· Cage Warriors Setting New Standards In Europe

With the recent controversy surrounding mixed martial arts bouts in Sweden, the rise of talent from around the continent, and a star-studded weekend of events, many eyes are currently focused on Europe. One promotion making headlines of their own in Europe is Cage Warriors. With the organization’s rich history, recent resurgence, and commitment to the future, Graham Boylan, Ian Dean, and company continue to set the standards which most European organizations measure themselves by.

Earlier this week Cage Warriors Fighting Championships Director Graham Boylan announced that the promotion would be taking it upon themselves to support standards and regulations similar to those that commissions in the U.S. employ. Although not required, as there is no governing body for the sport in the United Kingdom, Cage Warriors will be implementing the following formal guidelines and procedures:

• Two qualified cutmen at each event, removing unqualified corner men from the responsibility.
• Three referees on event night.
• Head official Marc Goddard and head cutman John Tandy to oversee proceedings.
• No Vaseline in changing rooms; all to be applied at the cage door.
• An official in the changing rooms at all times to oversee what is going on.
• Vigilance on fighter safety procedure, e.g., a "no fight" policy for fighters getting knocked out or stopped within a certain time frame.
• Hands wrapped by an official and signed off.
• By 2012, having qualified MMA medics and working to bring in blood tests and MRIs for all fighters.
• Seminars by head officials to educate other shows and promoters.

The creation of a regulating body in England or Europe has been discussed for years, but has never come to pass. Known to have more bite than bark, Boylan explains why his organization is stepping out front in order to set a standard, “I was tired of seeing fighters being treated like [crap]. To be totally honest., I just got sick of all listening to all the 'talkers.' It’s my biggest hate in life, 'talkers.' You can smell the crap coming out of people's mouths before they even open them.

"When you see and hear talk about something that never happens over years its gets pretty boring. So I thought, lets just ignore all the talk and just go do our own thing the right way, if people want to follow suit than great for the sport. It's gone down really well so far, but there's always the 'talkers' that know best and have their opinions.”

Although the cost of voluntarily committing to these sorts of measures seems like a financial risk, Boylan believes that it is incumbent upon Cage Warriors to lead the way for the rest of Europe in effort to not only clean up the “Wild West”-like European MMA scene, but to aid in preparing fighters for the strict regulations they face fighting in other countries around the world—namely the United States.

Along with the regulations, Cage Warriors also announced the signing of several top prospects to multi-fight deals. Among the signings are Cage Contender champions Chris Fields (7-3 middleweight) and Cathal Pendred (7-2 welterweight), as well as Conor McGregor (7-2 featherweight), all from Straight Blast Gym in Ireland. Other recent signings include Jay Mortimore (6-1), John Donnelly (7-4), and Neil Seery (8-8).

“The fighters we sign to Cage Warriors now have a solid plan for the next 15 to 18 months. They know they are fighting on live TV, which will be broadcasted across the world,” commented Boylan. “And they know they have to be ready. That’s the motivation a fighter needs. That’s where this sport has to go to take it to the next level. I've given exclusive contracts to Chris Fields, Conor McGregor, Cathal Pendred, Neil Seery , John Donnelly and Jay Moritmore. The amount of exposure these fighters will receive over the term of their deals will boost them to the next level and get them noticed. If you serious about a career in MMA this is what you need as a professional fighter."

Those prospects, along with current Cage Warriors stars such as Joe Duffy (8-0), Paul McVeigh (18-6), Graham Turner (17-6), and Ian Entwistle (4-0), hope to follow in the footsteps of previous Cage Warriors standouts on their way to stardom. Some of the biggest names in the sport made the leap from the London-based organization straight to UFC, Pride and Strikeforce.

Dan Hardy, Paul Daley, Michael Bisping, Gegard Mousasi, Ian Freeman, Jorge Rivera, Jeff Monson, Gesias Cavalcante, Antonio Silva, Martin Kampmann, Dennis Siver, Andre Winner, Ross Pearson, and recent UFC signees Pascal Krauss, and Jason Young have all fought for the storied promotion.

Starting with last month’s CWFC 41, Cage Warriors has embarked on an unprecedented schedule that will see them hold one event per month through the end of 2011.

“Cage Warriors packs the bags in Ireland May 30 after CWFC 42 then off to Jordan for June 16. Cage Warriors will be traveling round the world with events; we have lots of big news coming out soon regarding different arenas around Europe also,” stated Boylan, also hinting that Japan and the United States could be in the plans for 2012.

Refusing to be a regional promotion, Cage Warriors will be bouncing back and forth, holding shows in England as well as Ireland, and with their June event traveling to Amman, Jordan. The trip to the Middle East country is a bold move for any MMA promotion, but one that Boylan sees as another trailblazing risk that must be made if, not only Cage Warriors, but all of European MMA wants to be taken seriously as a global force within the sport.

Cage Warriors next event will be held on May 28, 2011 and features undefeated former “The Ultimate Fighter” cast member Joseph Duffy (8-0) seeking to continue his string of eight straight first round stoppages against his toughest opponent yet, Oriol Gaset. (11-6) Also highlighted on the card will be Jake Hect (8-2) versus Craig White (5-1) and Myles Price (7-1) facing Tim Newman (7-2).

As for Graham Boylan and his commitment to bringing the Cage Warriors brand to the forefront, not just in the U.K. but in all of mixed martial arts, he is not shy about stating where he and his team have come from, or where they are going. “Eight months ago Cage Warriors was a just website. Now it’s back and alive with four TV partners showing Cage Warriors live in the States, Canada, U.K., Ireland, Africa and online. Who else goes live in the U.K. now?”

However, the organization’s head man knows that it has been a team effort that has propelled Cage Warriors back to the top, “There is a lot of talent in the U.K., and at Cage Warriors myself and Wikideania, (a.k.a. Ian Dean) have a lot of pride in the matchmaking that we put on. Ian has a lot of knowledge of the European fighters—fighters I wouldn’t be aware of. And I have a lot of local, grass roots knowledge of London and Ireland, as well as contacts in the States. So between us we sometimes we argue about fights, I win ‘cause I am the boss (only joking), but over all it’s a passion for the sport that shows in the fights CWFC put on.”

“My job is almost done, I've taken a dead brand and injected it with life and soon the brand will be doing its own thing. My last job now is to drill into coaches, fighters, and managers that we, as a whole in the U.K., need to start acting more professionally when it comes to fighters’ safety, event officials, bout contracts—getting them back on time. If you receive a contract with a 'to be returned by date' on it, then have it returned by that day.

"That’s being a professional, and that is what will bring this sport to higher levels in the U.K. Simple things like respecting the company polices that you are about to fight on—if you don’t want to do that then go fight in a community hall in a 18 foot cage, and pretend to everyone you’re a professional.”