After a night off on Friday, your MMA weekend resumes Saturday afternoon (US time) as UK-based promotion Cage Warriors returns to live action for its second of three weekends in a row this month with Cage Warriors 146. A week ago Friday, Cage Warriors 145 was held in London.
That night, in the Cage Warriors 145 main event, Paul Hughes (9-1 MMA, 6-1 CWFC) bested now-former champion Jordan Vucenic (9-2 MMA, 5-1 CWFC) to take the title. Eight nights later, the promotion heads to Manchester for Cage Warriors 146, capped off with a championship doubleheader, starting with the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event.
Barring anything unforeseen between now and Saturday, the card will feature a packed 14-fight card, streamed live throughout the world on the UFC‘s subscription-based service, UFC Fight Pass. Live coverage of Cage Warriors 146 begins Saturday at 11:45 am ET/ 8:45 am PT with the undercard.
Main card action follows at 3:30 pm ET/ 12:30 pm PT and will lead right into the early prelims of UFC 281. Think of it as a day-night doubleheader.
Interim Welterweight Gold Up For Grabs in Cage Warriors 146 Co-Main Event
Your title fight twin-bill kicks off with the battle for the Cage Warriors Interim Welterweight Championship in the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event. 42-fight veteran Jimmy Wallhead (31-11 MMA, 11-6 CWFC) will meet up against Mateusz Figlak (7-1 MMA, 4-1 CWFC).
As with all championship bouts, Saturday’s co-headliner will be an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round. The winner will become the 16th different man, counting interim championships, to hold the welterweight championship.
Rhys McKee (12-4-1 MMA, 5-0 CWFC) took the permanent welterweight belt back in June with a third-round knockout of Justin Burlinson (7-2 MMA, 0-1 CWFC) in the Cage Warriors 140 main event. After the fight, he expressed his aspirations to rejoin the UFC, two years after being cut from the roster.
Cage Warriors 146 Co-Main Event Fighter Comparison and Betting Odds
Heading into Saturday’s co-headliner, Mateusz Figlak stands as the taller competitor at six feet even, with Jimmy Wallhead countering at 5-foot-10. Wallhead owns a 74-inch reach, with no such information accessible online for Figlak.
As it stand currently, the oddsmakers currently have Mateusz Figlak installed as a -260 favorite for Saturday, with Jimmy Wallhead as a +200 underdog. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight taking place this weekend, please wager responsibly.
Jimmy Wallhead Aiming to Become Cage Warriors Champion After 17 Years
Jimmy Wallhead enters the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event having gone 3-2 in his last five MMA fights and is currently on a three-fight winning streak. A veteran of both Bellator MMA and the UFC, Wallhead made his Cage Warriors return in his latest contest, a first-round knockout against Daniel Skibinski (18-8 MMA, 0-3 CWFC) on July 22.
His professional MMA career began in Cage Warriors over 17 years ago in April of 2005, when he submitted Steve Matthews (0-5 MMA, 0-3 CWFC) by rear-naked choke in the first round of Wallhead’s debut during Cage Warriors 10. Since then, he’s had stints in various MMA promotions, but Saturday’s contest is the biggest in his 43-fight career.
After his knockout against Skibinski, Wallhead talked with Edith LaBelle. He discussed his plans for the twilight of his career.
“I’m signed for five fights, I’m just taking it one fight at a time,” Wallhead said. “But I want to finish my career where it started. I want to finish my career here.”
Wallhead told LaBelle that he’d like to get a title shot. On Saturday, he gets his wish.
He’s been in MMA for 17 years and a victory in the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event would undoubtedly be a capstone for a brilliant career.
Mateusz Figlak Returning After 11-Month Layoff
In the other corner, Mateusz Figlak has posted a record of 5-0 in his last five fights and has won four consecutive fights under the Cage Warriors banner since rejoining the promotion in September of 2020. Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision versus Kent Kauppinen (13-7 MMA, 1-1 CWFC) on Dec. 11 of last year in Cage Warriors 132.
He’ll have been away from the cage for 11 months and one day by the time that the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event begins on Saturday. Figlak hasn’t even been so much as scheduled to fight at any point since his last appearance.
The age-old question of ring rust has popped again. How much training has he gotten in since his last fight? Round one of Saturday’s title fight will answer that question.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
Stylistically, the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event on Saturday looks to favor Jimmy Wallhead, a judo practitioner, as his nickname suggests, compared to Mateusz Figlak’s status as a submission specialist. Thus, it stands to reason that we could be looking at a strength versus strength matchup.
Jimmy Wallhead Has One-Punch Power
Although Jimmy Wallhead has only won a fraction of his fights by knockout, when it happens, it can end very abruptly, as was the case in July against Skibinski. During the first round of a scheduled three, Wallhead was tested with a takedown attempt from Daniel Skibinski, but the former grabbed the latter’s leg to stifle the effort.
Wallhead moved in on Skibinski very quickly with a barrage of punches against the cage fence to knock him down. The in-house DJ began playing Survivor’s Eye of The Tiger too soon, but even as the music began to play, Wallhead got in a few more punches to finish the job.
All it will take Jimmy Wallhead to finish the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event is as little as one punch. His opponent can end a fight quickly in his own right.
Mateusz Figlak Can Be Lethal With Submissions
In the other corner, Mateusz Figlak’s submission game has been known to be fierce, as was the case in his 2020 fight against Madars Fleminas. One minute into the three-round fight’s opening frame, Figlak landed a takedown and immediately went to work from the back mount, eventually placing his arm under Fleminas’ neck to sink in a rear-naked choke in under two minutes.
If Figlak is able to take Wallhead down, it could be the opening he needs to land a submission.
Which of these fighters tops your UFC Pound for Pound list?
Volkanovski
Nunes
Adesanya
Usman
Final Thoughts
Although the UFC’s got two championships at stake later Saturday in New York City, don’t sleep on the Cage Warriors title fights. It could be an interesting contest in the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event.
Prediction: Jimmy Wallhead by Unanimous Decision.
