The Return of Caged Steel: Main Card Fight Preview

Caged Steel 25 will hold eight bouts on the main card, whilst we see 11 on the preliminary. The main event will see former Cage Warriors bantamweight title challenger Scott Malone face undefeated prospect Kiru Singh Sahota.

Caged Steel 25: Main Card Preview

Lightweight bout: Ross Coe vs Alan Brykalski

Ross Coe (3-2) will be desperate to get back to winning ways after his last bout ended in a doctor’s stoppage against Aaron Johnson. The bout was a close affair with both fighter’s landing some beautiful shots. A massive head-kick from Johnson led to a huge cut on the head of Coe. In the second round, the fight was stopped, meaning Johnson was victorious.

Coe started off his professional career perfectly, with some devastating ground and pound over his opponent Ashley Griffiths back in 2016.

Alan Brykalski (1-3) was inches away from winning his one and only fight in Cage Warriors when he faced John Mitchell. During that bout, Brykalski knocked him to the ground and pounced on Mitchell like a rash.

It wasn’t enough for the finish though and Mitchell gained the advantage on the ground to find the back of Brykalski and submit him with a rear-naked choke. The only win of Brykalski’s career came in 14 seconds with a knockout over Craig Bale.

Women’s Bantamweight Bout: Dakota Ditcheva vs Jenny Line

Dakota Ditcheva (0-0) makes her professional debut at 22-years-old at Caged Steel 25. She’s had an impressive amateur career starting in 2019, winning all of her four fights.

Ditcheva is a British Muay Thai champion. She was part of the British team that won the International Federation of Muay Thai Amateur World Championships in Jönköping, Sweden.

Jenny Line (0-0) will also be making her professional debut but at the age of 39! She didn’t start her amateur career until 2017, losing against Kerry Isom at Cage Warriors 85. Line has an amateur record of 3-6, and she fought in Caged Steel in November 2019, losing to Mytra Gallary via a rear-naked choke.

Heavyweight Bout: Michael Parkin vs Jan Lysak

Michael Parkin (1-0) looks to push on from his one professional win back in July of 2019. The Englishman has only fought for 18 seconds in his professional MMA career, in a fight that ended with him knocking out Tomas Vaicikas in the Almighty Fighting Championship.

The 25-year-old was impressive in his amateur career, building a record of 6-0-1, finishing every one of his wins. It’s been a long time coming for Parkin to step back in the cage, and we will see how he’s looking nearly two years on from his last, and only professional fight.

Jan “The Monster” Lysak (2-18) may not have the best record we’ve seen, but when a man faces that many defeats and continues to fight you have to respect his love for fighting.

Lysak did have a positive record at one point in his career, which was his first professional bout. In 2014, he submitted Kristian Bircher with the rear-naked choke inside the first round.

His second win came 10 losses later. Another first-round finish, with Lysak knocking out Luke Morton with ground and pound.

Lightweight Bout: Simeon Otley vs Carl Jones Jnr

Simeon Otley (0-1) has only competed in a professional MMA bout for 11 seconds, after he was knocked out by Kieran Lister at the Almighty Fighting Championship in November 2018.

Two-and-a-half years since his only professional bout and Otley faces a very tough test in his next opponent. Otley has proved he has the quality about him, winning six out of seven of his amateur bouts.

Carl “The Chief” Jones Jnr (2-0) makes his debut in Caged Steel after impressing outside of the promotion. Despite being 32-years-old, a win over Otley could kick-start Jones’ career. He’s knocked out both of his opponents in his professional career, including a 26 second knockout in his last bout against Simone Bottino.

Bantamweight Bout: Louis Lee Scott vs Dan Kneil

Louis “Lightning” Lee Scott (1-0) is the youngest professional fighter on the main card at the age of 21. He made his professional debut at Caged Steel’s last event, knocking out Brad Evans inside the first round.

The Englishman held an impressive amateur record of 14-2. He won his first 11 amateur bouts, before losing to Yury Balka in the IMMAF (International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) Junior World Championships.

Dan Kneil (0-1) competed in his first and only professional bout at Cage Warriors 108, all the way back in October 2019. He lost the fight to Chris Sterling inside the first-round via a rear-naked choke. There may be 12 year age difference between the two, but the level of experience is on a very similar scale.

European Amateur Featherweight Title Bout: Ibragim Ibragimov vs Stafford Swainston

Ibragim Ibragimov holds a 6-0 amateur record as he bids to take the amateur featherweight title off his opponent at Caged Steel 25.

Ibragimov has fought at two Caged Steel events previously. His only finish in his amateur career came in his third bout at Caged Steel Contenders 2, with him submitting Kayne Holmes with the guillotine choke.

The current European Amateur Featherweight belt holder Stafford Swainston (5-1A) won the title in his last bout at the last Caged Steel event.

After a quick start, Swainston was very impressive, submitting Kai Holmes in the first round with the rear-naked choke to win the title. His only amateur loss came at Caged Steel 22 after 32 seconds when he was submitted by George Staines.

Amateur Flyweight Title Eliminator Bout: Amy Derwanz vs Mim Grubb

Amy Derwanz (1-2A) has fought in Caged Steel since March 2019, where she earned her only amateur victory so far, submitting Paige Garside.

Since then, the 18-year-old has been defeated against Megan Johnson and Lexi Rook, as she looks to get back to winning ways in her next bout.

Mim Grubb (0-0) will be making her amateur debut at Caged Steel. It’s always interesting to see how someone performs in their first ever fight, as we could potentially see one of the stars of the future.

So, which fight are you most looking forward to? Make sure you don’t miss it this Saturday!

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