Laura Howarth out wrestles Amanda Kelly at Cage Warriors 64

Laura Howarth vs Amanda Kelly: Cage Warriors 64 Fight Review

by Ben Heather @benheather

Photo: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors

Laura Howarth, who you may have seen try to get in to the TUF 18 house came in to this fight with one mission, to get the fight on the mat and work the fight where she believed she had the advantage where as Amanda Kelly wanted this fight to stay on the feet where she showcased her brutal attacks in her debut fight. Both women came in to the fight unbeaten at 1-0.

As soon as the fight started it was Howarth who was looking to implement her game plan and it wasn't long before Amanda Kelly was on her back, on the mat. Howarth spent most of the first round in the full guard of Kelly but doing enough to keep the fight on the floor. Kelly was always looking to land with strikes from the bottom mixing up punches to the body with some elbows when she saw an opportunity.

In the second round it took Howarth a lot longer to get Kelly down, before this happened Kelly was using her strikes well to prevent Howarth taking her down after she did it with ease in the first round. However, about 3 minutes in to the round Howarth finally got the takedown she had craved and passed in to half guard. It looked like she was trying to work another pass in to either side control or full mount but stayed active from the top again doing enough to end the round on top.

As the third round started Kelly knew she was behind on the scorecards and couldn't get taken down again. She came out more aggressive, keeping the fight standing and was getting the better of the exchanges bloodying up Howarth in the process. Kelly certainly looks the stronger of the two on the feet and lands some good kicks and knees to the head of Howarth but she couldn't find the finish she needed so the fight went to the judges scorecards. As expected all three judges agreed and scored the fight 29-28.

Howarth did a really good job preventing the explosive Kelly from finding her distance and keeping her down. The win improves Howarth's record and she remains unbeaten at 2-0. Amanda Kelly looked a very good fighter while the fight was standing and with some improvements to her takedown defence will be a real force in the future. I look forward to watching both women again in the near future.