Cage Warriors 52 results: Pendred unseats Grimaud, Turner tops Mesdari

Unbeaten since 2010, Irishman Cathal Pendred (12-2-1) is now a Cage Warriors champion.

Pendred used a grinding, aggressive attack to nullify the striking of former champion Gael Grimaud and cruise to a unanimous-decision win.

The bout served as the headliner of Saturday’s Cage Warriors 52 event, which took place at London’s HMV Forum and streamed live on MMAjunkie.com.

Pendred pushed forward at the opening bell, rifling off punches and pressing into the clinch. Grimaud defended well against the cage and worked an occasional knee inside before the pair separated and looked to strike from distance. Grimaud had early success from range, using his unorthodox movement to leap in and out of range.

The flight played out in similar fashion in the second, as Pendred looked to aggressive;y walk forward and into his opponent’s face, but Grimaud did well to remain on his feet and to find space to strike when the two pulled away.

The feeling-out process ended in the third, and Pendred came alive with a crisp combo on the mark. Grimaud responded with a slamming takedown and immediately set up in side control, but Pendred climbed quickly back to his feet, where the two traded for the remainder of the round.

It was Grimaud who picked up the pace as the championship rounds began, and he scored an early trip takedown. However, Pendred popped back to his feet and pressed in from the outside, pinning Grimaud on the cage. Grimaud continued to find success from range when he could keep space, but Pendred didn’t stay at that distance long, and he moved inside for his own takedown late in the frame.

With nothing given heading into the final frame, Grimaud took the center and calmly fired off low kicks as Pendred circles and pushed forward with punches. Two minutes into the round, he drove in for a takedown, but he wasn’t able to keep Grimaud on the floor. Still, he pressed forward throughout the final frame and kept Grimaud pinned against the cage. Grimaud pulled free in the final minute, but Pendred put him immediately back on the fence and held it there until the final bell. In the end, judges awarded him a unanimous-decision win with scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47, and Pendred took the welterweight belt.

“I feel on top of the world,” Pendred said after the win. “Hard work, dedication and sacrifice pays off. Here’s the proof of that.”

In the night’s co-feature, Scottish featherweight Graham “Afterburner” Turner (22-7) earned a first-round stoppage in a high-paced assault of Frenchman Fouad Mesdari (10-4)

Mesdari moved forward form the start with rapid-fire kicks and punches, but Turner countered by dropping him to the floor and setting up for non-stop ground-and-pound. Mesdari bucked and rolled, but he ultimately gave up the mount and was forced to endure an endless flow of punches and elbows that forced referee Marc Goddard to halt the bout at the 3:05 mark of the opening frame.

Turner now boasts a four-fight win streak and is 6-1 in his past seven fights. Mesdari sees a two-fight win streak snapped.

Carvalho, Mason score second-round stoppages

In welterweight action, Brazilian submission ace Bruno “B.C.” Carvalho (15-6) made relatively quick work of late replacement Steven Dinsdale (5-1).

Carvalho ran forward at the opening bell, quickly clinching and nearly taking the back. Dinsdale wisely ran to his corner for instructions and used the cage to peel Carvalho away, but the submission ace refused to give him any space at all. A standing guillotine briefly threatened, and Carvalho was able to take the back in the final seconds for the first, but Dinsdale survived until the second.

Carvalho again worked to a clinch early in the second frame, and this time he took the back in the opening minute. With both hooks firmly in place, Carvalho elected to pass on the choke in favor of unleashing punches. The decision paid dividends, and the bout was quickly stopped.

Halfway into his contest with Matt Inman (9-6), English welterweight Jack Mason (23-11) looked comfortable grinding out a controlling win from top position. Inman changed the course of the fight with a slick triangle-choke attempt, but it ultimately proved his undoing.

Mason pushed forward at the opening bell, walking through punches to get the fight to the floor. But Inman proved capable on his back and in the second round locked his legs around his opponent’s neck and threatened to win the fight on the floor. However, Mason patiently defended the hold and shucked off the legs before unleashing a barrage of powerful elbows and punches that earned him the TKO win with 34 seconds in the second round.

McVeigh, Philpott pick up early entertaining wins

In a 128-pound catchweight contest, Northern Ireland’s “Metabolic” Paul McVeigh (19-8) outlasted a game Paul Marin (5-2) in an entertaining back-and-forth affair.

McVeigh’s slick transitions saw him often working to top position and earning points by spending time in a dominant stance. However, Marin proved wily in each and every one of the scrambles, escaping from a mounted position and scoring a slick belly-to-belly suplex during various moments of the opening frame. He’d show similar slippery techniques in the second frame and even threatened to end the bout after a slick escape saw him take the dominant stance and unleashing punches from the top. However, McVeigh wisely rolled free and finished the round on top.

Both fighters kept a high pace in the final frame, and Marin’s incredible ability to work free from difficult positions was again on display, but McVeigh reestablished himself in the dominant spot each time and earned him a hard-fought decision win in a technically impressive matchup.

In the night’s first main-card matchup, 20-year-old Alan Philpott (8-3) used an impressive grappling attack to cruise to an impressive third-round TKO win over fellow bantamweight Liam James (6-5). Philpott took the fight to the floor throughout the bout, pulling guard, scoring hip tosses and nailing sweeps on the canvas to constantly find himself in top position. James provided a stern test for most of the contest, but he faded late in the bout and Philpott turned up the volume by taking the back and unleashing a barrage of punches that forced a stoppage at the 3:00 mark of the final frame.

MMAjunkie.com will feature a replay of the Cage Warriors 52 main card on Monday, March 11, at 2 p.m. ET.

Cage Warriors 52 results include:

MAIN CARD

• Cathal Pendred def. Gael Grimaud via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) – to become new welterweight champion
• Graham Turner def. Fouad Mesdari via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:05
• Bruno “B.C.” Carvalho def. Steve Dinsdale via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:48
• Jack Mason def. Matt Inman via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:26
• Paul McVeigh def. Paul Marin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Alan Philpott def. Liam James via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:00

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Chris Fishgold def. Steve O’Keeffe via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:34
• Martin McDonough def. Alex Enlund via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:13
• Paul Redmond def. Alexei Roberts via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:30
• Brad Wheeler def. Merv Mulholland via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:46
• Dan Hope def. Gary Kono via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28
• Ben Hajir def. Anthony Ferguson via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:42
• Richard Griffin def. Shah Hussain via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:40
• Shaj Haque def. Olly Battell via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)

For more on Cage Warriors 52, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Cathal Pendred)