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Four Reasons Why You Should Watch Cage Warriors 181: Newcastle | UFC FIGHT PASS

Europe’s Leading MMA Promotion Returns To Newcastle, England On Saturday, And You Can Watch The Action Live On UFC Fight Pass
By Simon Head • Nov. 22, 2024

Cage Warriors action returns to UFC Fight Pass for Cage Warriors 181 on Saturday, with two world titles on the line in Newcastle, England.

Adverse weather conditions have already played a part, with Storm Bert hitting the UK with high winds, torrential rain and flooding. It's meant that the fight card has lost one of its three planned world title fights, with French contender Nicolas Leblond unable to travel to the UK.

But fear not, the fight card still features two championship matchups, plus a host of exciting matchups to keep you entertained on a busy day of MMA.

Here are four reasons why you should fire up UFC Fight Pass and settle in to watch Cage Warriors 181...

Find out if Harry 'Houdini' Hardwick escape Keweny Lopes' heavy hands

Fighting siblings Harry and George Hardwick currently have the Cage Warriors featherweight and lightweight divisions on lockdown, with the brothers holding the promotion's 145- and 155-pound titles, respectively. 

Watch Live Starting At 1:30pm ET / 10:30am PT Saturday Nov 23. On UFC Fight Pass

George successfully returned to action with a unanimous decision victory over Cristian Iorga at Cage Warriors 176 to retain his title back in September. Now it's Harry's turn.

Hardwick has won five and drawn one of his six bouts under the Cage Warriors banner as he's climbed the featherweight ranks to capture the promotion’s title. His championship-winning performance, a second-round TKO finish of Orlando Wilson Prins at Cage Warriors 172, may only be his second career finishes via strikes, but his game is looking more well-rounded with every passing fight. 

But, make no mistake, Hardwick shines best when the fight hits the mat, and the Middlesbrough man will be keen to put that grappling acumen to good use against an opponent who arrives in Newcastle with heavy hands, and bad intentions.

"Houdini" takes on Brazilian knockout artist Keweny Lopes, who hasn't lost since 2016, and has finished nine of his last 10 opponents, with eight of those coming via knockout or TKO. "Leao" heads into enemy territory on Saturday as he makes his Cage Warriors debut, but the Nova Uniao striker won't be too concerned with the fans outside the cage. His sights are firmly set on the Cage Warriors title.

See if 'The Machine 2.0' can follow in her father's illustrious footsteps

If you're a longtime fan of the UFC, and even more so if you're a longtime UFC fan from the UK, you'll know just how important the name Ian Freeman is in the history of UK mixed martial arts.

"The Machine" was the first Englishman to fight in the UFC, and the story of his emotional victory over Frank Mir at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall has become the stuff of UK MMA folklore. At the age of 58, Freeman's fighting days may be firmly behind him, but the fighting name of Freeman continues inside the cage, courtesy of his daughter, Kennedy.

Dubbed "The Machine 2.0", Kennedy went 6-1 as an amateur before turning pro in 2018 and capturing a regional title for North East England promotion Made 4 The Cage. She then signed a multi-fight deal with Cage Warriors, and claimed back-to-back knockouts to immediately establish herself as a championship contender in the women's 135-pound division.

Now Freeman is ready to challenge for Cage Warriors gold, and she'll take on Portuguese contender Mafalda Carmona, who arrives in Newcastle with a 7-2 record and a resume that includes taking recent UFC signing Melissa Mullins the distance back in 2022.

Justin Burlinson KO'd cancer. Now he's back in Cage Warriors

England's Justin Burlinson may be a familiar name to some outside of the UK as he appeared on Dana White's Contender Series back in 2021. That night didn't go his way, but he bounced back and is ready to make a charge towards the Cage Warriors welterweight title.

Burlinson bounced back with an impressive win over Daniel Skibinski to earn a shot at the vacant welterweight title but fell short against former UFC welterweight Rhys McKee. Yet again, Burlinson had to rebound, and he did exactly that against Jamie Richardson, courtesy of a third-round rear-naked choke finish.

Burlinson was back on track and seemingly in line to cement his status as a title contender once again, but all thoughts of a contender clash were put to one side when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer earlier this year. Burlinson underwent treatment and, remarkably, just a matter of months later, he's back, and ready to resume his quest for Cage Warriors gold.

His comeback fight takes place on Saturday, when he'll take on 6-1 Swedish contender Theodor Berggren, who arrives in Cage Warriors having finished each of his last four opponents.

We could find the next lightweight title challenger

We mentioned George Hardwick earlier, and he'll certainly be an interested spectator when rival lightweight contenders James Power and Dumitru Girlean face off on the main card on Saturday night.

In a case of nominative determinism at its finest, Power has finished six of his seven career wins by knockout, and his last fight, an absolute slobberknocker of a scrap with Daniel Kolasinski at Cage Warriors 172, delivered one of best fights seen on UFC Fight Pass in 2024.

Power returns to action looking to earn himself a shot at Hardwick and the lightweight title, but standing in his way is a man with exactly the same goal. Italy's Dumitru Girlean has a 100 percent finish rate and has never seen the judges' scorecards in his 8-2 pro career.

The 30-year-old from Verona made a huge splash on his Cage Warriors debut back in 2023 with stunning third-round knockout of rising star Adam Cullen at Cage Warriors 152 and, after a rare loss to Leon Hill later that year, bounced back with back-to-back submission victories over Simone Patrizi and Scottish veteran Chris Bungard.

Now Girlean, who has four wins by knockout and four by submission, will be looking to add another stoppage victory to his name this weekend. If he can defeat Power, a shot at Hardwick's 155-pound title could be just around the corner.

Cage Warriors 181: Newcastle streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

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