After the Cage Warriors 146 co-main event takes place on Saturday afternoon (US time), the Cage Warriors 146 main event will cap off a doubleheader day of MMA action from Manchester. Cage Warriors 146 will (barring any postponed fights between now and Saturday) feature a 14-fight card.
Saturday’s show (main card beginning at 3:30 pm ET/ 12:30 pm PT after the prelims at 11:45 am ET/ 8:45 am PT on the UFC‘s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass) is highlighted by the battle for supremacy at middleweight in the Cage Warriors 146 main event. The headliner also serves as the second title fight of four on the day, with UFC 281 headlined by its own championship doubleheader.
Middleweight Championship At Stake in Cage Warriors 146 Main Event
Current champion Christian Duncan (6-0 MMA, 6-0 CWFC) will put his middleweight championship at risk when he battles challenger Marian Dimitrov (10-2 MMA, CWFC promotional debut) on Saturday in the headliner. Dimitrov will make his first MMA appearance in slightly over three years this week.
As with all MMA championship bouts, the Cage Warriors 146 main event will be a maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close the action. Should the debuting Marian Dimitrov win on Saturday, he would become the 16th different man (all permanent reigns) to hold the Cage Warriors Middleweight Championship.
Cage Warriors 146 Main Event Fighter Comparison and Betting Odds
Heading into the Cage Warriors 146 main event on Saturday night, champion Christian Duncan stands as the taller man at 6-foot-2, compared to the 5-foot-11 frame of Marian Dimitrov. No reach advantage information was accessible for this fight at press time.
The oddsmakers have Christian Duncan as a -500 favorite as of early Thursday afternoon, with Marian Dimitrov as a +375 underdog. If you plan to place a bet on this or any other fight happening throughout this weekend, please wager responsibly.
Christian Duncan Looks For Sixth Win Inside the Distance in Cage Warriors 146 Main Event Saturday
Christian Duncan enters the Cage Warriors 146 main event on Saturday night having yet to lose thus far in his professional MMA career. All of his pro wins have come under the Cage Warriors banner. Back on April 2 during the Cage Warriors 136 main event, he knocked out Djati Melan (8-1 MMA, 2-1 CWFC) in the third round with a flying knee.
This was Duncan’s fifth win by stoppage in his first six professional bouts. After the victory, the champion talked with Edith LaBelle.
“As much as you might be surprised, it wasn’t part of the gameplan”, Duncan said about the flying knee. “I’d just seen an opportunity and I took it at the time. Very, very tough opponent. Very strong wrestler. I had to take my time with him, I couldn’t rush anything because I know I had to make the most of my energy at certain times to get out of what he’s trying to do to me.”
Duncan has been known to get the job done inside the distance, but will it hold true again on Saturday? Watch and find out.
Marian Dimitrov Looks To Win in First Fight in Three Years
In the other corner, Marian Dimitrov has gone 5-0 in his last five bouts and is currently on a 10-fight winning streak dating back to December of 2014. Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision victory against Milan Flipovic (5-3 MMA) in October of 2019.
Dimitrov had been scheduled to fight twice since then, but both contests were canceled ahead of the event. A planned bout versus Enoc Solves Torres (26-11-1 MMA) on May 23, 2020 in Spain was canceled after the entire card was scrubbed by the coronavirus.
Subsequent to that, he was booked to make his Bellator MMA debut this past May versus Fabian Edwards (11-2 MMA, 7-2 Bellator) during Bellator 275. This fight was called off in advance of the show. In the past three years, Dimitrov has been scheduled to fight three times, but has only fought once.
How much training has he gotten in during that downtime, especially after the layoff caused by the pandemic? We’ll soon find out the answer to the question of ring rust.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
The Cage Warriors 146 main event could be another one of those fights that’s a toss-up. Both of these men have been known to knock opponents out in the past, but Christian Duncan has won five of his six professional bouts via stoppage.
Christian Duncan Can End Things in a Hurry
If there’s one constant about Christian Duncan’s fights, it’s that you shouldn’t look away from the screen when he’s in the cage. His 2020 fight against Lukasz Marcinkowski is a textbook example of this.
Although the fight was scheduled to last three rounds, he needed just one minute to complete his assignment. The fight began with each man biding his time as they waited to land a big strike, with Duncan landing the first shot thanks to a leg kick, followed by some punches and another kick.
From there, Duncan landed a kick to the body, followed by a spinning back kick to send Marcinkowski down and out in just one minute. If Christian Duncan is able to land some kicks to Marian Dimitrov, it could be the opening he needs to end the fight abruptly.
Dimitrov Has Good Hands, Too
In the other corner, Marian Dimitrov is also lethal when it comes to punches, as he showed during his 2019 fight against Vladislav Schepanski. Right from the command to fight, Dimitrov put Schepanski in the clinch, driving him down to the mat and grappling with him from the back mount before Schepanski returned to his feet.
It was all Dimitrov, all the time for as long as the fight lasted, with Schepanski being taken down again after a flurry of punches. From there, he unloaded with a burst of ground and pound shots from the back mount to end the contest.
If Marian Dimitrov is able to land punches in bunches, he’ll walk out of the arena as the new champion on Saturday.
Which of these fighters tops your UFC Pound for Pound list?
Volkanovski
Nunes
Adesanya
Usman
Final Thoughts
At the core, the Cage Warriors 146 main event looks to be an entertaining fight on Saturday. Although most of the attention will go to the two UFC title fights in New York City at Madison Square Garden. this is a fight you don’t want to miss.
Prediction: Christian Duncan by Unanimous Decision.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Main image credit Embed from Getty Images
