The Champ Is Here
Cage Warriors featherweight champion Harry Hardwick is gearing up to make the first defence of his title when he takes on Keweny Lopes in the main event at Cage Warriors 181 on November 23rd.
“Houdini” finally realised his dream of becoming a champion after almost three years plying his trade with the UK-based promotion when he beat Orlando Wilson Prins at Cage Warriors 172 in May.
The event took place in Newcastle, England, which is within touching distance of Hardwick’s home town of Middlesbrough, meaning he was able to celebrate his special moment surrounded by friends and family.
“It was special” Hardwick told me when we spoke last week. “It took a while to get there. There was lots of awkward things, just with how the division was before I had my title fight, but the fact that I got to headline (an event) as close to my hometown as possible (Middlesbrough doesn’t have an arena), like it all worked out perfectly.
“I’m very grateful for how it worked out, but I know none of that would have happened had I not kept my head down and kept grafting, kept improving, took a fight that was a non-title fight when I was the number one contender and that kind of stuff.
“I understand that to have the good fortune to be able to have moments like that comes from getting my head down and grafting”.
A Huge Challenge
Hardwick is set to return to the same arena to defend his belt next week and a difficult challenge awaits him.
His opponent Lopes (11-1-1) is riding an 11-fight winning streak coming into this fight and the Nova Uniao export has finished the overwhelming majority of his opponents to date.
Hardwick doesn’t intimidated by the Brazilian’s reputation though.
“I’m very confident (that) I have the tools to dismantle him” he explained. “Like, to just take him apart. Obviously he’s from a good gym, he’s on a good winning streak, he’s knocked a bunch of people out, he’s won titles in other organisations….but he has not got the same ‘quality of craft’ as I do.
“His shot…his chance at winning this is if he can try and land something big in round one, which I will be very aware of. I can win this every second of every round of the fight. I genuinely believe he is in for a shock when he comes to Newcastle (not just because of the weather!). I think when he gets in the cage he is in for a shock”.
Dreaming Big
Cage Warriors has a rich history of producing future UFC stars. Well over 100 fighters have fought in the famous yellow gloves and gone on to fight inside the Octagon, and Hardwick believes that both he and his brother George (who is the current Cage Warriors lightweight champion) could be in line to be the next names off that conveyor belt.
“I want to be in the UFC” he said. “I want to be fighting in the UFC. That’s my goal, that’s my dream. There’s never been a UFC fighter from Middlesbrough or from Teeside. Me and George are going to be the first. We have to be the first.
“If the UFC doesn’t come knocking after this one, I might see what I can do. See if I can try and convince (Cage Warriors CEO) Graham (Boylan) to put a Cage Warriors on at the Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough’s soccer stadium).
I know Cage Warriors 200 is just around the corner so if we could get something like that, that would be cool!
“But the long term picture is that I want to be in the UFC, I want to be scrapping those people”.
Harry Hardwick faces Keweny Lopes in the main event at Cage Warriors 181 on November 23rd, live on UFC Fight Pass.
