Day-night doubleheaders aren’t too common in MMA, but this coming Friday is an exception to the rule. After Bellator MMA wraps up its half of the twin-bill with the Bellator 285 main event, the action will shift to Southern California, where UK-based promotion Cage Warriors makes a return visit to San Diego’s Humphreys by the Bay for its third event in the Golden State of 2022.
Cage Warriors 143 (main card Friday, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT on UFC Fight Pass after the undercard at 9:15 pm ET/6:15 pm PT) has seen a slight alteration to its itinerary for the evening. Originally slated to be a nine-fight card at Humphreys by the Bay, the show has since been trimmed to an eight-fight event. A scheduled welterweight fight between Tyler Escoto (1-1 MMA, 0-1 CWFC) and Orlando Sanders (0-1 MMA, 0-0 CWFC) was dropped from the card prior to the show.
Escoto was not cleared to compete by the California State Athletic Commission, which will oversee Cage Warriors 143. The now-canceled fight was to have been the latter’s Cage Warriors debut.
California Showcase at Lightweight in Cage Warriors 143 Main Event
As of Thursday afternoon, no new postponements for Cage Warriors 143 were reported and the revised eight-fight card is expected to remain intact, including the Cage Warriors 143 main event. Erick Sanchez (10-6 MMA, CWFC promotional debut) will set foot in the cage on Friday night to do battle against Jamey Lynch (5-2 MMA, 3-1 CWFC.)
This is an all-California showdown for the Cage Warriors 143 main event. Erick Sanchez hails from the Golden State’s capital city of Sacramento, while Jamey Lynch gets a home game, as he’s based out of the card’s host city of San Diego.
Both fighters have made weight for this fight, as confirmed by the official weigh-in from Thursday afternoon.
No championship will be at stake here on Friday night, so this headlining bout will only be an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round to close the show.
Cage Warriors 143 Main Event Fighter Comparison
Heading into the Cage Warriors 143 main event on Friday, Jamey Lynch stands as the taller man at 5-foot-11, compared to the 5-foot-10 frame of Erick Sanchez. Sanchez owns a 69-inch reach, with no such information accessible for Jamey Lynch ahead of this headlining bout.
Erick Sanchez Looking to Make Up For Lost Time in Cage Warriors 143 Main Event
Erick Sanchez enters the Cage Warriors 143 main event this weekend having gone 2-3 in his last five MMA appearances. Most recently, he scored a second-round submission due to a rear-naked choke against Jordan Beltran (10-8 MMA) in Combate Global on June 18 of last year.
Since then, however, he’s gotten some ring rust because three of his fights have gotten postponed for various reasons, including twice against the same opponent.
- Nov. 5, 2021: Erick Sanchez vs. Batsumberel Dagvadorj (LFA 117 co-main event)- Postponed ahead of the event, no reason given.
- March 4, 2022: Erick Sanchez vs. Max Rohskopf (Cage Warriors 133)- Postponed ahead of the event, no reason given.
- June 10, 2022: Erick Sanchez vs. Max Rohskopf (Cage Warriors 139 main event)- Postponed upon Sanchez returning a positive COVID-19 test.
In the last year, Erick Sanchez has been booked to fight two different opponents three different times, with each of the fights getting scrubbed without a single punch thrown. How much ring rust does he have entering the Cage Warriors 143 main event? More importantly, how well has Sanchez team done to eliminate the ring rust? Tune in and find out.
Jamey Lynch Seeks Third Win In a Row on Friday
In the other corner, Jamey Lynch has gone 3-2 in his last five MMA fights dating back to his tenure in the Gladiator Challenge promotion. Most recently, he defeated Cesar Gonzalez (4-5 MMA, 1-1 CWFC) back on June 10 during Cage Warriors 139 thanks to a first-round TKO after the fight doctor intervened just a minute and 34 seconds into the bout.
That fight took place at a contracted catchweight of 160 lbs. after being first scheduled to happen at lightweight. After the win, Lynch spoke to reporter Edith Labelle about the contest.
“I’m very satisfied with it [the win],” Lynch began. “I’m feeling great. Honestly, I’m still stoked. I’m still trying to process everything. I’m trying to process the whole fight.”
A noteworthy storyline for Jamey Lynch and his camp heading into the Cage Warriors 143 main event is that he is a veteran of all four San Diego-based Cage Warriors shows. Every time the promotion has been in Southern California, Lynch has been booked to appear, going 3-1 in that stretch.
Can Jamey Lynch get his fourth victory under the Cage Warriors banner and his third in a row?
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
The Cage Warriors 143 main event looks to be a toss-up on Friday night. Both Erick Sanchez and Jamey Lynch have been known to get the stoppage, but Lynch is the fresher fighter of these two, already having fought and won twice in 2022.
Watch For Erick Sanchez’s Right Hook
Erick Sanchez’s go-to punch has been established to be the right hook, something illustrated in his 2019 fight against Randy Steinke. Throughout the opening round of the fight, Sanchez would occasionally fire a right hook, piecing Steinke up in the process. One such hook resulted in Steinke getting dropped for a knockdown.
During the second round, Sanchez continued to land rights, wobbling Steinke and bloodying him. Even though Steinke was able to take Sanchez down during the period, with the latter finding himself on his back, he was able to get back up, but not before absorbing damage on his left eye.
If Erick Sanchez can land the right-handed punch consistently in the Cage Warriors 143 main event, it could be the opening he needs to take advantage of the contest and potentially score the knockout.
Jamey Lynch Can End The Fight Quickly
In the other corner, don’t expect Jamey Lynch to waste much time in the Cage Warriors 143 main event. Just ask Cesar Gonzalez.
Although this fight was scheduled for three rounds at five minutes per round, Lynch needed less than half of one to finish the job. Right from the opening bell, Lynch connected on two kicks, the second of which caused the referee to call time due to a shot below the belt.
Gonzalez wasted no time in getting back to the fight, which only sped up Lynch’s attack even more. He continued to pepper Gonzalez with kicks and mixed it up by taking him down.
After getting to the clinch, Gonzalez had already developed a cut on his face thanks to Lynch’s strikes. This cut was too deep above the eye to permit Gonzalez to continue.
If Jamey Lynch is able to get out to a fast start with strikes, the Cage Warriors 143 main event will be short-lived.
Final Thoughts
Don’t miss a moment of the Cage Warriors 143 main event. One last word of advice before we let you go:
Pay the pizza guy before the fight starts. The fight could be over that quickly.
Prediction: Jamey Lynch by First-Round TKO.
