 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mixed Martial Arts promotion |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | John Ferguson |
| Headquarters | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Key people | John Ferguson (Founder & CEO); Tom Murphy |
| Parent | Ferguson Sports Group LT |
| Website | http://cagecontender.com |
Cage Contender is a European mixed martial arts promotion owned and operated by Belfast based Ferguson Sports Group LTD. [1] [2]
The creation of Irish sports promoter John Ferguson, Cage Contender began as a knockout style tournament to be fought at a weight of 70–80 kg in The Cricket Club, Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. The six men were drawn by way of raffle to make up three first-round fights. The winners of these three fights progressed to the next round along with one of the losers who would be granted a golden ticket again by way of raffle. The winners of the two second-round fights would progress to the final and a winner crowned.
The fight card was made up of a mix of amateur undercard fights and the professional six-man tournament which was the main event. The main event was won by English fighter Aaron Lambourne who returned via the golden ticket system following a first-round loss after a battle with local man Mervyn Mullholland.
From the outset of the Cage Contender project Ferguson stated that he would first achieve a broadcast deal then go on to become the Irish market leader. Many[ who? ] thought that this was nonsense given that he had no experience within either the television or MMA industries. The first part of his claim became reality at Cage Contender 4 in May 2010 when Cage Contender was broadcast for the first time in Ireland and the UK.
Its status as Irish market leader was confirmed on 24 July 2010 when Cage Contender 5 became the biggest non UFC event ever in Ireland being broadcast in 56 countries while 3500 fans packed Dublin's National Basketball Arena to witness the biggest Bantamweight fight in European MMA history between Paul McVeigh and Artemij Sitenkov.
On 28 August 2010 Cage Contender had its first event outside Ireland when welterweights Gunnar Nelson and Danny Mitchell headlined Cage Contender 6 at the Altrincham Leisure Centre in Manchester, England. [3]
Gunnar Nelson also headlined Cage Contender 12 against Alexander Butenko on 25 February 2012 at Dublins' National Basketball Arena. The fight made a milestone in Nelson's native country of Iceland as it was the first ever MMA event to be shown live on Icelandic television. [4] The Nordic fans got to see Nelson submit Butenko in the first round and few months later sign a deal with the UFC. [5]
Cage Contender was the first MMA promotion in Europe where fans were able to bet on the outcome of the fights in a historic team-up with Irish bookmaking chain Boyle Sports. This historic event led the way to more mainstream betting on MMA promotions in Europe.
Cage Contender features a mix of Irish talent combined with many UFC veterans to give wider commercial appeal.
In December 2012 Cage Contender returned to its tournament-style roots with the £10,000 Cage Contender Fight Stars event in Liverpool, England. This tournament was won by The Ultimate Fighter veteran and former Royal Marine Commando Martin Stapleton.
2013 saw Cage Contender sign international fighter Paul Daley to compete at Cage Contender 16 in Dublin, Ireland. Daley faced Frenchman Patrick Vallee and finished the fight by flying knee in the second round.
| Division | Weight limit | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | 265 lbs |  Neil Wain |
| Light Heavyweight | 205 lbs |  Fraser Opie |
| Middleweight | 185 lbs |  Chris Fields |
| Welterweight | 170 lbs |  Ali Arish |
| Lightweight | 155 lbs |  Micky Doyle |
| Featherweight | 145 lbs | Vacant |
| Bantamweight | 135 lbs | Vacant |
Cage Contender bouts are held under the Unified Rules of MMA
All Cage Contender bouts are competed over 3 x 5-minute rounds
Cage Contender Results from Sherdog.com
Cage Contender events are currently broadcast live in over 100 territories globally through television partners including Sky Sports, Setanta Sports, The Fight Network, Fox Sports International, Fight Now TV and 365 Network (Stod2) reaching a potential audience of around 380 million homes.
In May 2013 Cage Contender agreed terms with global content distributor SPI International Polska which will see the brand available on airlines, cruise ships and in hotel chains worldwide across 5 continents.
Cage Rage Championships, also known as Cage Rage, was a United Kingdom-based, mixed martial arts promotion that premiered on 7 September 2002 in London. Cage Rage went into liquidation and is now no longer trading. Cage Rage had been owned and managed by Elite XC until that company ceased operating, and the British promoters behind Cage Rage formed a new organization and withdrew all the old Cage Rage titles. Matchmaker and on-screen personality Dave O'Donnell was also a minority shareholder in the company. Fellow on-screen personality and co-promoter Andy Geer also owned a minority stake until he left the promotion in 2008. Cage Rage events were replayed on Nuts TV, along with their own weekday show on The Fight Network until these channels closed down. Every Cage Rage event and bout is now archived as part of the UFC Fight Pass library.
Strikeforce was an American mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California that operated from 1985 to 2013. It was headed by CEO Scott Coker.
Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002.
Kevin Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian-born American mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and actor. Originally a bare-knuckle boxer, he became noted for his role in mutual combat street fight videos which were spread online, leading Rolling Stone to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers".
Paul Anthony Daley is a British former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor from 2003 to 2022, Daley competed for the UFC, Bellator, K-1, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, Final Fight Championship, EliteXC, ShoXC, BAMMA, Cage Warriors, Cage Contender, Shark Fights, Pancrase, and Impact FC. Daley is a former Cage Rage World Welterweight Champion and Cage Rage British Welterweight Champion and a Strikeforce title challenger.
Brian Foster is an American mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently competing for the Professional Fighters League. A professional since 2006, he has also competed for the UFC. He won the WSOF Lightweight Tournament in 2015. Only one of his 41 career bouts has made it to a judges' decision.
Gunnar Lúðvík Nelson is an Icelandic professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which was awarded by Renzo Gracie after impressive results at the 2009 IBJJF Pan-Ams and the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. Nelson is a member of Mjölnir MMA in Iceland, and SBG Ireland.
BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ireland, KIX in Asia (in Indonesia aired on tvOne), VEQTA Digital Broadcast Sports Network in India, Kwesé Sports in Africa, DAZN in Germany & Russia, FITE TV and UNILAD (Online). BAMMA events stream live on the UNILAD Facebook Page (Prelims) and ITV4 (UK) & Fite.tv (US) (Main Card). BAMMA 29 was shown on free to air channel Dave, and BAMMA 30 was also shown there on 7 July 2017 as was BAMMA 31. BAMMA 33 was shown on ITV4 on December 15 2017. The last BAMMA event was held in London on June 28, 2018.
Justin Ross Edwards is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Edwards has also formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos and The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption.
Michael Jerome Reece-Page, known as Michael "Venom" Page or MVP, is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of 12 November 2024, he is #15 in the UFC welterweight rankings.
Norman Parke is a mixed martial artist from Northern Ireland. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Parke has fought for the UFC, Absolute Championship Berkut, KSW, and BAMMA. He was also a competitor for Team UK on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes in late 2012 and won the Lightweight Tournament.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017 by MMAX Investment Partners. It is the first major MMA organization in which individual athletes compete in a regular season, post-season and championship, rather than on a year-round basis.
Conor Anthony McGregor is an Irish professional mixed martial artist, professional boxer, businessman and actor. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight and Lightweight Champion, becoming the first UFC fighter to hold UFC championships in two weight classes simultaneously. He is also a former simultaneous Cage Warriors Fighting Championship (CWFC) Featherweight and Lightweight Champion.
Cathal Pendred is an Irish actor and former mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the Cage Warriors Welterweight World Champion.
Straight Blast Gym Ireland is a mixed martial arts academy and professional team based in Dublin, Ireland. It is run by John Kavanagh, and is part of Straight Blast Gym International. The team has produced several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, the most notable being Conor McGregor.
2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016.
UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on 19 November 2016 at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Charlie Ward is an Irish mixed martial artist currently competing in the middleweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2014, he formerly competed for the UFC.
Bellator 257: Nemkov vs. Davis 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 16, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Peter Queally is an Irish mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has also competed for Extreme Fighting Championship, BAMMA, Cage Warriors and Fight Nights Global.
Professional mixed martial arts organizations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia |
| ||||
| Australia |
| ||||
| Canada |
| ||||
| Europe |
| ||||
| Middle East |
| ||||
| Nigeria |
| ||||
| South Africa |
| ||||
| South America |
| ||||
| United Kingdom |
| ||||
| United States |
| ||||
