This Saturday is one of the biggest days of the year in MMA. Between London and New York City, you’ll have a day-night doubleheader of competitive violence to enjoy.
All told, Saturday will feature a total of three championship belts handed out across two promotions. We start the day in the United Kingdom, where Graham Boylan‘s Cage Warriors returns to London for Cage Warriors 163.
This is the first Cage Warriors show to take place in the month of November. In two weeks, the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend inside the United States gets some extra flavor with Cage Warriors 164.
The Nov. 25 card is currently forecast to be headlined by a battle for the Cage Warriors Middleweight Championship between Mick Stanton (12-7 MMA, 9-5 CWFC) and Dario Bellandi (6-1 MMA, 4-1 CWFC) as part of a title fight trifecta at the top of the show. More on that card later on.
Barring any postponements between now and Saturday afternoon, the final version of Cage Warriors 163 features a stacked 17-fight card. Highlighting the night’s activities is the battle for supremacy at 170 lbs. in the Cage Warriors 163 main event.
Leon Edwardsβ Rocky-like story has lit a fire in Omiel Brown π
Make sure to catch his quest for gold this Saturday at #CW163 Londonβ¦
ποΈ π¦π²π°ππΏπ² ππΆπ°πΈπ²ππ: https://t.co/Ig7BKjWazp pic.twitter.com/fiqzGCh3vF
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) November 7, 2023
Vacant Welterweight Crown Up for Grabs Saturday
The newly-vacant Cage Warriors Welterweight Championship goes to the winner of Saturday’s headliner. Either Omiel Brown (6-2 MMA, 6-2 CWFC) or Giannis Bachar (8-2 MMA, 1-0 CWFC) will succeed current UFC fighter Rhys McKee as the permanent champion after a vacation of more than one year.
As with all Cage Warriors championship fights, the Cage Warriors 163 main event is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close the show.
Cage Warriors 163 Main Event Fighter Comparison
Heading into the Cage Warriors 163 main event on Saturday night, Giannis Bachar stands as the taller gladiator at 6-foot-1, compared to the 5-foot-11 frame of Omiel Brown. Bachar owns a 72-inch reach, with no such information accessible for Brown at press time.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the oddsmakers had yet to release betting lines for Cage Warriors 163. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this weekend, please wager responsibly.
Brown Looking to Build Off of First-Round Knockout Saturday
Omiel Brown has posted a 4-1 record in his last five MMA appearances. Most recently, he stopped Jesse Urholin (8-2 MMA, 2-2 CWFC) by first-round knockout with an uppercut back on July 21 in Cage Warriors 157.
In a recent interview with Fight & Talk, the title hopeful said that he’s ready to go for Saturday.
“Tough fight, definitely going to be a tough fight,” Brown said. “[He’s] a guy that’s going to bring it to me, man. Obviously, I’m going to bring it back, as well. Them are the fights that I like. I like guys that will push me, will make me go to a dark place because I need to get those fights in. The earlier in my career, the better it is, because when it gets to later in my career, then it’s second nature to me, man.”
Can Bachar Continue to Impress?
In the other corner, Giannis Bachar has gone 5-0 in his last five contests. At the present time, he’s won seven fights in a row dating back to October of 2016.
Last time out, he scored a third-round knockout of Carlo Pedersoli (14-5 MMA, 1-1 CWFC), an alum of both the UFC and Bellator, with punches in Cage Warriors 154 on May 6.
Bachar has already turned heads on the international scene, having won in Brave CF in 2020 during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. A year earlier, he took his talents to the United States with a victory in Titan FC 53Β on UFC Fight Pass.
Quite simply, Giannis Bachar is a young man who’s more than paid all of his dues on the MMA circuit. A victory here will be eight in a row, as well as his second career win in a championship fight after a successful title bid in Global Legion FC two years ago.
Winning two title fights in two different promotions may be good enough for Bachar to bolster his UFC resume. Although UFC President Dana White is going to be busy prepping for UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden, he should take time out to watch Bachar fight. If he impresses again, White should give Bachar a phone call.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
Saturday’s Cage Warriors 163 main event is going to be another one of those toss-ups. Both men can get the job done in devastating fashion.
Watch Brown’s Right Hook
In combat sports, the hook is often a go-to move when a fighter is looking to set up a knockout. Omiel Brown’s 2022 victory against Alexander Lindgren is a textbook example of that.
During the first round of a scheduled three, Brown tried to punch his way out of a clinch, yet Lindgren wouldn’t budge. Eventually, Brown scored with a few shots to get back to a standing position.
Once Omiel Brown began stalking Alexander Lindgren, the tide would be in his favor thanks to a two-punch combination to the head. He went in for the kill with a well-placed right hook to sit Lindgren down, ending the match with a brief flurry of ground and pound strikes to secure the knockout.
All it will take for Omiel Brown to win on Saturday in the Cage Warriors 163 main event is one right hook. He might force Giannis Bachar to take a seat afterward.
Giannis Bachar Can Punch His Way to the Win
In the other corner, Giannis Bachar has a puncher’s chance in his own right on Saturday. Just look at the footage of the third round of his fight against Pedersoli.Β
Bachar and Pedersoli each came out swinging, with the latter giving the former a cut to his forehead. This pace continued down the stretch until Bachar wobbled Pedersoli before taking him down.
At this point, Bachar’s mission was clear: Unload with a barrage of punches. With Pedersoli not making any effort to fight back, the referee wisely stepped in and halted the contest.
If Giannis Bachar takes Omiel Brown once, he’ll walk out of London as the new champion.
Final Thoughts
Saturday’s Cage Warriors 163 main event appears to be a satisfying appetizer for the main course of a championship night of action later on in New York City with two fighters worthy of the UFC Fight Pass spotlight (4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT after the undercard at 12:30 pm ET/ 9:30 am PT.) Will it deliver?
Prediction: Giannis Bachar by Unanimous Decision.
