Capping off this weekend’s MMA marathon is Europe’s largest promotion, as Cage Warriors 65 comes to us from The Helix in Dublin, Ireland. UFC veterans are featured in the top two fights of the card as they look to maintain their spots atop the Cage Warriors rankings against a pair of UK fighters on the way up. After picking up a very close decision win in his return to Cage Warriors, John Maguire (19-6) looks to keep his winning ways going at lightweight as he takes on a prospect with a ton of potential in Saul Rogers (7-1). Maguire brings his ‘Gypsy Jiu-Jitsu’ to this fight, which will provide an interesting test for Rogers, who has preferred to use his powerful takedowns and impressive top game to dispatch opponents quickly. Six of Rogers’ victories have come inside the first round, but Maguire has only been finished by hard-hitting middleweight Tom Watson. That could prove troublesome for Rogers, who has been known to fade if he can’t secure the early finish. The other UFC vet on this card is Australian Ben Alloway (12-5), who faces a tough task in Jack Mason (26-12). Alloway has always been a skilled fighter both standing and on the ground, but his Achilles heel has been his wrestling, even before he made it to the UFC. Mason isn’t the most technical wrestler out there, but he’s big for a welterweight and has been able to bully many opponents because of that, leading to an impressive run since dropping to 170lbs. English submission specialist Alex Enlund (9-2) takes on Ireland’s Artem Lobov (8-7, 1 NC) in the featherweight division. Lobov doesn’t bring the most impressive record with him, but has fought most of his career against much larger opponents and was still quite difficult to finish. If Enlund can coax a tap from Lobov it would make a great case for his standing in the Cage Warriors 135lb division, which is where he will likely be fighting moving forward. With the recent news of Neil Seery vacating his Cage Warriors flyweight title to make the move to the UFC, the 125lb clash between Bryan Creighton (5-1) and Damien Rooney (9-3-1) takes on significantly more meaning. Creighton is already 2-0 in Cage Warriors, with both wins coming by way of submission, including one over black belt Spencer Hewitt. Rooney is making his debut in the organization but has some good experience already, going to decision with Seery back in 2010. If the Irish fighter can make a good impression here he should take a big leap towards the title, and it would be surprising if Creighton picked up another victory and was more than one more win away from the title. Creighton’s grappling should give him the overall edge here, but the massive height and reach advantage going Rooney’s way is a bit worrisome. At lightweight, Dublin’s Paul Redmond (8-4) and Aussie Damien Brown (10-5) both look to rebound from losses in Cage Warriors in their last bouts. Redmond has the hometown advantage and has also fought in CWFC six times already, whereas Brown has only competed for the promotion once. We’ve seen how significant travel can effect fighters in other organizations, so will Brown be able to overcome that and get back into the winning column here? I think more than the travel, Redmond’s pressure grappling and aggressive striking is going to be the difference here. Kicking off the televised portion of the card is a battle between striker Phlip Mulpeter (6-4) and grappler Aldric Cassata (7-5, 1 NC). Mulpeter gave John Maguire all he could handle in his last outing, dropping a close decision but winning nearly all of the striking exchanges and showing good takedown defense for the majority of the 15 minutes. He should be equally concerned about that part of his game against Cassata, who has five wins by submission, but has looked vulnerable at times on the feet. This should prove a nice rebound for Mulpeter who can keep the fight on the feet and dominate the striking in this one. Cage Warriors 65 can be seen on CageWarriors.tv, MMAJunkie.com or The Fight Network starting at 4pm ET, with three prelims being streamed on the organization’s facebook page starting at 2:45pm ET. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for Cage Warriors 65 at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– John Maguire -230 Saul Rogers +170 Ben Alloway -165 Jack Mason +125 Alex Enlund -175 Artem Lobov +135 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Saul Rogers is very highly touted, and he is a very talented fighter. He’ll likely win the first round against John Maguire in this bout with a double leg that he shoots within the first 15 seconds of every bout, some ground and pound, and likely a submission attempt or two (he especially likes hunting for subs from the front headlock position). The problem is that Rogers doesn’t have good cardio, at all. Unless he manages to sub Maguire in that opening flurry, he’ll tire and Maguire will likely start to take over on the feet in the 2nd and 3rd round. If Maguire manages to put Rogers on his back any time in the third round, he can likely submit the young prospect as well. That being said, I wouldn’t advise a bet on Maguire. Sometimes he can be incredibly passive in his fights (both of his fights at lightweight in fact), and if Rogers has managed to improve his cardio (or even just pace himself better from top position), he has the wrestling to easily take two of three rounds here. The problem is that Rogers has suffered from this cardio issue in his only two fights to go past the first round, so until I see that turnaround I’m certainly not putting money on that either. Oh, Benny Benny Benny. Your 27% takedown defense in the UFC doesn’t give me a lot of faith in you in this spot, despite your superior skills in almost all areas. In fact, at any dog price, I like Mason here. Alloway’s wrestling issues aren’t just something that reared their head in the UFC, but also plagued him prior to getting there. It’s a combination of lacking fundamentals, and being willing to fight from his back, so as long as Mason even attempts to put him there, I can see some of his trademark heavy ground-and-pound allowing him to take a decision here. Alex Enlund should win this fight, as Artem Lobov isn’t particularly impressive in any area to stop him from doing so. That may change now that he’s down at 135, but it hasn’t been just size that has resulted in his nearly .500 record. The one advantage that I can see Lobov having here however, is cardio. Enlund has been out of the first round just once in all of his pro fights, while 10 of Lobov’s 16 bouts have gone the distance. That gives me a bit of pause, as if Enlund’s cardio is poor and we just haven’t had a chance to see it yet, Lobov could grind out the final two rounds here. Consider this a learning experience, as we’ll either find out about Enlund’s cardio, or if he is able to put Lobov away, that means he’s just extremely talented.
