After a stellar 2013 capped off by one of the best fights in all of MMA (Ivan Buchinger vs. Stevie Ray for the Lightweight Title, if you haven’t seen it yet), Cage Warriors returns to kick off 2014. Hoping to continue their momentum from the past 12 months, the organization returns to a familiar haunt, The Forum in London, England for Cage Warriors 64. Although no titles are on the line at Cage Warriors 64, this is an interesting card that could produce a number of fighters who will challenge for the promotion’s belts before year end. The main event is an excellent example of this, as James Pennington (9-1) takes on Cory Tait (7-2) in the bantamweight division. Pennington is a solid grappler, whose only loss came to eventual TUF 18 runner-up Davey Grant. Back at CWFC 59 he had earned a spot in the bantamweight tournament final, but was unable to compete due to injury, so he looks to cement his status as a title challenger here. In his way is Tait, an exciting striker who actually knocked an opponent out with a front kick prior to Anderson Silva. Tait has worked to improve his grappling and takedown defense in order to let that striking shine through, but he faces the biggest test of his career here. In the middleweight division Jake Bostwick (13-8, 1 NC) looks to extend his current winning streak to seven with a victory over Boubacar Balde (9-7). After starting his career 3-7, Bostwick has looked like a different fighter as he’s gotten a bit more comfortable in his career going 10-1 since that point with six TKO finishes. If Bostwick wants to strike again here, Balde should be willing to engage as the majority of his wins have also come by TKO. With the kind of streak he’s got in place, Bostwick could make his way into the title picture with another emphatic win here. Another fighter positioned for big things is welterweight Danny Roberts (9-1), one of the more highly touted prospects in the UK at the moment. This appears to be a bit of a favorable matchup for Roberts, as Cage Warriors is bringing in 35-year-old Juan Manuel Suarez (13-5) as his opponent. At one point Suarez was 12-0 in his career, but has gone 1-5 in his last six, and seems in tough against the superior all-around skills of Roberts. At featherweight, a fighter who was one judge’s scorecard away from already challenging for the Cage Warriors title returns to keep working his way back up the ladder. Nad Narimani (6-1) lost the narrowest of split decisions to Graham Turner back at CWFC 56, and Turner went on to challenge for the title (unsuccessfully) at the year-end event. His opponent here is the undefeated Swiss fighter Benjamin Brander (6-0) who is taking a step up here in both scope and competition, but he has shown some decent technique on the Swiss scene. Brander is also making his way down to 145lbs after fighting at lightweight previously in his career. Four-fight Cage Warriors veteran Matt Inman (12-5) has been gaining some traction in the welterweight division lately, with three straight wins. He looks to make it four and take advantage of Cage Warriors’ new finishing bonus policy as he takes on another Swiss fighter, Gregor Weibel (8-1). All but one of Inman’s fights have ended inside the distance, and all of his victories have come by stoppage, while each of Weibel’s nine bouts have stopped prior to the final bell. Somebody’s probably getting a bonus here. The women’s bantamweight will see a pair of fighters who won their pro debuts last year look to keep an unblemished record as Laura Howarth (1-0) and Amanda Kelly (1-0) step into the cage. It’s hard to know what to expect from a pair of fighters with such little experience, but obviously matchmakers have seen something in each of these fighters to put them on the main card after just one bout a piece. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting odds for five main card fights on Cage Warriors 64 at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD (MMAJunkie.com, 4pm ET) James Pennington -175 Cory Tait +135 Jake Bostwick -260 Boubacar Balde +180 Danny Roberts -705 Juan Manuel Suarez +435 Nad Narimani -175 Benjamin Brander +135 Matt Inman -245 Gregor Weibel +175 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: I’ll try to keep it quick on these fights, but I think the lines are pretty accurate here. While Tait is an incredibly impressive striker and his grappling has improved, it still leaves something to be desired. Even if Pennington can’t get the submission, his wrestling should be enough to control the fight and win a decision. May be looking at a bet here, especially if people start to see that front kick KO from Tait and some hype builds around him. Bostwick and Balde match up fairly well in the striking department, although I do give Bostwick an edge in power. Where this fight really turns is in the wrestling department. There’s the running joke in MMA about how UK fighters generally aren’t the best wrestlers, but that’s only because we don’t get exposed to a plethora of French fighters. Bostwick should have a huge advantage in that department that he can pull out if he needs. If my memory serves correct, the last time Cage Warriors brought a Spanish fighter in to fight one of the UK fighters they like, it was Jose Luis Zapater taking on Ronnie Mann. The line was just about as long for that fight, and equally justified. Roberts just has every advantage here, physically and technically and should make short work of the fight. In the first two bouts of the evening, the Swiss fighters both have some skill, but they are sloppy and aren’t much for control. It’s a positive for them that they get to go through this new experience with a teammate, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough to overcome the games of Narimani and Inman. I especially like Narimani under 2-to-1, as I think he’s competed well against a much higher level of competition and has the all-around game to stifle any offense Brander tries to get off.
