There’s winning a title, and then there’s winning a title in style.
In the Cage Warriors 136 main event, Christian Duncan (6-0) did the latter when he dethroned champion Djati Melan (8-1) with a flying knee TKO 48 seconds into Round 3.
Cage Warriors 136 took place Saturday at BEC Arena in Manchester, England, as the second of a two-day doubleheader for the promotion.
The flying knee finish by England’s Duncan was a sudden jolt of energy capping off an otherwise slow and repetitive bout. Cote D’Ivoire’s Melan controlled much of the action, or lack thereof, prior to his demise. His wrestling was strong, even though he encountered contact lens issues mid-fight. Through the first two rounds, wrestling was the name of the game.
In between Rounds 2 and 3, Melan complained about his contact lens shifting out. Meanwhile, Duncan seemingly regained his energy focusing on the task at hand. Duncan looked like the fresher fighter in the exchanges and put an exclamation point on top of things when his ax kick missed but jumping knee landed.
Check out the knockout and results below:
Christian Leroy Duncan with the flying Knee KO! 🔥
Incredible scenes at #CW136, a new middleweight champ is crowned!!#AndNew pic.twitter.com/I0DtGxIPUl— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) April 2, 2022
The complete Cage Warriors 136 results include:
- Christian Leroy Duncan def. Djati Melan via TKO (flying knee) – Round 3, 0:48
- Aaron Aby def. Gerardo Fanny via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:25
- Adam Cullen def. El Hadji Ndiaye via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:14
- Reece McEwan def. Sam Spencer via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:33
- Luke Riley def. Jack Elgin via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:54
- Mick Stanton def. Alexis Fontes via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:28
- Aleksi Mantykivi def. Jeanderson Castro via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 2:27
- Liam Molloy def. Ben Rees via knockout (left hook) – Round 1, 0:26
- Manny Akpan def. Connor Hitchens via knockout (wheel kick) – Round 2, 4:36
- Dylan Hazan def. Raymison Bruno via TKO (retirement) – Round 1, 5:00
- Jan Quaeyhaegans def. Kieran Lister via TKO (ground-and-pound) – Round 1, 3:08
- Chasen Blair def. Rickie Moore via TKO (ground-and-pound) – Round 1, 2:47
- Michael Tchamou def. Piotr Chmielecki via knockout (ground-and-pound) – Round 1, 1:35
