Hardy Stops Reiner in Cage Warriors

The marauding "Outlaw" came through a couple of early choke attempts by Chad Reiner (Pictures) to pound him out on the mat in the third round.

After the fight, Hardy reflected on an attempted guillotine choke that appeared close to ending his night.

"I just like to keep people in suspense a little bit, make it exciting for the fans," he said. "It was tight on my throat, but I was never really in a position where he could have tightened it to finish me. I made sure that I stayed out of his guard."

As the fight continued, it soon became clear that Reiner had his heart set on a ground battle. He continuously shot in for takedowns, but Hardy forced him to work hard and thwarted numerous attempts with some resolute defense in the clinch.

"I had the option of going to the ground or staying on the feet," Hardy reflected. "He didn't really want any of my standup, so his only option was to try and take it to the ground. He was trying to take me down out of panic. When they shoot in out of panic, it tires them out because they have to put a lot of effort into it, and he also made mistakes which made it easier to defend it."

In the third round, a hard knee from the Rough House fighter put Reiner on his back foot. Having traveled thousands of miles for the fight, though, the American appeared in no mood to roll over.

"I give the guy all the credit in the world," Hardy said. "He took some heavy shots. I was expecting to hit him and he'd start to wobble, but he stayed in there and took some meaty shots. There were a couple of times when I landed with shots and thought, ‘Wow, he's still standing. I'm impressed.' The guy's as tough as hell."

A massive right hand two minutes into the third round put Reiner in serious trouble.

"I remember catching him with a shot, and he went to the ground and I could see in his eyes that he didn't know where he was," Hardy said. "I followed up, and as soon as I started hitting him and he wasn't responding … it wouldn't be long before I pulled it off. He's a tough guy. Another good win for me, and it's great to get my belt back."

Cengiz Dana made short work of Ian Butlin (Pictures). The Quannum fighter surged forward with punches in the opening seconds, but once the fight hit the floor, Dana quickly forced him to submit with an inverted heel hook after only 25 seconds.

French submission fighter Bendy Casimir won a narrow majority decision after repeatedly taking down Rough House opponent Andre Winner (Pictures). Despite coming close with a pair of tricky kneebar attempts, Casimir was unable to score the submission.

Winner fought back valiantly in the third round, chasing Casimir around the cage and pounding him on the floor. However, the attack proved too little, too late and the majority decision was handed to the Frenchman.

Matt Thorpe (Pictures)'s winning streak continued. He plowed straight into a double-leg takedown seconds into the opening round. A succession of vicious body shots and elbows to Mark O'Toole's face lined up a painful kimura and a tap at 1:31.

Martin Stapleton's wrestling skills dominated his match with David Johnston. He scored three successive double-leg takedowns in the opening minutes of the fight.

The pattern continued into the second and third rounds. Some sneaky striking in the clinch from the Wolfslair fighter failed to turn the fight around, and after three rounds of exciting action, Stapleton was handed a unanimous decision.

Jim Wallhead (Pictures)'s strong punches made the difference in his bout with Irish fighter Tom Haddock (Pictures). After a series of heavy blows, Haddock looked out of sorts and vulnerable to the Rough House fighter's striking onslaught.

Midway through the second round, Wallhead blasted his opponent to the mat and forced him to submit to a vicious torrent of strikes on the ground.

Dean Amasinger (Pictures) kicked off with a crashing takedown, which left Jason Muldoon struggling to escape from side control. Despite Amasinger's protestations that his opponent had tapped to a nasty-looking kimura, the action continued.

It was not long before Muldoon found himself back on the floor, though, in the same position. Amasinger had no qualms about applying the submission with full force for the win four minutes into the contest.

Cliff Hall's initial spurt of punches knocked Nigel Whitear (Pictures) unsteady. Within a matter of seconds, Hall secured a guillotine choke and was lifting his opponent off the ground. Only 32 seconds into the bout, a very disappointed Whitear was forced to tap out.

Lee Livingston didn't waste any time in his bout with Adam Bairstow. He stormed straight out for the takedown and forced Bairstow to tap to a rear-naked choke 56 seconds in.

Eugene Fadiora (Pictures) held off Dave Bownds' takedown attempts and quickly transitioned to rear mount as the fight hit the floor. He then submitted Bownds with a rear-naked choke.

In a high-paced match, Pete McGurk knocked out Richard Whitmore with a vicious right hand within two minutes of the first round, sending his head bouncing off the canvas.

The opening bout of the night saw Team Bloodline fighter Sean Folen survive a takedown and some methodical ground work in the first round. In the second, Folen scored a throw and submitted Brent Crawley with a powerful kimura.

In kickboxing action, Lola Bamgbala (Pictures) started off fast and furious with some impressively heavy shots, including a well-timed sidekick that knocked Kristoff Woodhouse off his feet. Despite tiring in the second and third rounds and some game opposition from Woodhouse, a split decision gave the victory to Bamgbala.