Cage Warriors 98 results: Ross Houston survives late knockdown to claim welterweight title

Ross Houston had to overcome a fourth-round knockdown before eventually dethroning welterweight champion, Stefano Paterno, in the main event of Cage Warriors 98 Saturday in Birmingham, England.

“I was willing to go out on my shield,” the newly-crowned champion declared after his split-decision win.

Paterno beckoned Houston into the exchanges in the first, looking to catch the Scot as he came in. The Italian gave up a takedown off a jumping knee attempt in the second and didn’t manage to shift “The Hitman”, who held a stark size advantage in the contest.

Houston appeared to drain the champion as he held him against the fence in the third. When they began to exchange, the challenger landed far cleaner punches, clipping the champion on several occasions with his backhand.

Paterno roared back into action in the fourth when he dropped Houston with a powerful right hand. The champion was all over Houston on the ground with referee Marc Goddard warning him to stay active. Again, Paterno was the more active of the two in the final round. Despite giving up a takedown in the final minute, Paterno hit a savvy sweep to establish top position just before the final bell.

Aiden Lee showcased his slick jiu-jitsu before submitting Paull McBain to book his place in the featherweight tournament final against Dean Trueman. The first-round rear-naked choke marked the first loss of the Scottish featherweight’s career.

The Team Renegade fighter hit a beautiful sweep early in the first off a kimura trap and controlled McBain for the majority of the round before he established back control and sunk in the fight-ending choke.

Trueman overwhelmed Lewis Monarch in the first semi-final of the featherweight tournament, putting on a blistering pace as he breezed through the prospect with a dynamic showing.

Trueman proved to be equal to Monarch’s slick striking, mixing his attacks with takedowns and trimmings of of the Thai clinch. He dominated the grappling exchanges in the final round. His unpredictable approach was perfectly summed up by superman punch he landed in the first-round after propelling himself off the cage.

Adam Proctor took a win in his Cage Warriors return, but Italian opponent, Angelo Rubino, proved to be a quite a handful for the SBG South Shields fighter en route to the unanimous decision win. Rubino chewed up the lead leg of “The Love Doctor”, who used his reach advantage well to land straight punches. Proctor had a definite advantage in the wrestling department, scoring takedowns in all three rounds.

Perry Goodwin put on a boxing clinic against Alexander Jacobsen before he finished the former title contender with a left hook counter in the opening exchanges of the second round. “The Predator” came into the contest on a two-fight skid and agreed that the performances was one of the best his career to date in his post-fight interview.

Former BAMMA champion Alex Lohore announced his intentions in the Cage Warriors welterweight bracket with a second-round win over top-rated prospect, Sam Boult. Lohore likely established himself in the 170-pound title conversation with the debut victory.

Main card

• Ross Houston def. Stefano Paterno via split decision (48-47, 46-48, 48-47)
• Aiden Lee def. Paull McBain via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:45 of R1
• Dean Trueman def. Lewis Monarch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Adam Proctor def. Angelo Rubino via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Perry Goodwon def. Alexander Jacobsen TKO (strikes) at 0:37 of R2

Preliminary Card

• Alex Lohore def. Sam Boult via TKO (strikes) at 3:18 of R2
• Scott Malone def. Adam Amarasinghe via TKO (strikes) at 1:10 of R3
• Kingsley Crawford def. Antanas Jazbutis via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
• George McManus def. Josh Plant via submission (reverse triangle) at 4:01 of R1
• Michael Younis def. Marcin Prostko via submission (standing guillotine) at 4:00 of R1