With the ever increasing number of promotions popping up across Europe there is perhaps no better time than to review the talent available for these promotions. The recent Cage Warriors hiatus has freed up a lot of talent across the board, more so in the lighter weight divisions and so perhaps unsurprisingly three of my five picks are 155lbs and below.
With much focus in recent months on Irish, Scottish and Welsh fighters I have narrowed my list down to British fighters who I would like to see signed up to some of the bigger European promotions in the coming months;
Jimmy Wallhead
Wallhead seems to be having a career resurgence as of late and is still a big force at Welterweight. Following his last loss at Cage Warriors 68 to Danny Roberts, Wallhead has picked up two KO wins with his latest coming at Abu Dhabi Warriors against Rodrigo Ribeiro. For me Wallhead is always great value and always produces exciting fights win or lose. As a free agent promotions should be lining up to sign the experienced Welterweight who seems, like a fine wine to be getting better with age.
Danny Roberts
It seems only fitting to include Danny Roberts in the top five to be signed given his last fight was a win over the man above him in this article, Jimmy Wallhead. In his professional career Roberts has only suffered one loss at UCC back in December 2011 and is currently riding a five fight win streak. The demise of Cage Warriors has perhaps affected Roberts more than anyone as it was almost a certainty that his next fight for the promotion would have been for the 170lbs strap. With rumours of Roberts fighting across the pond in his next bout, any European promotion should be chomping at the bit to sign the confident and exciting Welterweight to their roster.
Patrick Pimblett
A teammate of Danny Roberts, Pimblett is really making a name for himself on the regional scene. Since his last Cage Warriors victory, Pimblett has picked up the FCC Title and a couple of enemies in Andy Ogle and Artem Lobov in the process. Pimblett is not just an incredibly skilled fighter but also has a huge confidence in his own ability which just seems to defeat his opponents before the fight even starts. Pimblett is also always looking to up his game and has recently been competing in grappling bouts to sharpen his already impressive grappling.
Arnold Allen
Arnold Allen has been and will continue to be a name on everyone’s minds across the UKMMA scene and definitely someone that promotions should be lining up for. The 21 year old has been out of action since November when he stepped in at Made 4 The Cage to claim their Lightweight Title on very short notice. For me, Allen should absolutely be fighting on the bigger stages and somewhere like BAMMA or KSW would be an ideal spot to really help him showcase his skills. With Cage Warriors future uncertain it would be a huge loss if Allen was not back in the cage soon.
Alex Enlund
Unlike many of the former Cage Warriors Champions (Stevie Ray, Nicolas Dalby, Pannie Kianzad) Enlund has not yet been signed up to one of the bigger promotions which is a huge shame. Featherweight Champion Enlund holds an impressive record of eleven victories with only one of them (his title win) going the distance. A submission specialist, Enlund has really improved his stand-up game which showed in his win over Nad Narimani. I would hate to see Enlund rushed into the UFC but there is absolutely no reason that with a few wins on some of Europe’s bigger shows that the South Shields based fighter will be more than ready to handle his own on the big show.