Cage Warriors 96 takes place today, live from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.

The main event will see Liverpool’s Paddy Pimblett take on Soren Bak for the CW Lightweight Title – Also featuring on the card is Jonas Billstein as he takes on latecomer Mick Stanton on less than 24 hours notice – Jonas was expected to face off against Lee Chadwick who would be making his second defence of the Middleweight Title, however, Chadwick failed to make weight and was instantly stripped of his title on the scales – Jonas will now face Stanton for the now vacant CW Middleweight Title. The event will also see an amateur Grand Prix tournament.

Check out the results below live as they happen

Fight Card:

CW Academy North West Undercard (NON-TELEVISED)

Luke Bennett vs Sam Irving
Sam Irving def Luke Bennett – R1 0:54 – Submission (Guillotine Choke)

Mike Thompson vs Sean Alpin
Mike Thompson def Sean Alpin – Unanimous Decision – 30-27, 30-27, 30-26

JJ Jones vs Liam Carrol
JJ Jones def Liam Carrol – Split Decision –  29-28 28-29 29-28

CW Academy NW Grand Prix Semi-Finals

Light-Heavyweight
David Piotrowicz vs Carl Dilks
David Piotrowicz def Carl Dilks – TKO (Ground & Pound) – R2 0:44

Welterweight
Ivan Blanita vs Adam Cullen
Ivan Blanita def Adam Cullen – R2 – Submission (Americana)

Lightweight
Constantine Blanita vs Danny Williams
Constantine Blanita def Danny Willaims – Unanimous Decision – 30-25, 30-25, 30-25

Featherweight
Scott Harvey vs Liam Molloy

Prelims (6:30 pm – Sports Bible – Facebook)

Flyweight
Liam Gittins vs Kevin Cordero Lopez
Liam Gittins def Kevin Cordero Lopez – R1 4:36 – TKO

Lightweight
Anthony O’Connor vs Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar

Flyweight
Sam Creasey vs Conor Hignett
Sam Creasey def Conor Hignett – R1 4:03 – TKO (Ground & Pound)

Lightweight
Elliot Jenkins vs Mahmod Faour
Mahmod Faour def Elliot Jenkins – R2 – TKO

Main Card  (9pm – BT Sports / UFC Fight Pass)

Welterweight
Tim Barnett vs Matthew Bonner
Tim Barnett draws Matthew Bonner – Majority Draw -28-27, 28-28, 28-28

Welterweight
Nicolas Dalby vs Roberto Allegretti
Nicolas Dalby def Roberto Allegretti – R2 – Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Lightweight
Jack Grant vs Aleksi Mantykivi
Jack Grant def Aleksi Mantykivi – R1 4:20 – KO

Vacant Middleweight Title Bout
Mick Stanton vs Jonas Billstein
Jonas Billstein (C) def Mick Stanton – R1 3:20 – Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Vacant Lightweight Title Fight
Paddy Pimblett vs Soren Bak
Soren Bak def Paddy Pimblett – Unanimous Decision – 48-44, 48-45, 48-46

Keep checking back with MMAThread as we will be bringing you all the live backstage interviews with all your Cage Warriors 96 fighters.

Cage Warriors returns to the Echo Arena, Liverpool this Saturday, September 1st. The event is headlined by a lightweight title fight between Liverpool’s own Paddy “The Baddy” Pimbeltt and Demark’s Søren Bak

Paddy Pimblett (14-2-0) is fighting for the second time at Lightweight since moving up a weight class after losing his Featherweight Title to Nad Narimani back in 2017 at CW82.

Soren Bak (11-1-0) comes into this fight riding a three-fight winning streak with submission wins over Alexander Jacobsen and Martin Stapleton – This will mark Bak’s fourth Cage Warriors appearance.

Also fighting on the card is another Liverpool native, Lee “The Butcher” Chadwick (24-13-1). Chadwick is on a three-fight winning streak and is set to defend his Middleweight Title for the first time since beating Victor Cheng for the vacant strap back at CW88 in October 2017.

Chadwick’s opponent will be in the form of Germany’s Jonas Billstein (19-5-1), who himself is on a four-fight winning streak and is making his Cage Warriors debut. Billstein is a veteran of Bellator and ACB. His last fight back in May ended in a majority draw, but before that, he has won his previous two bouts, both by way of second-round submission.

Several other big names on the UK regional scene are also set to square off including the likes of Jack Grant (14-4-0), Connor Hignett (6-3-0) Liam Gittins (2-0-0) and Mick Stanton (3-2-0).

As well as a pack main card and prelims, before the show even begins fans will be treated to a wrath of amateur bouts, as Cage Warriors Academy: North West returns to action. The amateur card will feature a title bout at Light Heavyweight between David Piotrowicz and Carl Dilks, as well as a scrap for the Welterweight Title, as Ivan Blanita takes on Adam Cullen – Then at Lightweight, Ireland’s Constantin Blanita will take on Wales’ Danny Williams, and finally at Featherweight Scott Harvey will take on Liam Molloy for the title.

Cage Warriors 96 will take place this Saturday, September 1st from the Echo Arena in Liverpool. The event will air live on BT Sports for the UK fans and UFC Fight Pass for international viewers.

MMAThread will be live at the event conducting post-fight interviews with all your winners so be sure to check back, and don’t forget to comment below and share.

Brian Ortega walked into UFC 222 on Saturday and took the right to be Max Holloway’s next challenger for the featherweight title.

Ortega stepped in to fight Frankie Edgar in the evening’s co-main event after Holloway, who was originally scheduled to headline the card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Edgar, had to pull out of the fight due to injury.

Ortega left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who should be the next contender for the belt as he became the first man to finish the former lightweight champion, and in the opening round no less.

UFC president Dana White confirmed at the UFC 222 post-fight press conference that Ortega is next in line for Holloway.

“The fact we now have a title fight with him against Holloway, you know, Holloway looked incredible against Jose Aldo in his last fight and I’m excited about this” White said.

The only thing that surprised White about Ortega’s performance was the fact the submission specialist got the job done by way of his strikes.

“The guy is so incredible and well-rounded” White said of Ortega. “You’d think when he goes in and fights Frankie Edgar you’d bet anything he’s going to submit him if he’s going to win. And then he goes and knocks him out in the first round. This kid is super talented and has an incredible personality.”

The fight could well take place at UFC 226 in Las Vegas with both fighters already saying they would like to fight on the card, it’s just depending on Holloway getting cleared to fight by the doctors.

“I just saw Max, he came on The Ultimate Fighter as one of the coaches” White said. “He looks good, he’s walking good and, I don’t know, we gotta see what his doctor says and when he’s cleared, we’ll make that fight immediately.”

Colby Covington declares his interest in fighting Stephen Thompson if the title shot he has been pushing for doesn’t unfold.

After earning a decision victory over Demian Maia in Sao Paulo last October, controversial Welterweight contender, Colby Covington has urged the UFC for his chance to face current Welterweight king, Tyron Woodley.

http://gty.im/867648926

Although there seems to be a solid rivalry between Woodley and Covington, the UFC look to be pushing towards a title shot for the ex-Lightweight champion, RDA.

Sharing his displeasure at the rumours, Covington had this to say in a recent interview with BJPenn.com Radio.

“I don’t get why UFC wants to do RDA-Woodley. I mean, RDA is 3-2 in his last five.”

Covington continued saying.

“Last five fights, I’m 5-0, so RDA was just getting melted by Lightweight’s last year. Eddie Alvarez. The guy’s a complete bum. He’s just looking to piggyback and get one more fight, then he’s out of the game man.”

“And that’s what these guys dont understand. I’m the future. These guys are all old, at the end of their careers. I’m just getting started. I’m just getting warmed up. You haven’t even seen my potential yet.”

If RDA is next in line to challenge for the title, Covington has stated his willingness to take another opponent on the same card.

“Yeah, I mean, if the UFC’s gonna do RDA vs Woodley, then I guess I am fighting Stephen Thompson on the same card as them.”

He also mentioned.

“So I’m lined up, so I can get the winner of that next fight after I put choir boy out to the pasture. But you are gonna have to ask [Thompson’s] daddy, if he’s gonna let him fight. I’m not sure if his dad is gonna let him fight.”

Will we see the ATT representative challenge for the Welterweight title next?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.