Back With A Vengeance
Former Cage Warriors title challenger Orlando Wilson Prins will be back in action on Nov. 15 when he takes on Thomas Paull at Cage Warriors 180 in London, England.
Prins stepped up on short notice to face featherweight champion Harry Hardwick in May and while that attempt at glory proved unsuccessful, the Dutchman believes the gamble was one worth taking.
“I know it was a big risk” he explained, “and okay, I took an extra loss on my record which would be avoidable if I would have taken the safe route, but I wanted to take that test. I thought I was ready and I really wanted to take that leap. If I had succeeded then I’d have known that I was ready for the next level”.
Hardwick is set to defend his belt once more against Keweny Lopes a week after Prins faces Paull, and Prins believes that may be the last time “Houdini” competes in the UK-based promotion and is already thinking about how the future of the featherweight division might look.
“I think if Harry wins this next fight he could well move on (to the UFC)” he said. “That leaves myself and Solomon Simon and maybe a few other dark horses. Maybe Milad Ahady too. That leaves us three around the top of the division.
“I think in order to make that next step, we’re going to have to fight each other to make it to the next level. I don’t really like to see top contenders avoiding each other and sneaking their way into the UFC or into the title picture, winning the title against some random guy and then leaving the division”.
The Golden Age
The Cage Warriors featherweight division went through somewhat of a golden era between 2020 and 2022 when current UFC fighters Morgan Charriere and Jordan Vucenic, and new PFL superstar Paul Hughes fought a series of competitive battles in the famous yellow gloves, and Prins believes we may be about to see history repeat itself.
“I like what they did with Jordan Vucenic, Paul Hughes and Morgan Charriere” They all fought each other, they had a nice competitive trio going on, all close, really entertaining fights and I think that will really help build your fanbase and also make it more legitimate when you go to the next level and I think the three of us could do a similar thing. I would really like to see Cage Warriors pushing us toward that spot and not letting us fight random guys”.
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Since those battles for the Cage Warriors featherweight strap Charriere has competed in the UFC three times, while Vucenic narrowly lost to Guram Kutateladze on his Octagon debut. Hughes has perhaps hit the highest heights of the three, dispatching of AJ McKee on the PFL’s “Battle of the Giants” PPV event in Saudi Arabia.
Prins believes that the tests those three fighters provided for each other has been paramount to their development and revealed that he is looking to take a similar route to the top of the sport.
“At the end of the day for me it’s not (just) about getting to the UFC” he insisted, “it’s about being ready to fight at that level as well. You don’t want to just get the contract and then lose three fights and be back on the regional scene, you know? You want to really be ready, and those three guys showed that they’re more than capable of competing at the next level. I think…only Jordan (Vucenic) lost but he was winning the fight (his UFC debut) in my opinion and I think with a few small adjustments he’s a top 15 fighter already in the UFC.
“And Paul Hughes showed he’s a top-level fighter already and a guy like Charriere is also doing great. Those guys had such a (great) development in Cage Warriors and I think we could do the same if we would fight each other”.
Orlando Wilson Prins faces Thomas Paull at Cage Warriors 180 on Nov. 15, live on UFC Fight Pass.
