Cage Warriors: 2023’s European Promotion Of The Year

The reputation of Cage Warriors speaks for itself at this stage with all of the top talent that it has produced over the years. Brand reputation as your major selling point can be incredibly difficult to build up but CW have got it.

Regardless of the names on the card, the location or any other factor, when you tune into a Cage Warriors card you know you’re going to see some of the most exciting talent in Europe and some potential future stars. Through 2023 Cage Warriors delivered both quality and quantity despite facing some unique challenges. 

It wasn’t long ago that we put out an article on this very site talking about the promotion’s need for some new headliners to emerge in the coming months. At the time, CW was seeing some of their top names all leave around the same time for other opportunities and that’s not a knock on them, if anything it speaks once again to their reputation for generating talent. The seemingly endless appetite of the Contender Series has seen fighters get their chance at a ticket to the big show earlier than before and that CW gold has always been a spotlight. 

Some of the names that we expected to step into those headliner slots may not have got the desired results but that’s where the matchmaking from Ian Dean shines through the most. Even when some of their brightest lights suffer a setback, it only makes them better in the long run whilst passing the shine onto their opponents because guess what, they deserve it and they’ve proven why. The matchmaking is always so stellar that even when your favourite fighter suffers a defeat, you might just come away singing the praises of their opponent. 

Cage Warriors also had more competition than before in 2023 and not just in terms of the award voting. There were more opportunities for fighters and fans in the UK scene thanks to other promotions stepping up their output on these shores. Ultimately, that reputation kept them in the driving seat as proven by the results of the fan votes. 

When drawing up nominees for the other awards, we found ourselves scratching our heads in thinking of the real standouts from Cage Warriors this year. As you can see in several of the examples, that’s because the fighters left the promotion this year to pursue their UFC dreams, forcing the promotion into a mid-year rest of sorts. It was inevitable that Luke Riley was going to pick up some nominations for his year in CW but the other stand outs were often spread across a few keys dates in the calendar. 

At Cage Warriors 151 in April, we got another great instalment of the Unplugged format. The vacant middleweight title headliner between Mick Stanton and Will Currie produced a fight of the year contender that only a show stealer like Riley could knock out of contention. Not to mention the breakout of one of the most entertaining fighters to strap on the yellow gloves in ages in Shawn Da Silva. 

The following event in Manchester had the first of two barnburners featuring Riley and a performance from George Hardwick in the main event that oozed class and star power. Continuing their great run of back-to-back shows was CW 153 in Dublin which featured both Oban Elliott and Morgan Charriere before that emotional and powerful welterweight unification clash between Rhys McKee and Jimmy Wallhead. 

154 closed out one of the best consecutive event runs the promotion has seen in a long time with another incredible night in Rome. The atmosphere of these events has been remarkable ever since their first trip and the display from Caolan Loughran on that night signalled a change of attire for his next contest. The Italian and Irish fans never fail to deliver for CW.

Last but not least, October brought a return to the emerald isle where two fighters with numbered days left in the promotion put on a show. Mason Jones returned to CW this year and proved that he is still an elite level competitor who is a cut above this level. Arguably the most talked about fighter in the promotion this year is a man that no one can believe is still there. Former featherweight champion Paul Hughes is one of the best talents to come through the CW process in a long time. If you needed reminding then CW 161 would have ticked that box after Hughes wrapped the event up in a neat bow. 

These are just some of the highlights that stand out from Cage Warriors throughout 2023.

Despite the two main challenges it has faced this year, Cage Warriors and its reputation for putting on quality fights each and every time isn’t going anywhere. Whilst it may still feel like we are in a bit of a transitional period in terms of some of their top stars, CW has proven that the journey is just as fun as reaching the finishing line. With a stacked schedule on the cards for 2024, we can’t wait to see what the next year brings for the promotion, the fans and those iconic yellow gloves.