Former UFC flyweight Phil Harris signs with Cage Warriors, debuts this month

It won’t take long for Phil Harris to get back to work.

The flyweight has signed an exclusive five-fight deal with Cage Warriors after being released by the UFC following a second consecutive loss a month ago. Harris (22-12) will debut with the promotion later this month against Kurban Gadzhiev (6-0) at Cage Warriors Fight Night 11.

Cage Warriors Fight Night 11 will take place April 18 at King Hussein Youth City Boxing Arena in Amman, Jordan. The main card will stream on MMAjunkie following prelims on Cage Warriors’ Facebook page.

Harris, from England, returns to Cage Warriors for the first time since 2012, when he won back-to-back fights for the promotion just three weeks apart. Those wins put him on a five-fight winning streak, and he later signed with the UFC.

In his debut with the promotion, he was stopped in the second-round by a rear-naked choke against Darren Uyenoyama at UFC on FX 5. He rebounded in February 2013 in front of his home country fans in London and took a unanimous decision from Ulysses Gomez. But in his next two fights, also in England, he was stopped with a first-round TKO by John Lineker at UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester, and in March with a first-round guillotine choke from Louis Gaudinot at UFC Fight Night 37 in London.

Now he’ll try to rebound after the three losses in four fights in the UFC.

“I’m very happy to be signed back to Cage Warriors,” Harris stated. “It’s the best show in Europe and they’ve always been great to work with. I don’t know very much about my opponent, but I’m looking forward to putting on a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance for the fans in Jordan.”

Gadzhiev, from Russia, is unbeaten in his pro career and has a perfect balance of three submission wins and three TKOs. All three submissions have come by rear-naked choke, and five of his six wins have come in the first round. Gadzhiev went 4-0 in 2013 and started out his 2014 with a submission in the Ukraine.

In addition to Harris’ signing, Cage Warriors officials also announced that Brett Caswell (4-1), Dean Garnett (5-0) and Tim Wilde (3-0) also have signed exclusive five-fight deals with the promotion. Their next fights have yet to be announced.

England’s Caswell beat Paul Rogers at Cage Warriors 59 this past September in his lone fight for the promotion. The unbeaten Garnett and Wilde, both also from England, will each be making their Cage Warriors debuts.

For the latest on Cage Warriors Fight Night 11, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Phil Harris)