NEXT EVENT SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER 2023

from Cage Warriors Academy 31

by PaulStafford

Falco defends title on a night of highlight reel KOs at Cage Warriors Academy.

Eight titles were either won or defended on a memorable night at Cage Warriors Academy South East 29 in Colchester, an event which also saw fans witness two knock-out of the year contenders.

At the top of the bill in the Charter Hall, hometown favourite Charlie Falco defended his pro straw-weight belt for the first time, dominating spirited French foe Adil Cherfi with grappling and some big elbows on the ground.

Falco, who fights out of Colchester's famed BKK Fighters Gym, improved to 3-2 in the paid ranks with a wide unanimous decision win - scores of 30-25 twice and a 30-26.

In the co-main, the packed crowd witnessed the pro debut of one of Europe's most hotly-tipped talents and Jon Vetle Furuheim did not disappoint, tapping experienced opponent Rafail Skouras to a rare Peruvian neck-tie submission in the very first round.

Featherweight 'Wonderboy' could well be the next big Norwegian star of the sport - aged just 20, and with a very well-rounded skill set, it will be fascinating to watch him attack the professional game.

Knock-out of the night, on an evening which featured two highlight reel contenders for the best stoppage of 2022, saw Jimmy Quinn win back his amateur bantamweight title with a staggering spinning heel kick obliteration of Kashann Khan.

Quinn, now 5-1, sent Khan (now 6-3) slumping to the mat with a breath-takingly swift, accurate and athletic shot to bounce back from suffering his first defeat against Harry Myers last time out.

The other contender for KO of the night - and potentially 2022 - came earlier on the card as Paulius Totoraitis scored the first win of his career by knocking Wilf Kelly out cold with a head-kick after first tenderising his lead leg with powerful punts.

Elsewhere, Shaun Fraser successfully defended his amateur welterweight crown by outpointing Noah Landes in what was probably the fight of the night, GB Top Team talent Fraser (now 5-0) showing some superb striking to pull away from his game and brave foe, who never stopped battling.

Arlind Berisha (now 8-1) became a two-weight amateur champ by adding the heavyweight strap to his light-heavy belt, stopping Nell Ariano in the first with heavy ground and pound.

Super prospect Connor Hayes, of SX MMA, moved to 8-0 and defended his amateur middleweight title with a first round leg lock of Mindaugas Mikaliak, while the charismatic GB Top Team fighter Vadimas Gaizutis (now 8-2) defended his amateur flyweight belt by tapping Alaa Cheaabi to an armbar in the opening stanza.

There was an upset as Axel Alfandari (now 3-2) produced a stirring third round comeback to stop Cameron Stewart (now 3-2) with a barrage of kicks and punches to win the amateur lightweight crown after being out-grappled in the first two sessions.

And French grappler Benoit Prigent (now 5-0) used a suffocating wrestling attack to nullify talented striker Alex Andrews, of Wisbech's Avaddon MMA, winning the amateur featherweight title and handing Andrews his first loss in the process.

In the other main card bout, the super popular Molly Lindsay returned from almost four years away from the sport, having had a son, to out-grapple the teak tough Camilla Bergstrom.

The fight was for the flyweight title but Lindsay, who moved to 4-2 with the win, missed weight so couldn't leave with the belt. She did leave, however, with an impressive performance in her back pocket - the move to BST MMA clearly having helped her round out her grappling skills, adding to an already technical and laser accurate striking attack.

“Fisk consistently excellent. Not only are they incredibly responsive, they’re also competitive. You don’t usually hear those two things together.”