Paddy Pimblett | Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors
The Belgian has withdrawn for personal reasons so Martinez hopes to immediately insert himself into the lightweight title picture with a win.
Paddy Pimblett has got a new opponent for his return to the cage next month.
A fight between the Liverpudlian and Desmae has now fallen through for the third time after the Belgian withdrew from the contest due to personal reasons. Davide Martinez has stepped in to make his promotional debut against ‘The Baddy’ in the Indigo at the O2 on Friday, March 20. The company announced the fight change in a press release on Wednesday morning and the event will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass. It will be a huge weekend in London with the UFC staging their annual event in the capital on the following night so many new eyes could be on the European organisation.
Pimblett (14-3) hasn’t competed since he fell short in his effort to capture the Cage Warriors lightweight title against Soren Bak in September 2018. He was supposed to return to action three months ago against TUF veteran, Joe Giannetti, but the American missed weight by a significant margin so the bout was cancelled. With the lightweight title currently vacant following Jai Herbert’s signing to the UFC, a big win for Pimblett will place himself immediately in contention for the belt.
Martinez (8-2) is riding a six-fight winning streak which includes three TKO stoppages in the opening frame. The 26-year-old will be fighting outside of his native Italy for the first time and is heading for the city where Pimblett has never lost. Martinez has been granted a golden opportunity to topple one of the biggest names on the European scene and propel himself straight into the upper echelon of the division.
With this announcement, the Cage Warriors 113 lineup is as follows:-
Main Card
Morgan Charrieré vs TBC – Interim Featherweight Title
Samir Faiddine (c) vs Luke Shanks – Flyweight Title
Paddy Pimblett vs Davide Martinez – Lightweight
Danilo Belluardo vs. Mason Jones – Lightweight
Ian Garry vs TBC – Welterweight
Pro Prelims
Joe McColgan vs Rafael Macedo – Lightweight
Perry Goodwin vs Steve Aimable – Featherweight
Cory Tait vs Davide Baneschi – Bantamweight
Nathan Jones vs TBC – Welterweight
Aidan Stephen vs. Emrah Sonmez – Featherweight
Lewis Monarch vs Kingsley Crawford – Featherweight
Kris Edwards vs James Hendin – Featherweight
Matthew Bonner vs. Jamie Richardson – Middleweight
Darren O’Gorman vs Coner Hignett – Flyweight
Adam Amarasinghe vs Jake Bond – Flyweight
Joshua Onwordi vs Jack Collins – Lightweight