If you didn’t get enough MMA action on Friday night with a potential card of the year in UFC Fight Night 33 and some solid violence on Legacy FC 26, don’t fret because Saturday is even busier. With two afternoon cards in Europe and two more coming from North America at night, it could be a good day to just park yourself in front of the TV for non-stop MMA action. Kicking everything off on Saturday will be Cage Warriors 62, from Newcastle, England. The event kicks off with prelims on the Cage Warriors Facebook page at 2pm ET, before the main card can be streamed from MMA Junkie at 4pm ET. Unfortunately fans received some bad news about the card on Friday morning, as Ulysses Gomez — who was set to take on Neil Seery in the main event for the flyweight title — collapsed while cutting weight and had to be removed from the bout. It was good to see that the organization had the safety of its fighters first and foremost, and hopefully Gomez has a speedy recovery so the fight can be rebooked. With Seery/Gomez being scratched, the lightweight bout between former UFC fighter and former BAMMA champion Curt Warburton (12-4) and Wesley Murch (13-6) takes top spot. Warburton is the more known commodity due to his time in the UFC, and also the more well-rounded fighter in this bout. Murch is primarily a grappler, but as we often see with British fighters he has also suffered numerous losses (six) in addition to his submission wins (eight). Warburton has the tighter ground game, and may be able to submit Murch, ride out a decision or even keep it on the feet and win the striking battle. No matter what route he chooses, I expect Warburton to come through as the heavy -380 favorite (bet $380 to win $100) at Several Bookmakers. The fight I am most looking forward to on this card is the new co-main event, as featherweight prospect Chris Fishgold (9-0) looks to continue to put his superb grappling skills on display. His task this time out will be 30-plus fight veteran Olivier Pastor (18-14), who despite his many losses, has never lost by submission. Still, this should be a relatively easy night’s work for Fishgold, as Pastor has lost 7 of his past 11 bouts against lesser competition. Although he sits at a steep -425 price, Fishgold can add some value to parlays without much concern. The next bout features two fighters debuting in Cage Warriors, as Richie Knox (3-0) takes on Karl Moore (3-0). Both have all of their professional victories coming by way of submission, so one might imagine that this fight is going to be contested on the ground, but both men have been very inactive in their careers so they may have developed other areas of their games. With each coming off of nearly a yearlong layoff, this is a difficult fight to read and nearly impossible to bet. Let’s just hope the trend of finishes continues for whoever picks up the victory here. Originally scheduled to kick off the main card, Ian Entwistle (7-1) returns to Cage Warriors for the first time since 2011 to take on SBG Ireland’s Liam James (8-5). Entwistle is currently a very slight favorite at -135, with James at -105, and being nearly a pick em is really the only way to see this fight. Entwistle has five of his seven victories by submission, and all seven in the first round. James also has five submissions on his record, but mixes them in with three decisions, so he may have the cardio edge in later rounds. Just as the odds indicate, Entwistle has a slight edge in my eyes due to his more dynamic submission game, but unless a ton of money comes in on one side in this bout, there isn’t a bet to be made at this point.
