The show kicked off with defending CWFC Women’s champion Sexton outlasting her Dutch challenger in a high energy ground war.  An exhausted Van Den Hooven failed to come out for the 4th round after being worn down by Sexton’s superior technique and relentless attacks.  Both women exchanged punches and submission attempts in a highly competitive and enjoyable first round.  Sexton took it though, taking the challenger down effectively and coming close with an armbar late in the session.  Van Den Hooven came back well in the second, making Sexton pay for her submission happy approach by bashing her with some good punches on the ground.  She even came close with an armbar of her own late in the round but Sexton escaped and was working for a toehold as time expired.  Both fighters looked tired going into the third but still served up some real action.  Good takedowns, fast reversals and a heelhook race were just some of the highlights of the opening moments.  Until now Van Den Hooven had seemed the better striker but given the chance sexton unleashed some impressive punches on the ground.  Clearly exhausted the challenger went into survival mode as Sexton pounded away with elbows and punches.  In the final seconds Sexton switched to an unlikely looking armbar but again, time ran out.  As the fighters went back to their corners it was obvious Van Den Hooven had nothing left, giving Sexton the victory.  This was an excellent performance by Sexton (especially as she gave birth just 6 months ago) and a very good opening fight.

Paul McVeigh SUB3 Phil Harris

CWFC Bantamweight champion McVeigh retained his title, submitting Harris with a triangle 1:05 into the third of a fast paced, busy fight.  Aside from a few worrying moments early where Harris seemed intent on pulling McVeigh’s head clean off (a long headlock and an excellent headlock/hipthrow), the champion was never really in danger of losing.  His slicker groundwork and faster, more accurate punching saw him take the first round.  His dominance continued in the second as apart from a nice uppercut midway through the session, Harris had no real answers for McVeigh’s well-rounded, varied attacks.  Slicker on the mat and landing hurtful shots both standing and on the ground, it was starting to look like a matter of time.  And it was.  A little over a minute into the next round, after a good takedown and a neat triangle attempt McVeigh got what he was looking for.  Re-applying the triangle and grabbing an arm for good measure he gave Harris no option.  An impressive title defence for the talented McVeigh.

Danny Batten TKO3 Augusto Frota

Defending CWFC Featherweight champion Batten survived a first round beating and turned things around in an excellent display of heart, patience, stamina and skill and a TKO win after the third.  Frota started aggressively, rushing in with punches and earning a takedown.  Several times he whacked Batten in the face with heavy, noisy shots and the champion simply did his best to keep the Swiss based Brazilian off him.  Batten opened the second with a perfect and vicious leg kick, following up with some punches and more kicks to the inside and outside of the legs.  Frota did very little in this round as he switched to defensive mode but still couldn’t stop the champion from brutalising his thigh with more fast, accurate strikes.  Frota limped back to his corner at the end of a round where Batten really turned a difficult fight around.  Frota, despite the obvious damage to his left leg, and a nasty cut over his left eye, did much better in the third.  He landed some punches and tried for submissions but the relentless Batten kept the pressure up.  Even when on the defensive he was forcing Frota to work for everything.  At the end of the round Frota sat slumped in his corner and despite being slapped, shoved and shouted at by his teammates there was no way he could, or should have come out for the fourth.

Martin Wocijk TKO1 Christian Smith

In the night’s only non-title action, Wolfslair light heavyweight Wocijk made his pro debut, battering Smith to defeat 2:52 of the first round.  They clinched by the fence early and Wocijk grabbed a leg and slammed Smith to the mat.  From there he punished Smith with punches, hurting and bloodying him until smith turned his back.  Wocijk couldn’t finish with the choke but his unanswered assault prompted referee Marc Goddard (who did a great job in all 10 fights) to jump in for the stoppage.

Alexandre Izidro DEC5 (Majority) Thomas Hytten

This, the first of two fights that went the distance was, quite frankly dull.  CWFC Lightweight champion Izidro retained his belt with a deserved, but cautious win against the experienced Hytten.  Like his teammate Danny Batten, Izidro survived a tough first round (actually it was pretty hellish and I scored it 10-8 to Hytten) where his continued submission attempts were met with brutal punches to the head and body.  Hytten’s shots to the ribs both looked and sounded incredibly painful and Izidro will be sore for days after the pummelling he took early on.  At one point referee Goddard looked close to stopping it but Izidro somehow survived the round intact.  Perhaps Hytten simply exhausted himself punishing Izidro but he then did very little for the rest of the fight.  Izidro is a talented grappler, with some very good takedowns and he controlled the rest of the fight in workmanlike fashion.  The champion continually backed away from exchanges on their feet (though he did fall on his arse trying a silly spinning back kick) but his takedowns and ground control were enough to secure the victory.  He never looked like stopping or submitting Hytten though and while he earned his win (I had it 48-46) this showing won’t have earned him many new fans.

Dan Hardy DEC5 (Majority) Matt Thorpe

For most UK insiders this was going to be the night’s ‘real’ main event.  Two perfectly matched, exciting fighters from two of the UK’s leading teams seemed set for a war to decide the vacant CWFC Welterweight title.  And that’s exactly what they did, with Hardy walking away the winner of one of the best fights I’ve ever seen live.  Lanky Northern Cartel fighter Thorpe was dominant in the first round with fast, creative groundwork.  Hardy usually loves to stand and strike but as he admitted in his post-fight interview he just didn’t want to get caught with those long arms so tried to wrestle and GnP his way to a win instead.  It wasn’t working too well early though as Thorpe went for an armbar, then later transitioned another armbar attempt into a triangle into an oma plata in a sequence that would have had Joe Rogan wetting himself.  ‘12Gauge’ also went for a guillotine and a Kimura as he kept Hardy on the defensive for the full five minutes.  Both fighters brought plenty of supporters with them and the duelling chants of “Hardy” and “12 Gauge” kicked off in the second round, the atmosphere really adding to the experience.

Hardy came back to win the second and landed some punches and a hard kick to the ribs early on.  Pressed up against the fence in Hardy’s corner, Thorpe simply didn’t have the room to work for submissions this time.  And Hardy was relentless, firing off punches, elbows and hammerfists for most of the round.  Thorpe somehow managed to try an armbar late on but he didn’t have the room or the time to work for it and in any case, hardy escaped and gave him a couple of good elbows for his trouble.  The third and fourth were closer and while I eventually had Thorpe the winner (48-47) I’m in the minority.  The deciding factor was likely these two rounds as Thorpe mainly worked from his back, going for submissions while Hardy was on top, defending well and firing off strikes.  At one point in the third, Thorpe landed a flurry of punches, forcing Hardy to go for the takedown.  From his back Thorpe then tried an armbar, moved to a triangle and then back to an armbar.  Later in the round he seemed to have finally trapped the elusive Hardy as he slapped on what looked to be the match-winning submission with yet another armbar.  Floundering like a desperate animal caught in a trap, Hardy swivelled, spun, turned, struggled and muscled his way out of trouble in a dramatic few seconds that drew a huge round of applause from the audience and probably did some damage to his elbow that he’ll be feeling for at least a few days.  After that desperate escape, Hardy landed some strikes to finish off another dramatic round of action.  The fourth was the quietest round so far but still contained plenty of drama and subtle shifts in control and yet more duelling chants from the audience.  Hardy landed more shots and stayed on top but for me, few of them seriously damaged Thorpe (though he did cut him) while ’12 Gauge’ was still constantly pressing for the submission.

Hardy took the fifth and final round scoring with a takedown early and despite Thorpe’s excellent guard work, landed a heavy elbow to the face.  He followed up with more elbows and punches too.  Back on their feet, Hardy worked single-mindedly for the takedown and eventually got one but with Thorpe stalemating him on the mat, referee Goddard ordered the only restart of the fight.  Thorpe swung a few punches and again Hardy muscled him down to the mat to end a very close, ultra-competitive fight that improved both men’s standing and surely won them new fans.  Afterwards Hardy called Thorpe a “fantastic fighter” and welcomed the offer of a rematch.  As did everyone else in the arena.

Martin Kampmann SUB2 Damien Riccio

Kampmann retained his CWFC Middleweight title in style, tapping out the Frenchman 1:58 into the second round with a rear naked choke.  The powerful looking Riccio clearly wanted to strike early but Kampmann responded by flooring him heavily with a beautiful punch.  Charging in to follow up it looked as though the fight might not last 30 seconds but Riccio defended well.  Even though he then took some real punishment from Kampmann’s fists and elbows and was contolled for the entire round, it was something of an achievement for Riccio to hear the buzzer for the end of the session.  As the second began, Riccio came out throwing bombs but Kampmann hit him with a high kick and, after some grappling, secured a Muay Thai clinch, throwing a series of heavy knees, he dropped Riccio again.  This time though he took the mount and punched away, forcing to Riccio to turn his back and allowing the champion to choke him out.  A great performance for Kampmann.

Michael Bisping SUB1 Ross Pointon

Rising UK star and CWFC Light Heavyweight champion Bisping retained his belt in an action-packed 2 minutes but the challenger really made him work for it.  Both fighters had some excellent, noisy support and, like the Hardy-Thorpe war, the atmosphere helped make this fight feel like something special.  Bisping went for a high kick early while Pointon threw some fast, hard punches, forcing Bisping to step back.  Bisping responded with a good kick to the body, followed by a hard leg kick and Pointon charged in for the takedown.  With Bisping on his back, looking for a submission, Pointon chose to let him stand so they could trade strikes again.  Bisping nailed him with a powerful high kick and Pointon fired back with some more heavy hooks.  Bisping punched back and a couple of the fast, heavy shots that are typical for him and seemed to shake Pointon a little.  Again, Pointon took him down and Bisping landed in his guard with his back to the fence.  Pointon landed a good punch but Bisping neatly trapped his arm and rolled through for the submission win.  Afterwards, Bisping and Ian freeman discussed his future with UFC and Bisping announced he will be trying out for TUF3 this weekend.  Even if he doesn’t make it onto the TV show, Bisping says he’ll be working for Zuffa soon enough and declared “Forrest Griffin and any of them boys.  Watch your arse, ‘cause the ‘Count’s’coming”.

Jeff Monson SUB1 Emmanuel Marc

Many expected a quick submission win for CWFC Heavyweight champion Monson but it was still surprising top see him achieve it with such ease.  The fight lasted just 57 seconds and ended with the Frenchman literally choked unconscious.  Monson immediately shot in for a takedown and Marc sprawled.  Monson though, calmly took Marc’s back and began working for his favourite rear naked choke.  Marc tried rolling out of it – twice – and sunk it in tightly for a quick, easy title defence.  After the fight, Monson confirmed he’s been offered a fight at UFC57.  He should face more of a challenge there.

Antonio ‘Pezao’ da Silva Junior TKO1 Ruben Villareal

This fight, for the vacant CWFC Super Heavyweight belt was put together just days before the show and huge credit goes out to CW’s Ian Dean for finding a game opponent for Silva at short notice.  It’s hard to adequately explain just how monstrous Silva really is, live and up close.  The Brazilian Wolfslair/BTT fighter is simply immense.  And his great, big heavy hands, huge things they are, like shovels, certainly left an impression on Villareal.  A couple of miuntes into the fight ‘Warpath’ was lying helpless, mashed against the cage door, eating punch after thudding punch.  Mercifully saved by referee Marc Goddard after a violent flurry of some 15 punches and hammerfists, (he probably took upwards of 50 during the fight from the but was wandering around looking and feeling OK later on) Villareal was thoroughly and utterly beaten.  Silva dominated from the outset, landing a big leg kick followed by an easy takedown and a measured, brutal annihilation of the brave but outclassed American.