The latest installment of Cage Warriors is set for Friday evening in London, as the Irish-owned promotion approaches the 20th anniversary of its first MMA event. Such stars as Conor McGRegor, Gegard Mousasi, Dennis Siver and Michael Bisping had their first big break in Cage Warriors, and Friday’s event will take place at O2 Arena in London, starting at 1:30 pm Eastern time. The headliner is a fight for the Cage Warriors Featherweight title, as Jordan Vucenic looks to defend his belt against James Hendin. The co-main event pits Patrick Vallee against Will Currie in a middleweight tilt. Don’t miss the whole fight card, as you can watch the entire event on UFC Fight Pass. Check out the fight card as well as some Cage Warriors betting insights on the top tilts.
Cage Warriors 134 Preview
Main Card
James Hendin vs Jordan Vucenic (Cage Warriors Featherweight Championship)
Patrick Vallee vs Will Currie (Middleweight)
Decky McAleenan vs Tobias Harila (Lightweight)
Lukasz Kopera vs George Hardwick (Catchweight – 161 lbs)
Ben Ellis vs Nik Bagley (Featherweight)
Preliminary Card
Aidan James vs Kingsley Crawford (Bantamweight)
Ryan Morgan vs Lone’er Kavanagh (Flyweight)
Jordan Vucenic (8-1 MMA, 4-0 CW) vs James Hendin (6-1 MMA, 5-1 CW) is a title fight involving a late substitution, as Vucenic was originally supposed to meet Paul Hughes. However, Hughes had to withdraw on Monday with a neck injury, and so now Hendin steps in with an unexpected opportunity. Vucenic comes in with a six-fight winning streak that includes five straight victories in MMA. However, he has not fought in almost a year, dating back to his split-decision win over Morgan Charriere at Cage Warriors 122. It’s possible that Vucenic comes in with a ton of rust; it’s also possible that the pressure of having UFC’s eye on him, thanks to that long winning streak, could either motivate him or add too much stress.
James Hendin has had almost as long of a layoff, though, as he last fought at Cage Warriors 125 back in June. He took down Paull McBain with a rear-naked choke in the second round and has won four of his last five bouts. Hendin has been booked for this card for a while, but Vucenic is the third opponent he has been set to fight. He was initially set to fight on the undercard against Steve Aimable, but he withdrew. He was rebooked to take on Tobias Harila on the main card until Hughes’ neck injury came to light. With this last reschedule coming just four days ahead of the fight, the mental preparation has to have been tricky.
Vucenic has a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, while Hendin is more of a grappler by trade. When Vucenic came into Cage Warriors, he debuted against Kommon Deh and showed him skill when it comes to notching takedowns. He used that approach, incuidng a double-leg takedown that he set up with hip switches to open the fight, to counteract Kommon Deh’s boxing skills. He locked Deh up in the clinch in the first round to drain time off the clock. After Kommon Deh escaped, Vucenic had to get away from a submission attempt and then got a fourth takedown right after carrying out a leg trip. He almost got locked in a standing guillotine choke as the round drew to a close, but he dumped him and got to the top mount. He pulled this off again in the third round. If Vucenic can stack up some takedowns and keep Hendin on the mat, then he has an excellent chance at winning this on the cards.
Hendin is likely to come at Vucenic with the approach of forcing a submission. Hendin reversed a takedown in his last fight with McBain and then took the back mount, applying pressure on his jaw and then moving to the rear-naked choke, forcing the tap-out. So each time Vucenic pulls off a takedown, watch for Hendin to try and reverse position and deliver the submission. Despite the rust, though, Vucenic should be able to stack up the points and win.
Final Prediction:Vucenic wins via decision
Cage Warriors Betting Odds
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