Tommy Maguire Injured, Damir Hadzovic now Meets John Maguire at CW 66

Tommy Maguire Injured, Damir Hadzovic now Meets John Maguire at CW 66
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Photo: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors

As one Maguire pulls out, another Maguire steps in.

An injury has forced Tommy Maguire to pull out of his Cage Warriors 66 bout with Damir Hadzovic in Denmark. Hadzovic will now face Tommy's older brother John who steps in as a last minute replacement.

Cage Warriors 66 takes place on March 22nd at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, Demark, and is is headlined by Sergei Churilov vs. Nicolas Dalby, who meet for the vacant welterweight title. The card will serve as Cage Warriors first event in Scandinavia with 2 further events proposed for 2014.

Five time UFC vet John Maguire fights for Cage Warriors for 3 time since being released for the UFC, where he went 2-3.

Following a successful Cage Warriors debut at Cage Warriors 63 in Dublin where he defeated a game Philip Mulpeter by unanimous decision on New Years Eve, Maguire returned to Dublin most recent for Cage Warriors 65, March 1st, where he was upset by rising prospect Saul Rogers.

A pro since 2006, 30-year old Maguire has been stopped just once in his 26 professional bouts, with 13 of his career victories coming inside the distance.

Speaking ahead of the bout, Maguire said:

“I’m a fighter and, as a fighter, I’m always ready to step in, accept a challenge and compete.”

A pro since 2010, Maguire's opponent Damir Hadzovic makes his Cage Warriors debut on the back of a 7-2 professional record.

Born in Gorazde, Bosnia but fighting out of Fightcenter Esbjerg, Denmark, Hadzovic has taken all but one of his victories inside the distance, with the 27-year olds, two career losses coming at the hands of current undefeated UFC pair Krzysztof Jotko and Andreas Stahl.

MAIN CARD
Sergei Churilov vs. Nicolas Dalby - For the Vacant Cage Warriors Welterweight Title
Mohsen Bahari vs. Bruno Carvalho
Damir Hadzovic vs. John 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
Håkon 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

Lewis Long on Tommy Maguire "I believe I am better in all areas"

Kingdom MMA speak to Lewis Long ahead of Cage Warriors 59 clash with Tommy Maguire

by Ben Heather @benheather



Photo: Cage Warriors

Earlier today Kingdom MMA caught up with Lewis Long to discuss his fight this weekend at Cage Warriors 59, which takes place at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales. Lewis fights on the main card and takes on Tommy Maguire, the brother of former UFC fighter John Maguire.

Ben: For those people reading this that haven't heard of Lewis Long yet or seen you fight before can you tell us a little about yourself and what they can expect to see on Saturday night?
Long: I'm Lewis Long, proud Welshman, true martial artist.

Ben: On Saturday night you will be fighting for the third time at a cage warriors event, cage warriors is widely regarded as the number one promotion in Europe. How does it feel fighting for such a well respected organisation?
Long: Oh it feels damn good, if you want to be seen it's the only place to be. The first event i ever went to was Cage Warriors in Nottingham, and since then it has been the only place I've wanted to be and since that show in Nottingham it's grown five times as big but still has the values that drew me to the promotion in the beginning.

Ben: Both of your previous cage warriors fights have been in wales and you will have the home country advantage fighting in Wales again on Saturday night, from past experience does the crowd spur you on as you walk out to the cage?
Long: The home crowd is awesome, the motorpoint arena is a top venue for MMA. Love hearing the crowd chant "Lewis "Lewis" because that's my name.

Ben: You are fighting Tommy Maguire on Saturday night, what do you know about your opponent and how do you think your skill sets compare?
Long: I know he has "2 Gunz" but unfortunately for him under the unified rules of MMA weapons are banned, so unlucky for him. As for skill set, I believe I am better in all areas.

Ben: How has the training camp gone for this fight and have you done anything different to prepare for the fight with Maguire?
Long: My BJJ coach Rob Taylor got his black belt, so i can say I train with a black belt now. I've taken my nutrition more seriously now too so I'm more prepared come fight night.

Ben: I believe both of your loses have come from submissions and Maguire has won nearly a third of his fights by submission have you focused on submission defence at all for this fight?
Long: He'd have to get me to the floor first and if by a miracle he does then I'm more that prepared you know, don't know if I've mentioned this but i do train with a black belt these days.

Ben: Last time out you defeated Mark Glover who was made famous by his appearance on The Ultimate fighter, how did you rate that performance?
Long: The game plan went perfectly, my boxing was crisp and even though he had the range I managed to get on the inside and get my shots off.

Ben: Is TUF something that would interest you or are you focused on working your way up the ranks within cage warriors and trying to earn a CW title shot?
Long: I applied for the Smashes but didn't hear anything back so didn't attend the trials in London. Then a few of the lads who went up said they called my name out and i wasn't there. If i had been there I would of made the final for certain. But things happen for a reason, my time will come.

Ben: How's the weight at the minute, are you on schedule and where you want to be ahead of the weight cut at the end of the week.
Long: I would like to be at 155lbs by the end of the week and I am on target at present so all good in the hood.

Ben: Finally Lewis, give us a prediction of how you see the fight going on Saturday night and how do you see yourself getting the win?
Long: My prediction would be to stop Tommy making the fight a snooze fest by dishing out my own brand of Lew-jitsu then being announced the winner by Joe Martinez.

Ben: Would you like to thank anyone?
Long: I always forget people but those who have helped me know who they are. Thanks for the interview. Follow my twitter @Lew_Long

Thank you very much to Lewis for taking the time to answer our questions and all the guys at Kingdom MMA wish you all the best on Saturday night.

Cage Warriors 59 adds Mills vs Petrescu and Long vs Maguire

Cage Warriors 59 main card takes shape with two more fights added

Photo: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors

Che Mills and Valentino Petrescu will clash in a middleweight contest when Cage Warriors Fighting Championship returns to Cardiff next month.

A lightweight tussle between Tommy Maguire and home favourite Lewis Long will also feature on the Cage Warriors 59 bill, while a further two bouts have been added to the event’s preliminary card.

Cage Warriors 59, which will also see the CWFC bantamweight and featherweight titles up for grabs, is set to take place at the Welsh capital’s Motorpoint Arena on Saturday, 14 September, 2013.

Mills (15-6-0-2) makes the move to middleweight following a loss to CWFC welterweight champion Cathal Pendred at Cage Warriors 55 in Dublin this past June.

The 30-year-old, who holds notable wins over the likes of Marius Zaromskis, Chris Cope and Jake Hecht, signed exclusively for Cage Warriors earlier this year after a four-fight stint with the UFC. “Cardiff is one of my favourite places so I can’t wait to fight there,” said Mills. “After my last performance, I’ll be looking to prove a point by putting on a show.”

Petrescu (12-3), who also recently signed an exclusive CWFC deal, featured as a welterweight on ‘The Smashes’ series of The Ultimate Fighter last year.

The 32-year-old has picked up seven of his 12 wins via first-round stoppage, with his only losses coming at the hands of highly-regarded opposition in the shape of Jimi Manuwa, Beslan Isaev and Lee Chadwick.
Petrescu said: “This one will make for an exciting fight because myself and Mills are both fighters who bring it. The fans in Cardiff will definitely be getting their money’s worth.”

Meanwhile, with their respective injury troubles out of the way, Lewis Long and Tommy Maguire will square off in a meeting of two of the UK’s most exciting lightweights.

After an impressive win against Mark Glover at Cage Warriors 54 in Cardiff back in May, an injury forced Long (7-2) to withdraw from a scheduled meeting with Saul Rogers at Liverpool’s Cage Warriors 57 last month.

Maguire (14-5), who appeared on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter, had to postpone his CWFC debut against Merv Mulholland at Cage Warriors 52 in London last March after he also sustained an injury.

Elsewhere at Cage Warriors 59, Welsh pair Jamie Rogers (9-6) and Owain Parry (3-1) will face off in a lightweight bout, while bantamweights Timur Mercanoglu (3-0) and Jordan Desborough (6-2) will also collide.

Tickets for Cage Warriors 59 are still available and prices start from just £25 (plus booking fee)