Cage Warriors takes a page out of the UFC’s playbook this Saturday, as it will be the first time the organization has hosted two events on the same day, even though their ‘Super Saturday’ Cage Warriors 69 card is billed as one event. Between the two cards there will be twelve main card bouts, and lines will be offered on all of them courtesy of MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas and Several Bookmakers. The first main card — airing at 1pm EST — will be headlined by a Cage Warriors middleweight title bout between Jack Hermansson (7-2) and Norman Paraisy (14-3-2, 1 NC). The second features a lightweight title bout between Steven Ray (14-5) and UFC veteran Curt Warburton (13-4), but plenty of worthy bouts stand between the two main events. Prospect Arnold Allen, UFC veteran Rosi Sexton and former Cage Warriors title challenger Graham Turner find their names on the afternoon bill, while former UFC fighters Simeon Thoresen and Ben Alloway fill out the evening’s card alongside the likes of former BAMMA champion Jack Marshman and longtime Cage Warriors veteran Jack Mason. As far as UK and European MMA events go, this is certainly the biggest and most impressive cast of fighters in recent memory. Nick Kalikas released the betting odds for all twelve bouts today at Several Bookmakers. Both main cards will be streamed on MMAJunkie.com and shown on TV in specific locales. ——————– MAIN CARD #1 (MMAJunkie.com, 1pm EST) Norman Paraisy -270 Jack Hermansson +190 Joanna Jedrzejczyk -180 Rosi Sexton +140 Tim Wilde -300 Damien Browne +220 Arnold Allen -400 Marcin Wrzosek +280 Graham Turner -350 Suleiman Bouhata +250 Brad Wheeler -270 Jason Cooledge +190 ——————– MAIN CARD #2 (MMAJunkie.com, 4pm EST) Curt Warburton -140 Steven Ray +100 Bola Omoyele -270 Jack Marshman +190 Ben Alloway -150 Mohsen Bahari +110 Simeon Thoresen -305 Jake Bostwick +225 Jack Mason -130 Bruno Carvalho -110 Damir Hadzovic -300 Martin Delaney +220 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: I usually don’t make a habit of setting my DVR for “regional” MMA shows, but I knew I was going to be out of the country for this one, and I made sure to set a recording for both parts of this show, as ten of the twelve scheduled fights legitimately interest me. Due to the power of the internet, I may be able to watch live but it will be nice to go back and review the fights regardless. As far as the first part of the main card goes, I can’t help but cringe a bit when “Norman Paraisy” and “five rounds” are mentioned in the same sentence. The man is a very skilled fighter whose cardio almost always seems like a liability. However, in his recent fights he has struck a decent balance between an aggressive and tactical approach, which makes me a little bit less sure of Hermansson’s prospects than I would have been 12 months ago. Paraisy is the better striker here, and has surprisingly good wrestling which he often employs in later rounds (although doesn’t follow it up with much in the way of ground and pound or submissions). Although I feel like the public may fade Paraisy based on poor cardio in previous performances, he may be able to win enough rounds against Hermansson to earn the belt, although I would pick the other side if I had to. Rosi Sexton is coming off of two consecutive losses, but those are to Jessica Andrade and Alexis Davis. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is not on that level. I think Sexton’s submission game will be enough to win rounds, if not tap the Polish prospect. Tim Wilde has proven himself an exciting and dangerous striker thus far in his MMA career, but he’s taking a big step up in Damien Browne, and on relatively short notice. I do like Wilde to get his hand raised here, but Browne shouldn’t be overlooked, and it’s definitely not a bout I feel confident enough on to play the favorite. Arnold Allen is one of the best UK prospects in MMA right now, and Cage Warriors brass has to be high on the 20-year-old. Marcin Wrzosek is a good test for him, but this is an example of excellent matchmaking for a young prospect. It’s a fight he should win (Allen is superior in every aspect), but it won’t be against an opponent who is willing to roll over. I don’t know too much about Suleiman Bouhata, but I’m never particularly high on French fighters until they’ve proven themselves. This will be Bouhata’s first bout in Cage Warriors, and I don’t expect it to go well for him. He’s not a great finisher — although he has started to show glimpses in his most recent bouts — and he’s outmatched if he tries to make this a point-fighting affair with the superior striker in Turner. All respect to Jason Cooledge, but he seems to be a name that Cage Warriors uses when they want to get someone an impressive win. Both Jason Ball and Saul Rogers were able to submit him within the first round, and Brad Wheeler has an extremely potent submission game of his own, so I expect that he will do the same. In the main event of the second portion of the card Curt Warburton looks to defeat Stevie Ray for the second time in 15 months. Their last bout was for the BAMMA British Lightweight Title, so the stakes are even higher this time around. Warburton will look to outgrapple Ray once again, but the Scottish fighter has improved significantly in the short time since their first bout so that task may be more difficult than many expect. Personally, I’m leaning towards the young underdog, as he should have more motivation coming into this bout and at only 24 years old should keep improving. Bola Omoyele is hoping a move from welterweight to middleweight is just what the doctor ordered to cure his cardio problems. Cardio is the reason why he was involved in one of the biggest upsets of 2013, when he dominated Aaron Wilkinson in the opening minutes and faded badly to lose the bout in the second. He may not have to worry about this fight getting into deep water however, as Jack Marshman has been displaying poor striking defense of late and Omoyele is both fast and powerful enough to take advantage. Alloway and Bahari is one of the trickier bouts on the card to me. Alloway is a skilled fighter, but he can let himself be controlled at times because of his less than stellar wrestling. Bahari can certainly win rounds here to take the fight, but Alloway will be threatening to end the fight with strikes or a submission at any opportunity. As far as a pick, I lean slightly towards Alloway, but not confidently enough to bet him. The next match between Thoresen and Bostwick seems ripe for a finish on either side. Thoresen has a good submission game, while Bostwick has been submitted five times. On the other hand, Bostwick has tremendous punching power and Thoresen doesn’t have the most stout chin. I think Bostwick will be able to keep this bout on the feet and eventually find Thoresen’s chin, but it’s hard to discount the Norwegian’s experience, even if his last fight was in January 2013. I think Jack Mason beats Bruno Carvalho, as he can control the striking — if he chooses to throw punches — and the wrestling in this matchup. Carvalho simply hasn’t performed well since signing with CWFC, going 1-3 with losses coming whenever he faced one of the better welterweights in the organization. Mason fits that bill, and I expect him to take a decision here. Martin Delaney is one of the least familiar fighters to me on this card, with this being his CWFC debut. He has shown a fairly well-rounded game coming up through the UK scene, but I think Damir Hadzovic might be too big a step up for him. Hadzovic’s only losses have come at higher weights against very good opponents (Krzysztof Jotko and Andreas Stahl), and he’s going to have a striking and power advantage in this bout. I expect the Bosnian to impress just as much here as in his first Cage Warriors outing, when he became just the second fighter to stop John Maguire.
