as regularly as I would have liked.

“I’m looking forward to having regular fights again, especially on the UK scene and in front the great fans we have here. I want to get my name out there again in Europe and hopefully work my way to a title shot. But for me, it's one step at a time.”

Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan said: “I’d like to thank Bellator for their co-operation in this deal. I don’t like to see fighters not active in the prime of their careers and Bellator understood that, at his age, Ronnie needed to be busy.

“Like all of our fighters, Ronnie will have plenty of opportunities here at Cage Warriors. Our bantamweight division is extremely strong and Ronnie has got the ability to make a big impact.”