CW89 was a bizarre mix of thrills and lots of agony as thousands of fans packed out the Lotto Arena in Antwerp to witness the biggest and most explosive MMA event Belgium had ever seen.
The main event saw the USA’s Dominique Steele upset European welterweight King Karl Amoussou in a back-and-forth war to close the night. Steele dropped Amoussou on multiple occasions with clean shots, answering critics who thought the Welterweight Champion’s striking skills to be far superior. In the second round, Amoussou threatened with some slick submission attempts and looked to be back in the fight, but ultimately the American’s strength proved too much for the Frenchman and Steele dominated in top position for most of the final round. However, due to Dominique Steele missing championship weight, the fight was not contested for the Welterweight title therefore Karl Amoussou remains World Champion.
In the co-main event of the evening which saw Kerry Hughes clash with UFC vet Cindy Dandois the early stoppage exercised by the referee was a bizarre act of jumping the gun. After an initial feeling out process which saw Hughes pushing the pace she was eventually taken to the ground. What commenced was arguably a competitive effort which saw Hughes sustaining a barrage of shots but still remained in the fight, the referee, however, did not share the view of those watching and stopped the fight after 1:53 of the first round. In her post fight interview Dandois also expressed her opinion that the fight had been stopped early offering to fight Hughes at a later date.
.@DandoisCindy finishes Kerry Hughes in Round 1 in front of a home crowd here in Belgium! ? pic.twitter.com/WtDryfwgCO
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 25, 2017
CW89 Results
Pro Prelims
Sameer Alekozai defeated Mathias Lodahl via TKO (Doctor stoppage due to a cut) after 2:39 of round 3
Artur Szczepaniak defeated “Massai” Sant’anna via TKO after 3:43 of round 1
Jan Quaeyhaegens defeated Leon Jansen via TKO after 2:58 of round 1
Donovan Desmae defeated Aiden Lee via unanimous decision after 3 rounds
“Mr Perfect” Ben Dandois defeated Chico Martinez via submission after 2:02 of round 2
Main Card
Jack Shore defeated Ayton De Paepe via Submission after 3:04 of round 1
Tommy Depret defeated John Maguire via TKO after 3:10 of round 3
Mauro Cerilli defeated Nills van Noord via TKO after 2:24 of round 1
Cindy Dandois defeated Kerry Hughes via TKO after 1:53 of round 1
Dominique Steele defeated Karl Amoussou via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28 after 3 rounds.