Fight Night Cage Warriors: Tom Aspinall, Conor McGregor and the ‘dream-makers’ of MMA

[Pelican Press 0]

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****** Night Cage Warriors: Tom Aspinall, Conor McGregor and the ‘dream-makers’ of MMA

Cage Warriors has formed a close relationship with the UFC, in which its shows are broadcast on the UFC’s streaming platform ****** Pass.

Riley was competing at last month’s Cage Warriors 178, with the promotion’s next flagship show taking part in Rome on Saturday.

What is noticeable about many Cage Warriors shows is the amount of children in attendance compared to other promotions, and this is a deliberate ploy by the organisers.

Many of the kids are family or friends of the fighters competing, exemplified by the party-like celebrations which greeted British bantamweight Jack Humphries’ impressive win over Fabian Ufs in Manchester.

“To build talent means bringing local, grassroots gyms into events. Bringing these grassroots guys, their family, the community, the mums, the dads, the kids who are training,” said Boylan.

“If you don’t bring them in and make them part of it, you’re not feeding the younger generation coming through.”

But what do Cage Warriors look for when they sign upcoming athletes like Humphries?

“We normally look for character. The fighting and the skillset, we can see that, but there are hundreds of fighters with skillsets. So we look for that little spark,” said Boylan.

Boylan references Britain’s Joe Fields as an example, who won to extend his record to 3-0.

Fields, nicknamed ‘The Butcher’, arrives wearing a butcher’s apron. He understands a big part of building a fanbase comes from showmanship, but his victory proves he is equally adept as an athlete.

“You just saw Joe Fields, that ****’s going to go far. He’s got the package – he’s got that spark, he’s humble, respectful, well-spoken,” added Boylan.

After beating Junior, Riley celebrated by placing an imaginary phone to his ear, before asking UFC president Dana White to “call him”.

Most promotions would do everything in their power to keep hold of their biggest star, but Cage Warriors are willing to lose fighters like Riley because they are already grooming the likes of Humphries and Fields to step into his shoes.

It is a system which has brought great success since Boylan took over Cage Warriors in 2010 and, if it’s not broken, then why fix it?

“We make jokes all the time that we’re the dream-makers, but there’s a lot of truth to it too,” said Boylan.

“Some you’re like ‘it would be great if we could keep them’, but we know our place in the sport. We understand what we do, it’s that simple.”

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