Che Mills first fight for Cage Warriors since UFC release announced

Che Mills gets a welterweight title shot at Cage Warriors 55

By Ben Heather @benheather

Cathal Pendred (12-2-1 MMA) will put his Cage Warriors welterweight title on the line against Che Mills (15-5 MMA). This will be Pendred's first title defence and will be against Mills who has recently been cut from the UFC. Mills will fight for his first time since signing for Cage Warriors.

Promotion Officials announced the bout on Friday. The fight will headline the Cage Warriors 55 show which will take place on June 1st at The Helix in Dublin.

Pendred is 5-0-1 fighting for Cage Warriors and will look to defend the title for the first time in front of his hometown crowd. He won the title at Cage Warriors 52 where he won a unanimous decision over Gale Grimaud.

Pendred spoke about the announced fight "Fighting in my own backyard in a venue full of crazy Irish fans against a guy who was in the UFC until very recently, I couldn't have asked for a better way to defend my title for the first time, I can guarantee that the calibre of my opponent and the atmosphere the Irish fans will create is going to bring out the best in me."

Mills this past month was cut from the UFC following a loss to Matt Riddle at UFC on Fuel TV 7, although this fight was later changed to a no contest when Matt Riddle tested positive for Marijuana after the fight. Now Mills will return to Cage Warriors to fight for the first time in more than two and a half years, having last fought for Cage Warriors at Cage Warriors 38 in October 2010.

Mills stated "I'm really excited about the opportunity, this fight will be a war but I'm not leaving without the belt."

Along with the welterweight title fight as the main event, the co main event is likely to be the final of the recently announced four man one night flyweight tournament which will also be a title fight. The winner of this tournament will be the inaugural 125lb champion. The format of the tournament is likely to see two fights take place in the prelims with the winner of each fighting each other in the final.

Keep checking KingdomMMA for more news on Cage Warriors as well as all the latest news from the world of MMA.