In case you missed it, this weekend Cage Warriors headed to Dublin, Ireland for Cage Warriors 153. The main event saw Rhys McKee take on Jim Wallhead in a welterweight title bout.
Cage Warriors 153 Results
Rhys McKee is a longtime veteran of the promotion and has spent the majority of his professional career at the top of Cage Warriors Lightweight and Welterweight divisions. His excellent form in Cage Warriors saw McKee get the call up to the UFC but was unfortunately fed to the wolves during his time in the promotion. A debut decision loss to Alex Morono and suffering an utter domination at the hands of the then unknown Khamzat Chimaev saw McKee go 0-2 with the UFC and would not make another appearance with the organization. Since returning to Cage Warriors, McKee has managed to pick up a 2-fight win streak. Hopefully for him a return to MMA’s premier organization may be on the cards sooner rather than later.
His opponent Jim Wallhead is a veteran of the cage and made his debut in MMA all the way back in 2005. During his career he has fought under a number of different organizations such as BAMMA, Bellator, KSW, and like McKee went 0-2 in the UFC. At 39, Wallhead has seen something of a late resurgence in his career and has managed to build a very nice 4-fight win streak heading into this fight. Wallhead picked up the Cage Warriors Interim Welterweight title along the way with a knockout victory over Mateusz Figlak back at Cage Warriors 146. He looked to continue this fine form on Saturday night and perhaps bow out of the sport on top.
The Rest of the Card
Other feature bouts on the card included Tobias Harila taking on hometown hero Ryan Shelley. Harila has impressed massively in his career so far garnering a record of 12-3 and finishing 11 of these wins by knockout. He went up against undefeated Irish prospect Ryan Shelley who at 6-0 looked to keep his 0 for the foreseeable future.
Former Featherweight champion Morgan Charriere also made an appearance on the card as he battled it out with Pedro Souza. After losing to current Featherweight Champion Paul Hughes back in 2021, Charriere eyed to rebuild and somehow find a way back to the top. He has fought once since then and picked up the victory with a decision win over Daniel Bazant.
Main Card
- Rhys McKee (c) def. Jim Wallhead (ic) via TKO (corner stoppage), Round 4, 5:00 — for the Cage Warriors welterweight championship / title unification bout
- Tobias Harila def. Ryan Shelley via TKO, Round 3, 1:40
- Morgan Charriere def. Pedro Souza via TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 1, 5:00
- Oban Elliott def. James Sheehan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Decky McAleenan def. Wasi Adeshina by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 4:54
Prelims
- Benoit Blanc def. Taka Mhandu by submission (d’arce choke), Round 1, 4:05
- Paddy McCorry def. Angus Hewett by TKO (flying knee), Round 1, 1:59
- Adam Darby def. Jack Tucker by submission (triangle choke), Round 1, 2:15
- Leon Hill def. Marcin Zembala by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 4:08
- Solomon Simon def. Dorian Cliucinicov by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 4:46
- Adam Shelley def. Muhammed Kir Ahmet by TKO (head kick), Round 2, 1:37
- Nicolas Leblond def. Ryan Curtis by submission (bulldog choke), Round 1, 2:05
- Alexander O’Sullivan def. Afrim Thaqi by submission (arm-bar), 1:18
- Kyle McClurkin def. Owain Williams by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
