CWFC 109 results and highlights: Herbert retains title with brutal KO

Jai Herbert (left) and Cain Carrizosa (right) | Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

Herbert became the first to defeat UFC veteran Carrizosa by knockout, while Morgan Charriere stopped Dean Trueman.

The Cage Warriors 109 main card was one of the promotion’s most stacked of the year, with bouts of significance and divisional relevance aplenty. Fans leaving the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England bared witness to two mightily impressive displays, with Jai Herbert and Morgan Charriere making big statements. Although the card got off to a bit of a slow start with a string of bouts lacking in any notable action, the main and co-main events totally turned the night around and generated lots of subsequent discussion on the European scene.

Much of the talk surrounding this event was that lightweight title holder, Jai Herbert, could well move onto the UFC with an impressive performance and he did exactly that. Herbert became the first person to ever finish UFC veteran Cain Carrizosa due to strikes by providing a thunderous knee that will live on Herbert’s highlight reel forever. As soon as the fight began, Herbert found his range almost instantly and most of the punches he threw connected to Carrizosa’s chin. The pair briefly hit the mat later in the round before getting back to their feet and exchanging punches. Carrizosa always fired back with offence of his own and landed a nice elbow on Herbert which definitely caught his attention. The end came about three and a half minutes into the first round when Herbert landed a knee in the clinch that landed flush on Carrizosa. He collapsed to the canvas immediately and his head bounced off the ground in one of the more brutal knockouts that will be seen this year. A call up to the UFC is highly probable in the Team Renegade product’s future.

Morgan Charriere had a stunning performance in the evening’s co-main event as he overcame former featherweight champion, Dean Trueman, by TKO. There was a sizeable French contingent in attendance to support Charriere and they could be heard throughout the fight, providing a lively and intense atmosphere. Charriere landed a takedown early but Trueman was active from the bottom and managed to work his way back to the feet. This same pattern continued for most of the first round but in the second frame, the Frenchman became more dominant and advanced to the back while he looked to land significant shots from the top. The finish came in the third and final round when Charriere landed a huge right hand which slumped Trueman against the cage so he followed up with heavy punches. He landed a big knee which was when referee Marc Goddard had seen enough and waved off the contest. There is a strong possibility that Charriere is next in line for the winner of the upcoming featherweight title fight between champion Mads Burnell and Steve Aimable.

In a matchup billed as a pivotal bantamweight clash, Christopher Miah had a successful promotional debut as he defeated Brian Bouland by unanimous decision. Miah looked to push his opponent back with big punches throughout before shooting in for the takedown when Bouland’s back was close to the cage. The Englishman wasn’t able to advance position or get off much damage once he took the fight to the mat but Bouland struggled to gain separation so couldn’t get off any offence of his own. It was expected that the winner would face newly-crowned champion, Jack Cartwright, but in a surprising move Miah announced that he was retiring after the victory so Cage Warriors will have to look elsewhere to find the challenger for Cartwright’s first title defense.

In the fight which opened the show, Mick Stanton picked up his third straight victory as he submitted Michael Younis in the second round. Stanton was dominant in the grappling throughout and despite hurting his leg during the bout, rallied to sink in a rear-naked choke. The Cage Warriors middleweight division is pretty shallow so the man from Liverpool can’t be far off a title shot once James Webb and Nathias Frederick rematch for the belt next month. Elsewhere on the card, after dropping down to featherweight, Perry Goodwin defeated Sameer Alekozai by decision after fending off takedown attempts and landing his own strikes from distance.

Cage Warriors 109 official results:-

Lightweight Title – Jai Herbert defeated Cain Carrizosa by knockout at 3:26 of round one to retain the title.

Featherweight – Morgan Charriere defeated Dean Trueman by TKO at 1:08 of round three.

Bantamweight – Christopher Miah defeated Brian Bouland by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Featherweight – Perry Goodwin defeated Sameer Alekozai by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

Middleweight – Mick Stanton defeated Michael Younis by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:54 of round two.