Rising French talent Morgan Charriere captured the vacant Cage Warriors featherweight title with a devastating body-shot knockout of England’s Perry Goodwin at Cage Warriors 119.

The pair faced off in the main event of the U.K. promotion’s final leg of its three-night “Trilogy Strikes Back” series at the York Hall in London, with Charriere (16-7-1) scoring a big third-round finish to win the vacant title in style.

Goodwin (10-7) looked the busier man early as he connected with a series of leg kicks, then followed up with a good right hand. But Charriere seemed unconcerned as he patiently looked for openings before crashing a pair of kicks into each of Goodwin’s legs.

Goodwin continued to be the more active man, but Charriere’s strikes appeared to carry the greater power, and a big right hand left the Englishman with a hematoma on the left side of his head as he returned to his corner at the end of Round 1.

Round 2 started with an illegal strike, as a Charriere kick strayed low and caught Goodwin in the groin. After Goodwin took some time to recover, the action resumed, and it was Goodwin whose confidence appeared to grow as he connected with a pair of big right hands.

Then, after three chopping leg kicks forced Goodwin to hop backward to get out of kicking range, Charriere closed the distance and took the Englishman to the mat. Goodwin responded by landing a big elbow off his back and flashing a grin at the Frenchman, but Charriere continued his grappling approach and looked to take his opponent’s back. With time running out, Charriere secured both hooks, but Goodwin shook him off and finished the round with a solid right hand.

Charriere continued to stalk Goodwin at the start of Round 3 and landed a big right hand that left a cut above Goodwin’s left eye. With Goodwin looking to fire back in reply, Charriere kept his cool and connected with a huge left hand to the body that folded up the Redcar native, who fell to the canvas in agony. Referee Marc Goddard stepped in to spare Goodwin any further punishment as Charriere claimed the 145-pound title in decisive fashion.

Sardari edges past Grant to capture vacant lightweight title

In the night’s co-main event, the Netherlands’ Agy Sardari stepped into the Cage Warriors cage for the first time in his career, then left it as the promotion’s lightweight champion after edging a five-round battle with Jack Grant for the vacant title.

In a cagey opening round, Grant (16-6) worked from the outside and scored with a variety of kicks from range, while Sardari (13-2) seemed content to follow him around the cage and wait patiently for an opening that never really presented itself.

Sardari upped his intensity at the start of Round 2 as he looked to close the distance and put the pressure on Grant, who continued to fire stinging leg kicks and straight punches at the Dutchman. The first big breakthrough came when Grant decked Sardari with a beautifully-timed right hand, but Sardari followed suit and forced Grant to touch down after a left hook found its mark.

The pace dropped somewhat through Round 3, with much of the round spent clinch-fighting against the cage as the two title fighters largely canceled each other out, but Round 4 saw the pair return to their striking as the bout headed into the championship rounds.

Grant continued to pepper Sardari’s legs with kicks, but a solid overhand right, then a three-punch combination from the Dutchman served as a handy reminder that the Englishman needed to remain on his guard toward the end of the round.

With both men bordering on exhaustion after heading into the fifth round for the first time in their respective careers and, with Sardari looking to load up on his punches, Grant rolled for a heel hook, which was defended in part by the Dutchman grabbing the cage. Referee Dan Movahedi saw the illegal move and slapped Sardari’s hand off the fence.

Sardari took Grant’s back and looked to weigh heavy on his rival while connecting with punches to the head. Grant escaped, but Sardari stayed glued to the Englishman. An omoplata attempt from Grant eventually ended with both men back on their feet, swinging for the fences as the final horn sounded.

In the end, the judges were split on the verdict, but it was Sardari who picked up the all-important win to claim the vacant title, with scores of 49-46, 47-48, 48-47.

Vucenic grabs split-decision win to send Hughes to first career loss

Paul Hughes and Jordan Vucenic were expected to deliver one of the best bouts of the “Trilogy Strikes Back” series, and the two featherweight contenders didn’t disappoint, as Vucenic (7-1) handed Hughes (6-1) his first career defeat after their bout went to a split decision.

After a busy opening round for both men, it was Hughes who went back to his corner the happier man after dominating the scrambles on the canvas and finishing the round with a flurry of strikes.

Vucenic came back strongly in Round 2 and connected with some solid strikes, switching from powerful body kicks to fast, straight punches. But Hughes’ strikes appeared to carry the greater threat, with the Irishman seemingly happy to walk through “The Epidemic’s” strikes in order to land his own. Vucenic also attempted to lock up a standing arm-triangle choke, but Hughes did well to stop him from taking the pair of them to the mat to finish the submission.

After an icy staredown from across the cage, the pair set to work in Round 3 with both men going for the finish. Hughes continued to load up on his strikes, but Vucenic matched him virtually strike for strike. The pair also seemed well-matched on the canvas as they scrambled for supremacy on the mat. Then, once the action returned to the feet, both men swung for the fences in a last-ditch attempt to land a late knockout blow.

The fight went all the way to the scorecards, however, with Vucenic earning the split-decision nod from the judges with scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 after three highly-competitive rounds.

Garry bulldozes Tracey to extend unbeaten record

Undefeated Irish prospect Ian Garry once again showed just why he’s called “The Future” by dismantling Lawrence Tracey in the first round of their welterweight main card bout.

Garry (5-0) made no secret of his key tactic as he shot in for a takedown immediately. Tracey (5-5) sprawled well to avoid the first attempt, but it didn’t take long for Garry to eventually get the fight to the mat and, once there, he postured up and unleashed a barrage of elbows to his grounded opponent until referee Marc Goddard had seen enough.

Garry’s victory extended his finish streak to four, and the super-confident Irishman telling Cage Warriors commentators Brad Wharton and Daniel Strauss that the welterweight belt “is mine” as he stated his intention to go for the vacant 170-pound title in 2021.

McColgan claims first career KO with thumping right hand

Joe McColgan went into his fight with Kieran Lister known for his submission skills, but it was his striking that produced the goods as he claimed his first career knockout victory with a first-round finish.

The fight was a largely scrappy affair, with Lister (7-1-1) effectively nullifying McColgan (7-3-1) for much of the round, but when the pair separated in the final minute, McColgan let his hands go and grazed Lister’s eye with a right hand.

The discomfort appeared to briefly affect Lister, and McColgan closed in and unloaded another combination, finishing with a huge right hand that dropped Lister and forced referee Dan Movahedi to step in and stop the fight at the 4:47 mark.

The victory saw McColgan bounce back from his lightweight title fight defeat to Mason Jones at Cage Warriors 113 in March and put him right back in the frame for a shot at the 155-pound title sometime in 2021.

Duncan kicks off the night with spinning back kick KO

It was a case of “gone in 60 seconds” as Christian Duncan needed just one minute to score a highlight-reel knockout of Lukasz Marcinkoweski in the night’s opening bout.

Duncan (2-0) settled into his work immediately and, after lining up his man, connected clean with a spinning back kick that had a delayed effect on Marcinkoweski (4-3), who stumbled backward and down to the canvas.

Duncan moved in to apply the finishing touches, but the result was already assured as the fight was waved off to give the protege of U.K. MMA veteran Mark Weir his second straight win as a pro.

Also on the preliminary card, Will Currie produced a dominant display to claim a shutout win on the scorecards against Dario Bellandi in their 192-pound catchweight matchup.

Cage Warriors 119 official results

MAIN CARD

  • Morgan Charriere def. Perry Goodwin via knockout (body punch) – Round 3, 1:55 – for vacant featherweight title
  • Agy Sardari def. Jack Grant via split decision (49-46, 47-48, 48-47) – for vacant lightweight title
  • Jordan Vucenic def. Paul Hughes via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Ian Garry def. Lawrence Tracey via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:02
  • Joe McColgan def. Kieran Lister via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:47

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Will Currie def. Dario Bellandi via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
  • Christian Duncan def. Lukasz Marcinkoweski via knockout (spinning back kick) – Round 1, 1:00

Video: Cage Warriors 119 fight week vlog

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