Cage Warriors 54 weigh-in results: Taylor, Phillips on mark for title fight

Jesse Taylor is set and official for the first defense of his Cage Warriors middleweight title.

The former UFC, Strikeforce and DREAM fighter weighed in at 185 pounds on the button for his Cage Warriors 54 title fight against John Phillips, who also came in at the championship limit of 185.

Taylor (25-9) won the belt with a second-round submission of Chris Fields at Cage Warriors 51 on New Year’s Eve. He comes into the fight with Phillips (16-5) on a five-fight win streak. Phillips earned his shot at the title with back-to-back submission wins over Tomas Penz and Fields.

A total of four fighters missed weight for their fights on their initial tries on the scale. Each was given two hours to cut the additional weight, and all but one made their marks on their second attempts.

For his bantamweight fight against Martin McDonough, which opens the main card, Mark Platts came in 1.4 pounds heavy at 137.4. For their flyweight fight on the preliminary card, both Kris Edwards and Shaj Haque came in off the mark. Edwards was 126.7 pounds, while Haque was 126.3, too high for the 126-pound flyweight max for a non-title fight. And Brad Wheeler came in at 156.5 pounds for his lightweight bout against Jamie Rogers and was given two hours to cut the half-pound.

Platts hit 135 pounds on his second attempt. Haque was able to make weight on his second try, coming in at 125.7 pounds. But Edwards elected to stay at 126.7 and instead will surrender 25 percent of his purse to Haque for the infraction. And Wheeler made 155.9 on his second try to become official for his lightweight bout against Rogers.

Cage Warriors 54 takes place at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. The main card, which streams live on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), begins Saturday at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT (9 p.m. BST local time). Cage Warriors’ Facebook page carries three preliminary-card bouts starting at 2:45 p.m. ET. In addition, a pair of untelevised prelims kick off the 11-fight card at 2 p.m. ET.

The full Cage Warriors 54 weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD (MMAjunkie.com, 4 p.m. ET)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 2:45 p.m. ET)

• Kris Edwards (126.7)** vs. Shaj Haque (125.7)***
• Matt Inman (169.9) vs. Leon Kenge (168.4)
• Jamie Rogers (154.8) vs. Brad Wheeler (155.9)****

PRELIMINARY CARD (Untelevised, 2 p.m. ET)

* Platts was 137.4 on his first attempt. He was given two hours to cut to the bantamweight max and made 135 on his second attempt.
** Edwards was given two hours to cut to the flyweight max of 126 pounds, but instead will surrender 25 percent of his purse to Haque.
*** After coming in at 126.3 on his first attempt, Haque was given two hours to cut to the flyweight max and made 125.7 on his second attempt.
**** Wheeler was 156.6 on his first attempt. He was given two hours to cut to the lightweight max and made 155.9 on his second attempt.

For more on Cage Warriors 54, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Jesse Taylor)