Contender Profiles | Jack Cartwright

Name: Jack Cartwright
Age: 28
Weight: Bantamweight
Nationality: English
Record: 10-0-0

The Story so far

Cage Warriors is and always has been the main breeding ground for British UFC level talent, from stars like Conor McGregor and Paddy Pimblett to the likes of Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping, winning a title in Cage Warriors is a sure fire way to get on the UFC’s radar. Undefeated bantamweight Jack Cartwright did just that, earning himself a shot on the Contender Series this Tuesday.

Undefeated and as well rounded as they come, Jack has proven himself time and time again on the regional stage, harbouring strength in every aspect of MMA, proving to the masses that he truly is must see TV.

In his 10 professional MMA bouts, Jack has finished 9 of them, the most impressive of which came during his induction into the Cage Warriors Bantamweight one night tournament, a night which would change his career forever. En route to that Cage Warriors belt he was first matched up with Cage Warriors veteran Scott Malone, ending the fight in just 49 seconds with a vicious right hand. The short contest left him in peak condition for the final later that night where he would face Swiss prospect Marko Kovacevic, yet again Cartwright’s power was on full display as he dispatched of “Agent 47” within 4 minutes for another huge KO.

Following his title victory, Cartwright made the first defence of his belt in Manchester, when he defeated Manuel Bilic via a dominant unanimous decision. Following this he took out both Gerardo Fanny and Sylwester Miller to round out his Cage Warriors run.

Training at SBG Manchester, Cartwright has taken it upon himself to adopt a coaching role toward the up and coming talent in the area, Manchester being a region he’s been somewhat of a trailblazer for within MMA. Cartwright has spoken about how teaching others has improved his own game, making him more conscious of the things he may be doing wrong and making them right per his own advice to the fighters. Still at just 28 years of age, this is a man with all the qualities to make it to the top of the sport.

The Style

When it comes to how he approaches these bouts, Cartwright is very much a jack of all trades, absolutely no pun intended . Training in wrestling, kickboxing and boxing from as early as 5 years old, he’s certainly constructed a varied arsenal which is yet to have failed him.

We’ve seen it all from Jack, his hands probably being the main danger, he may be a bantamweight but we’ve seen the freakish power he possesses, described as heavyweight like by his teammates. He stalks guys down in a calculated manner and cracks them hard with a scary mix of ferocity and accuracy, his Cage Warriors tournament run being a true testament to what those hands can do. Even in his one decision against Bilic, the Croation hit the mat on more than one occasion, with Jack’s gas tank and work rate working in tandem with his power to make him dangerous all fight long.

Now you’d think, why don’t guys just try and take him down? Try is the key work here, he’s ridiculously hard to take down and has an extremely diverse submission game with a nightmarish level of activity. Even if he hits the mat, he won’t settle for bottom position and if he executes a sweep, best believe you’re eating a bunch of leather. Offensively his takedowns are excellent too, smashing guys up in the clinch with his knees and punches before often getting most of his opponents to the mat whenever he wants to. Features of notice when it comes to Jack’s defensive grappling are his scrambling ability and his world class sprawl, two things that make it extremely difficult for his opponents to get any sort of grappling offense going which works massively in his favour.

Long story short, Jack hasn’t really been rivalled anywhere, he’s blitzed guys on the feet, tied them up on the mat and smashed them up in the clinch. The only logical next step is the UFC to really see as to what level his MMA game is truly at. In a bantamweight division as stacked as that of the UFC’s, he’ll have no shortage of worthy tests.

The Matchup

Cartwright’s Contender Series opponent is seasoned North American regional standout Jose Johnson. Johnson may only be 27 years of age, but he’s amassed a huge amount of experience. In a 3 year amateur career he competed in 36 fights, winning 24 of them, while since turning pro in 2016 he has garnered a record of 14-7.

Johnson gained a good amount of publicity in the MMA world back in 2019 courtesy of his vicious elbow KO over Rafael Costa at LFA 78, one of the most vicious MMA finishes in recent memory.

Since competing as a pro, Johnson has competed against the likes of Mana Martinez and Ronnie Lawrence, both of whom made it to the UFC at an earlier stage. Although being defeated by both men, he now finds himself on a 2 fight win streak, the last of which being a 12 second KO over TUF veteran Dulani Perry.

Despite having mixed success throughout his career, Johnson is explosive, powerful and loves a knockout, with 8 of his 14 wins coming via first round KO/TKO. Its fair to say he’s definitely a fast starter and has ample capability to finish alot of guys at bantamweight as demonstrated. His striking is where he finds the most success, while not the most volumous in terms of approach, when he does throw he throws hard and he lands, often he only needs the one or two shots. Although his hands evidently have alot of power in them, he employs some heavy low kicks too, while having an impressive highlight reel made up of a number of one hitter quitters whether it be flying knees, elbows or punches.

Johnson will be moving down to bantamweight for this one as he usually competes at featherweight. Standing at 6’0 tall he will have a decent size advantage over the 5’9 Cartwright, but the question is does he have the tools to keep the Englishman off him for 3 rounds?

Throughout his MMA career grappling has always been the area Johnson has met the most resistance, with most of the instances he is bested being down to takedowns and control. He will definitely look to keep this one on the feet given his success there, but that in itself is always going to be a tough night against Cartwright. Will Jack go for a grappling approach or will he yet again back that striking ability and look for another finish on the feet?

Let us know how you think Cartwright will do and whether he secures a contract!