This weekend Cage Warriors returns to one of their regular haunts, as The Forum in London will play host to their 60th numbered event. The event features a dual-headliner of sorts, as Bola Omoyele takes on UFC veteran Aaron Wilkinson in a welterweight bout, while the organization also holds another one-night, four-man tournament to crown a champion in the lightweight division which Conor McGregor previously reigned over. Lines will be available for the two semifinal bouts, and the winners (barring injury) will step back in the cage for a five-round title fight at the end of the evening. Elsewhere on the card, Leeroy Barnes looks to rebound from a tough decision loss to Norman Paraisy at CWFC 57 as he takes on Polish import Kacper Karski. Flyweights also look to earn their spot in the title picture as Bryan Creighton and Spencer Hewitt square off, potentially for a shot against 125lb champion Neil Seery. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for CWFC 60 at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD Bola Omoyele -385 Aaron Wilkinson +265 Leeroy Barnes -150 Kacper Karski +110 Bryan Creighton -230 Spencer Hewitt +170 ——————– PRELIMINARY CARD Lightweight Tournament Semi-Finals Ivan Buchinger -285 Mick Sinclair +205 Steven Ray -230 Jason Ball +170 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: After looking like he had some potential on The Ultimate Fighter 12, Aaron Wilkinson hasn’t been overly impressive. Sure, he’s gone 4-2 since being cut by the UFC, but his wins came over opponents with a combined record of 21-59. And yes, you read that correctly. Against Bola Omoyele, he’s getting in there with someone who has no intentions of grappling with him, and is far more adept at both striking and keeping the fight standing than he is. Looks bleak for Wilkinson, but Bola could help strengthen a parlay. In the Barnes/Karski fight, I think that if it stays standing, Barnes will be able to get the win. On the ground it gets a bit trickier, as Barnes has a tendency to give up position to go for guillotines, but Karski also isn’t as skilled a grappler as someone like Norman Paraisy. I see Barnes getting the better of the striking, Karski attempting a takedown and getting tapped by the same guillotine that seven other fighters have succumb to. At nearly even money, I’m on Barnes here. In the Flyweight bout, I do lean towards Bryan Creighton, but with the fledgling status of this weightclass in the UK still, I can’t be sure that something unexpected isn’t going to come out of the woodwork here. The fact is that on tape, Creighton is the more skilled of two grapplers in this one. Should the feet stay on the feet however, who knows what’s going to take place. That’s why although the lean is Creighton, I don’t like this fight for a bet. I think the lightweight tournament will be interesting, but ultimately result in a rematch of the CWFC 54 bout between Ivan Buchinger and Jason Ball. Buchinger has historically only lost to fighters of a very high calibre (McGregor, Anton Kuivanen, Akira Corassani), and Sinclair is coming off of a two-year plus layoff. Sinclair has shown the power to end fights quickly, but if he doesn’t, Buchinger will punch his ticket to the finals by a two-round decision or submission victory. On the other side of the bracket, I do tab Jason Ball for the upset. Steven Ray is another British fighter who loves to grapple, and has picked up 6 of his 12 wins via submission, but 3 of 4 losses have also come the same way. Ball is a veteran of the UK MMA scene, and hasn’t been submitted since before Ray’s career even began. I think Ball will be too wiley for Ray on the mat, and too violent in the clinch en route to a victory here. He’ll also have the motivation to avenge his loss to Buchinger (if Ivan wins as expected), since Ball and Ray are slated as the second semifinal.
