George Hardwick is known for his sharp body shots and he showed why in his first major regional promotional title fight Friday in London.
At Cage Warriors 141, Hardwick (10-1) went to his bread-and-butter attack when he blasted AKA’s Kyle Driscoll (13-4) with a series of punches to the body and head to claim the promotion’s vacant lightweight title at 1:25 of Round 4.
The fight was closely contested in the early stages. Slowly but surely that changed as Hardwick maintained a high energy level and quick movements. Driscoll’s range was excellent early, but as the fight continued he appeared to slow down.
In Round 3, Hardwick dropped Driscoll with a body shot that swung the momentum clearly in his favor. Driscoll succeeded in wild exchanges when he had no other option, but Hardwick’s attack proved relentless.
In the next round, Hardwick finally got the job done. A left hook to the right side of Driscoll’s body sat him against the cage. A couple of light follow-up punches were enough for referee Marc Goddard to step in.
GEORGE HARDWICK HAS DONE IT!!!!!!#CW141 pic.twitter.com/0rtD48fcw5
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 22, 2022
With the victory, Hardwick extended his winning streak to six. Five of those wins came inside the distance. As for Driscoll, his eight-fight winning streak is no longer.
“Maybe this will get me into the UFC, but I’m a competitor first,” Hardwick told MMA Junkie before the fight. “I want to have an active schedule first. I want to have defenses. I’ve seen some champions that win the belt and then they just sit on the sidelines. I’ve seen some champions win this and think it’s a ticket to the UFC. They sat on their arse for like two years. You only get one career. You don’t want to lose two years of fights. I’m a competitor first. I want to compete. I want to go through the competitive process as much as possible.”
The full Cage Warriors 141 results include:
- George Hardwick def. Kyle Driscoll via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 1:25
- Jim Wallhead def. Daniel Skibinski via TKO (right hook) – Round 1, 1:15
- Mike Figlak def. Agy Sardari via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mick Stanton def. Darren Stewart via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Samuel Bark def. Tobias Harila via TKO (knee) – Round 2, 2:30
- Steve Aimable def. Jeremy Petley via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Reece McEwan def. Kingsley Crawford via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Will Currie def. Naglis Kanisauskas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Adam Amarashinghe def. Sam Spencer via unanimous decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Madars Fleminas def. Jesse Urholin via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:10
- Lone’er Kavanagh def. Ander Sanchez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Omiel Brown def. Alexander Lindgren via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:51
