Cage Warriors 127 Main Event Preview: Fletcher vs. Wooding

It all begins with Cage Warriors 127 at York Hall in London, featuring a nine-fight card highlighted by a championship fight in the Cage Warriors 127 main event.

It’ll be a battle for the newly-vacant Cage Warriors Bantamweight Championship as Dominique Wooding (7-4 MMA, 1-0 CW) faces undefeated opponent Nathan Fletcher (6-0 MMA, 6-0 CW).

Your winner will become the seventh different man to hold the 135-lb. strap in Cage Warriors promotional history, succeeding Jack Cartwright, who vacated the championship upon leaving the promotion…

As with all title fights in the sport, the Cage Warriors 127 main event will be a maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close the show and the month in MMA Thursday night in London.

Cage Warriors 127 Main Event Fighter Comparison

Heading into the Cage Warriors 127 main event on Thursday night, Dominique Wooding is the taller man, standing 5-foot-9, with Nathan Fletcher standing 5-foot-8. In addition, Wooding owns a 72 1/2-inch reach, with no such information accessible for Fletcher going into Thursday night’s main event.

Dominique Wooding Enters Cage Warriors 127 Main Event Looking to Build Off Momentum of Last Win

Dominique Wooding enters the Cage Warriors 127 main event on Thursday having gone 2-3 in his last five fights, making good on his Cage Warriors promotional debut in his most recent fight, a first-round knockout due to a head kick and punches against Cameron Hardy back in June during Cage Warriors 124.

In the aftermath of his latest victory, Wooding was interviewed by our very own Mason Shatwell. During the interview, Wooding spoke about how his time in Cage Warriors could eventually be a springboard to a stint in the UFC.

“It was right after Bellator, so Bellator released me,” Wooding said. “Cage Warriors jumped straight onto me. “It was only right to sign with them because obviously, they’re connected with the UFC. Obviously, that’s where I want to be.”

A key storyline going into the Cage Warriors 127 main event this Thursday night will be whether or not Dominique Wooding can stay in the win column, and his inconsistency has plagued him in his most recent fights. Prior to joining the Cage Warriors roster, Wooding posted a 1-2 record in Bellator, which ultimately led to his dismissal from the latter promotion.

If Dominique Wooding is to realize his goal of joining the UFC’s active roster, he must first win in the Cage Warriors 127 main event and parlay that into a sustained winning streak– but his opponent poses the biggest challenge Wooding has faced in his MMA career.

Nathan Fletcher Aims to Extend Pro Winning Streak to Seven Fights in Cage Warriors 127 Main Event

In the other corner stands Nathan Fletcher, a fighter who’s tasted success in the MMA cage all but once in his career dating back to his amateur days.

He’s on an ongoing eight-fight winning streak and has won all six of his professional fights under the Cage Warriors banner heading into the Cage Warriors 127 main event.

Last time out, he scored a first-round submission due to a rear-naked choke against Brian Bouland back in June during Cage Warriors 124.

Earlier in September, Overtime Heroics’ own Mason Shatwell talked to Fletcher about his upcoming bid at the championship and discussed his quick finish against Bouland.

“I wasn’t expecting to come out and throw two body kicks straightaway against a grappler,” Fletcher said. “To be honest, that was a bit of a bad decision on his part, because obviously, he caught that kick. He threw one and I kind of stepped back out of the way and he threw another, and I caught it. It was like a split second where I was like ‘Have you really just thrown a body kick at me after the first one, as well?'”

Fletcher’s storyline going into the Cage Warriors 127 main event on Thursday is simple: Is he on Dana White’s radar if he wins against Dominique Wooding here? Nathan Fletcher has the high success rate of a fighter worthy of a shot at the UFC– and a win in the Cage Warriors 127 main event could be the critical step he needs to get “the call” from Dana White.

The most interesting part about Nathan Fletcher is that he’s still got plenty of time to get to the UFC if he doesn’t get a call from White with a win on Thursday. He is still just 23 years of age and won’t turn 24 until January third.

Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction

The Cage Warriors 127 main event looks to be a toss-up, as Fletcher hasn’t needed the judges to factor into a decision, but Wooding has won seven professional fights by knockout.

It’s a strength vs. strength matchup this Thursday and the University of Oregon’s football program’s famous rallying cry of “Win The Day” could come into play here.

Nathan Fletcher Can Knock Out Dominique Wooding if Need Be

One aspect of Nathan Fletcher’s fight game that jumps out on tape is his ability to score the submission against his opponent in the ring, but he can also score the knockout, as he did against Johan Segas in March of 2020

That night, he scored a takedown against Segas and took the half-guard. From there, it looked as though he’d have another submission win to his credit, as he softened Segas up with punches– but then he kept unloading with unrelenting left-handed shots, leaving Marc Goddard no choice but to step in and stop the fight.

All it will take for Nathan Fletcher to win (be it by rear-naked choke or by TKO) is to take Dominique Wooding down. From there, the Cage Warriors 127 main event could very well be in his control.

Dominique Wooding Could End Things Quickly

In the other corner stands Dominique Wooding, who is capable of stopping Nathan Fletcher’s streak with a quick finish in the Cage Warriors 127 main event, just as he did last time against Cameron Hardy.

That night, he knocked Hardy down in under a minute with a head kick– and although the latter quickly rose to his feet, he went right back down with a right-handed punch, culminating in a second right hand after Hardy got back up again to score the knockout.

If Dominique Wooding is to emerge victorious here, he’s going to need to score with a head kick to knock Fletcher down and stun him to set up a knockout.

Final Thoughts

As previously mentioned, the Cage Warriors 127 main event is going to be a strength vs. strength matchup– and the man who wins will have clearly earned the championship. This could very well end with as little as one punch, so don’t blink.

Prediction: Nathan Fletcher by First-Round Submission.

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Featured Image Credits to Cage Warriors