The Cage Warriors Fighting Championship is back for event No. 47, and this time the fights are coming to you straight from the Emerald Isle. This Saturday, MMAJunkie.com will be streaming the event live from The Helix in Dublin at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT (9 p.m. IST local time) immediately after three prelims on Cage Warriors Facebook page. The night boasts a double dose of championship action at each end of the scale with the heavyweight champion defending his title and the featherweight title going up for grabs. There are plenty of other intriguing matchups on the main card as well. Flyweight action will kick things off with Mark Platts (10-7) squaring off against a fighter with an equally underwhelming record in Neil Seery (9-9). After rocky starts to each of their respective careers, the two 126-pounders look to continue the age-old battle between the English and the Irish. Despite coming into Ireland as the invader, Platts opened as the favorite according to the MMA odds at -170 (bet $170 to win $100) compared to Seery at +130 (bet $100 to win $130). Next up, women’s flyweight standout Rosi Sexton (12-2) looks to continue her two-fight winning streak and work her way back up the 125-pound rankings. Standing in her way is is electric -haired Aisling Daly (13-2), an Irish sparkplug who is looking to extend her winning streak to four and make a name for herself by defeating the perennially top-ranked Sexton. This is going to be an incredibly close fight, with Aisling opening as the narrow favorite (-125) over Sexton (-115). Irish welterweight Cathal Pendred (9-2-1) will then clash with UFC vet and Swedish fighter David Bielkheden (17-10). Both fighters are finishers, with Cathal winning eight of his nine bouts by finish and Bielkheden going out on his shield if he can’t defeat his opponent before it goes to the judges. This should be a barn burner with Cathal opening as the clear but close favorite at -145 while Bielkheden is +105. In the co-main event, two featherweights will take center stage and try to wrap their arms around the vacant Cage Warriors FC featherweight title. Dave Hill is an Englishman and owner of a 10-2 record while going 1-2 in his last three, but he has an 80 percent submission rate and will look to make his opponent tap. Ireland’s Conor McGregor (10-2) will try to prevent that from happening and extend a six-fight winning streak. McGregor has 10 knockouts to his credit and is a solid favorite, opening at -260 compared to Hill at +200. Finally, the big boys will step into the cage as the heavyweight champion Mike Hayes (18-4) defends his title against fellow American DJ Linderman (11-3). Hayes may be the defending champ, but the opening MMA odds had him as the underdog at +170 with Linderman favored at -230. Hayes has won four fights in a row, including a quarterfinal matchup with Neil Grove in the Bellator Season Five Heavyweight Tournament before withdrawing due to a broken orbital bone. Linderman has split his last four fights, walking away with a split decision loss in the semifinals of the Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament and then beating Bob Brents in his heavyweight debut at Cage Warriors Fight Night 5.
