UFC Cage Warriors Trilogy: Preview and tips for shows 114, 115 and 116

Cage Warriors 116, on Saturday evening, is the conclusion of the three-day event in Manchester.

The promotion is a breeding ground for talent, with the likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy, Jack Shore and more, going through the European promotion before making the step up to the UFC.

With three stacked cards there are plenty of good bets to be had here, so here are my tips for the final night of the trilogy

Cage Warriors 116

Cage Warriors 116 will finish off the promotions trilogy in incredible fashion, with lightweight champion mason Jones moving up to welterweight to try and win the vacant title against the highly touted Adam Proctor.

In the co-main event, Paul Hughes will look to take another step closer to the featherweight title as he takes on Aidan Stephen, while perennial title contender Sam Creasey will look to put himself right back into the flyweight title picture as he takes on Nicolas Leblond.

Tip One: Adam Proctor to beat Mason Jones

When I looked at the odds for this fight I was surprised to see Proctor was a slight underdog, given that Jones is moving up in weight and the fact Proctor has looked so dominant in his last few outings.

The Love Doctor is a gifted grappler, studying under coach Alex Enlund at SBG South Shields, and has finished five of his 12 wins via submission.

In the fights he has been unable to finish he has dominated his opponents, out striking them on the feet and forcing them to chance their luck in the grappling exchanges, where Proctor has then held the dominant position.

This fight might be a little bit more difficult for Proctor however. Jones has fantastic striking, demonstrated by a first round KO over Joe McColgan in his last fight, and his grappling is also very good given his experience in practicing Judo.

The weight is Proctor’s biggest advantage in this fight. He is used to fighting at 170lbs and is naturally the bigger man, while Jones will have to adjust to carrying and extra 15lbs and deal with the size advantage tactically.

If Proctor can get this fight to the mat, he will win this fight by using his weight to constantly apply pressure to Jones whilst also striking to cause damage to his Welsh opponent.

Tip Two: Paul Hughes to win via KO

Hughes is a fighter that MMA fans need to keep any eye on. His striking and ground game is superb and the way he carries himself inside and outside of the cage just screams future UFC star, and a win here puts him one step closer to the featherweight title, the same title Conor McGregor won on his way to UFC stardom.

Aidan Stephen is also a gifted fighter, finishing five of his seven wins, and looking good even in defeat, but he simply isn’t good enough to beat Hughes.

In his last bout, Hughes showed just how good his striking was with a brutal head kick knock out against Youri Panada, and he has finished his other four fights in dominant fashion as well, with two via submission and another two knockouts.

In this fight I expect Hughes to try and keep the bout standing, using his kickboxing to link combinations together before landing a devastating knockout blow.

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