Cage Warriors 94 Event Review: What’s next for the Bantamweight division?

Cage Warriors returned to Belgium with a bang last night as the promotion aimed to highlight Belgian fighting talent and crown a new Bantamweight champion.

In the main event, Ilia Topuria put on a dominant display against Belgian fighter Brian Bouland who was the home town favourite.

Topuria wasted no time taking the Belgian to the mat in the first round where he would quickly and effectively lock in a anaconda choke, putting Bouland to sleep to take the dominant win.

Ilia Topuria 🇪🇸 with the upset! First round Anaconda Choke 🐍 #CW94 What a finish! pic.twitter.com/thC1UbMuGe

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) June 16, 2018

Topuria is now 6-0 and would be Bantamweight champion, however, the Spaniard missed weight, therefore not making himself eligible to win the title.

So now the question is, where does the Bantamweight division go from here. Jack Shore had already been confirmed to fight for the belt at Cage Warriors 97 in Cardiff on 29th September against the winner of last nights fight, but that is now up in the air.

Meanwhile, Phil Mulpeter took on Jan “Q-Bomb” Quaeyhaegens in a welterweight contest to kick off the main card.

Round one saw Mulpeter lock in a triangle choke, but once Q-Bomb escaped, he easily dominated the rest of the round.

Round two saw the fight go to the ground once again, and Q-Bomb kept top control for virtually the whole round, while blasting Mulpeter with heavy shots.

Mulpeter had to finish the fight in the third round as there was no way he was going to get a judges decision, and he did just that, locking in a rear naked choke, causing Q-Bomb to go to sleep and taking his record to 9-5.

Donovan Desmae and Hubert Geven put on a hell of a fight, as they went to all out war in their lightweight contest.

The fight only lasted for one round though, as both men came out looking to hit heavy strikes, with the fight eventually going to the ground.

We didn't get to see this local rivalry play out in the #WorldCup but tonight, at #CW94, Belgium's 🇧🇪 Donovan Desmae and the Netherland's 🇳🇱 Hubert Geven are going at it! pic.twitter.com/boJ5GOfPWD

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) June 16, 2018

Once on the ground, Geven failed to lock in a guillotine, giving Desmae top control.

Desmae then allowed for the fight to go back to the feet, and almost immediately both men started throwing everything at each other again, both sustaining cuts.

That’s where the fight ended, as Desmae was unable to see further action due to a cut and the fight was called between the first and second rounds, with Geven going 12-3 with a TKO, Fans will certainly be desperate to see a re-match between the pair in the future.

Samir Alekozie lost to Krzysztof Klaczek in the evenings most lack lustre fight, which saw Klaczek just take and hold top control on the ground for three straight rounds, taking his record to 11-5.

Jai Herbert put on an impressive performance in his promotional debut against Erdi Karatas, winning via unanimous decision.

The fight saw both men landing clean strikes, but Herbert dominated on the mat, especially in the third, where he relentlessly kept trying for rear naked choke attempts, that Karatas struggled to defend.

Herbert looks like he could be a great fighter in the future and now goes 6-1.

So, what did you think to Cage Warriors 94?

Tell me via Twitter @Cobleyreporting.