Champs collide as two amateur lightweight champions from different promotions are set to battle. During the Cage Titans 39 broadcast, promotional officials announced two sets of high profile title fights. The promotional lightweight champion showdown features undefeated Cage Titans champion, Chris O’Brien against Reality Fighting champion, Matt Bienia.
Fight of Year
O’Brien returns to action after breaking his hand in what was a ‘fight of the year’ contender, regardless of promotion. The battle took place at Cage Titans 37 when he faced Chris Sniger for the vacant amateur lightweight title. Sniger was and is, the Cage Titans amateur featherweight champion on top of being heavily favored going into the matchup.
As the fight gods determined, chaos ensued from the opening bell. Eventually, in the second round of the contest, Sniger backed up O’Brien to the fence and unleashed a barrage of strikes. O’Brien stood back against the fence and ate an inordinate amount of punches until he stung back. The South Shore Sportfighting product countered when he could until a huge overhand right landed which wobbled Sniger, forcing him to shoot for a takedown.
Once the two hit the mat, O’Brien cinched a tight triangle choke forcing Sniger to tap. The craziness inside the cage only amplified the decibel levels outside the cage. Plymouth Memorial Hall measured on the Ritcher scale during that fight, or at least it felt that way.
Chris O’Brien’s Record
As an amateur, O’Brien is undefeated in four bouts. Each victory for O’Brien was stamped by a stoppage. ‘The Bearded Dragon’ has three submissions and one KO.
Matt Bienia
Bienia is an equally impressive champion. He earned the Reality Fighting amateur lightweight title in January at the promotions 100th event. There he defeated Nathan Ghareeb by way of submission in the third round of their title contest. Each of his victories came by way of stoppage. Overall, he holds three submission victories and two KO/TKO.
Both fighters will have had a substantial layoff by the time they make the walk to the Cage Titans cage. As chance would have it, both champions last competed in January of this year.
Cage Titans 40
Cage Titans 40 takes place from Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The only other fight official for the event is the also recently announced title bout featuring Jay Perrin taking on promotional bantamweight champion, Johnny Campbell.