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Cage Warriors 66 Officially Set for March 22 in Copenhagen


Scandinavia will taste live Cage Warriors Fighting Championship action for the first time on Saturday, March 22. Cage Warriors 66, which will be the promotion's third event of 2014, is set to take place at the Ballerup Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event will feature top Scandinavian stars like Nicolas Dalby, Jack Hermansson and Mohsen Bahari, and tickets will go on sale shortly.

"I've got four events in Scandinavia on our schedule for this year and I'm really excited about the first of those in Denmark next month," said Cage Warriors Fighting Championship CEO Graham Boylan.

"This will be an historic event as we visit another new country - the 12th to host Cage Warriors in recent years - and it will be headlined by a massive title bout, details of which will be announced very soon."

Dalby vs Churilov Set for Vacant 170 Title at Cage Warriors 66


The CWFC welterweight world title will be on the line when Cage Warriors Fighting Championship heads to Denmark next month. Home favourite Nicolas Dalby will take on Ukraine's Sergei Churilov for the vacant 170lbs belt in the main event at CWFC 66 at Copenhagen's Ballerup Super Arena on Saturday, March 22. CWFC officials can today confirm that the belt has been vacated by previous champion Cathal Pendred, who has been released from his contract by mutual agreement.

Dalby (11-0), Scandinavia's highest-ranked welterweight outside the UFC, is undefeated in his 11 professional bouts since making his debut in March 2010. The well-rounded 29-year-old holds notable wins over Morten Djursaa, Ivica Truscek, Acoidan Duque and Glenn Sparv. Commenting on the opportunity to compete for the CWFC belt in his hometown, Dalby said: "I'm extremely excited about fighting for this prestigious title. I'll do my utmost to ensure that CWFC, the fans in the arena and the viewers at home are treated to a very entertaining fight."

Churilov (15-1), a team-mate of former CWFC middleweight title challenger Pavel Kusch at Ukraine's renowned Combat Dobro camp, has taken 11 of his 15 professional victories inside the first round. The 29-year-old previously competed for Cage Warriors Fighting Championship at CWFC 46 in Kiev, when he impressively submitted Anatoly Starodubtsev.

"I'm really happy to have been given this massive opportunity by the biggest MMA organisation in Europe," said Churilov. "I'm working hard to make sure that I do everything I can to bring the belt back to Ukraine."

Paul Dollery, Cage Warriors' Director of Operations, added: "This has all the ingredients to be a fantastic bout, headlining our historic first ever event in Scandinavia, and the winner will be a very worthy CWFC champion.

"We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Cathal Pendred for his time as an outstanding CWFC athlete and champion, and we sincerely wish him the best for what will undoubtedly be an exciting future for him."

The meeting of Dalby versus Churilov is just one of nine bouts that have today been confirmed for CWFC 66. With several bouts still to be announced, check out the current fight card below:


Sergei Churilov vs. Nicolas Dalby - CWFC welterweight title bout
Mohsen Bahari vs. Bruno Carvalho
Robbie Olivier vs. Martin Svensson
Martin Akhtar vs. Toni Tauru
Damir Hadzovic vs. Tommy Maguire
Hakon Foss vs. Per Franklin
Emma Delaney vs. Lina Akhtar Lansberg
Rioo Ibrahim vs. Alexander Jacobsen
Haci Firat Dogan vs. Mathias Lodahl

Hermansson vs. Torres Booked for Cage Warriors 66 on March 22


The card for CWFC 66 is now complete, following the addition of a middleweight bout between Jack Hermansson and Enoc Solves Torres. The pair will clash on the main card at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship's first event in Scandinavia, which takes place at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Saturday, March 22. Hermansson (5-2), who returns to Cage Warriors following a two-fight stint with Bellator, holds previous CWFC wins over Ali Arish and Mike Ling. Fighting out of Norway, the 25-year-old Swede has taken all five of his professional wins inside the distance, four of which have come via KO.

"I'm really happy to be on this card as it means my family and friends will finally be able to see me fight live," said Hermansson. "I can't wait to put on a show for the Cage Warriors fans in Scandinavia."

Torres (13-6), a 29-year-old Spaniard, will be making his debut for the promotion against Hermansson in Copenhagen. A seven-fight M-1 veteran, Torres has taken 10 of his 13 wins by stoppage - five (T)KOs and five submissions.

He said: "I'm really excited about the opportunity to fight for Cage Warriors and I'm looking forward to this challenge against a good opponent."

Preliminary-card bouts between Jussi Halonen and Frodi Vitalis Hansen, and Binh Son Le and Shamal Tashkilot, have also been added to finalise the CWFC 66 bill.


MAIN CARD

Sergei Churilov vs. Nicolas Dalby - CWFC welterweight title bout
Mohsen Bahari vs. Bruno Carvalho
Damir Hadzovic vs. Tommy Maguire
Martin Akhtar vs. Toni Tauru
Jack Hermansson vs. Enoc Solves Torres
Robbie Olivier vs. Martin Svensson

PRELIMINARY CARD

Jussi Halonen vs. Frodi Vitalis Hansen
Haakon Foss vs. Per Franklin
Emma Delaney vs. Lina Akhtar Lansberg
Rioo Ibrahim vs. Alexander Jacobsen
Binh Son Le vs. Shamal Tashkilot
Haci Firat Dogan vs. Mathias Lodahl

Nicolas Dalby Hoping to Continue Rise at Cage Warriors 66


Those outside of the European MMA scene may not be familiar with the name Nicolas 'Sharpshooter' Dalby, but that's all set to change on Saturday, March 22, when Cage Warriors Fighting Championship heads to Copenhagen's Ballerup Super Arena in Denmark for Cage Warriors 66. Headlining the event is a welterweight title tussle between hometown favourite Dalby (11-0) and Ukraine's Sergei Churilov (15-1) for the vacant CWFC welterweight title. Win or lose, the Dane is looking to put on an entertaining fight for the fans in the arena and the viewers at home. Unbeaten in all 11 of his professional bouts to date, Dalby is the model image of a modern-day mixed martial artist, with as many wins by KO as submission.

"I feel like a truly all-round MMA fighter; I can box, kick, I can do some wrestling and BJJ," Dalby says, although he's certainly not averse to scoring a highlight-reel finish. "Of course it's always the most exciting to win by way of a spectacular KO, but if I see a submission I'll absolutely go for it."

Citing Chuck Liddell as an early MMA hero, and Mark Hunt as someone who has "the ability to bring out the pure fan in me again," Dalby has his inspirations, but he doesn't directly attribute his own skill-set to anyone in particular.

"I try to pick out the stuff that I feel will work for me instead of blindly having one special fighter as a kind of 'god'. Now I look at all MMA fighters in a more cynical way because I'm always trying to analyse what they're doing right or wrong in fights."

Starting out in karate, initially as a way to deal with bullies, Dalby eventually made the move into MMA in order "to try something more challenging". From there on, his progression to the top of the European circuit was positively meteoric.

"Fast, is how I would sum it up," he says. "I had my first professional fight in March 2010 and, more or less three years after, I won my tenth fight, which was a first for any Danish MMA fighter.

"I also broke the record for the fastest KO in Scandinavia, with a six-second fight, so it's been an intense ride."

Eleven fights into his career and turning 30 later this year, Dalby is a relative latecomer to the sport: "I don't really stress over my age," explains the 29-year-old, who recognises the distinction between age and time spent in the cage.

"I think how hard and long a fighter has been fighting says more than age does. Just take a look at Shogun Rua, who is just two years older than me but looks like he is pretty much done."

Nobody is more aware than Dalby of the importance of his upcoming fight with Churilov and the significance of the Cage Warriors Fighting Championhip welterweight belt.

"I see Cage Warriors as the most well-known and prestigious European MMA promotion, without doubt," Dalby says. "So I'm really honoured to be fighting for the title."

His message to the Danish fans ahead of his shot at CWFC gold a week on Saturday is simple: "I hope to see as many of you as possible in Ballerup Super Arena on March 22. I'll promise to give Churilov everything I have. And a little more!"