Cage Warriors 141 | George Hardwick clashes Kyle Driscoll for lightweight gold

A bout for the vacant lightweight title will be contested when Cage Warriors returns to London this summer to mark its 20th anniversary. Cage Warriors 141, which is set to take place at the Indigo at The 02 on Friday, 22nd July, will see the crowning of a new king in the 155-pound division.

The belt – which has been held by fighters such as Mason Jones, Jai Herbert, Chris Fishgold, Stevie Ray and Conor McGregor in the past – will be up for grabs when Kyle Driscoll makes the journey from the USA to clash with England’s George Harwdick.

Driscoll (13-3), who fights out of the renowned American Kickboxing Academy in California, got the better of Joshua Jones at CW 133 in San Diego back in March. The 27-year-old Oklahoma native is currently riding an eight-fight win streak that includes a September 2020 victory over Dinis Paiva on Dana White’s Contender Series.

“Heading to London to fight for the Cage Warriors title – is this a dream?” said Driscoll. “This is the accumulation of a lifetime of hard work. I’m going to fly into enemy territory, handle my business and hop on a plane back to the States with the CW title.

“I manifested this years back when I saw Conor McGregor, Jack Shore and even a young Paddy Pimblett winning the belts. I would watch their emotion and knew I’d get there one day. This is written in my destiny, it was just a matter of time. Look at the trajectory of former Cage Warriors champions in the UFC – that’s the path I’m looking to be on.”

Hardwick (9-1) will be aiming for a fourth consecutive Cage Warriors win, as the 25-year-old bids to clinch a belt that he was due to fight for on two previous occasions.

Scheduled meetings with Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar and Danilo Belluardo fell through in December and March respectively, but Hardwick kept himself in contention with a resounding second-round TKO of Lukasz Kopera at CW 134 in March.

“I’ve seen chances to fight for the title slip away due to every reason under the sun for the past six months or so, but I’m excited to finally get this opportunity against Kyle Driscoll,” said the Middlesbrough Fight Academy product.

“I am more than ready for what US opposition has to offer. I’ve been representing Middlesbrough against the rest of the world throughout my career and I’m ready to add another name to my win column.”

Elsewhere on the Cage Warriors 141 card, Christian Leroy Duncan will defend his middleweight title for the first time since his impressive dethroning of Djati Melan in Manchester last month. The next challenger in the 185-pound division will be announced in due course.

Separately, 14-fight UFC veteran Darren Stewart will look to make his long-awaited return to CW action in his hometown, while the bill is also set to feature the likes of undefeated lightweight Michal Figlak and veteran welterweight Jimmy Wallhead, who will compete in the yellow gloves for a record-equalling 17th time after returning to the organisation on a multi-fight deal.