Headliner Cory Tait combines humility, swagger before Cage Warriors 64

Cory Tait has seen the advantage of staying grounded as he climbs up the bantamweight ladder in Europe. But that doesn’t mean the Brit can’t throw down a little bit of swagger.

Tait (7-2) takes on James Pennington (9-1) today in the Cage Warriors 64 headliner at The Forum in London. The main card airs on MMAjunkie (4 p.m. ET) after prelims on the promotion’s Facebook page (2 p.m. ET).

Just being at the top of the bill is an honor for him, Tait said. But so is seeing guys around the gym like Jimi Manuwa, who headlines next month’s UFC Fight Night 38 in London against recent UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson.

“It’s just humbling working with guys like Jimi Manuwa, seeing what he’s doing,” Tait recently told MMAjunkie Radio. “Seeing how he goes through the gym, and he’s headlining the UFC next month. He’s acting like he doesn’t even know he’s fighting there. That’s good motivation for me to stay humble, because (success) will come as long as you do the right thing.”

With three straight stoppage wins, success is coming quickly for Tait. He’s been sidelined for 10 months ever since he avenged a loss to Spencer Hewitt with a first-round knockout for Ultimate Challenge MMA this past April.

But against Pennington, headlining his Cage Warriors debut, he’s ready to get back to work.

Tait has a reputation as a hard-hitting striker, and Pennington, with seven submissions in his nine wins, is known for his prowess on the ground. But Tait cautioned it might be a mistake for anyone to think he can’t hold his own there. He has three submission wins, himself, including both his wins in 2012.

“Yeah, it’s striker vs. grappler, but I do pretty well on the ground,” he said. “I don’t want to give anything away, but he can take me down if he wants and see what happens down there. Predominantly, I’m about striking. But I’m not afraid to go on the floor with anyone. A lot of guys are afraid to stand with me, and that’s why most of the fights end up on the floor. Maybe James will do something a bit different and we’ll be banging for three rounds – but for some reason I doubt it.”

Either way, Tait believes Cage Warriors and fans are in for an exciting fight, the kind worthy of being the main event on the promotion’s first show of 2014.

And that humility? It goes a long way, but Tait isn’t afraid to strut some confidence when it comes to his belief Cage Warriors made a wise call topping the show’s bill with him and Pennington.

“I’ve been to some shows, and some headliners aren’t like what they make it out to be,” Tait said. “I’m not going to undersell it to you. Everybody knows what I do. It’s going to be a banger of a fight. James is far from s–t, as well. It’s going to make for an interesting match. It’s going to be a fight people are going to talk about for a little while, and it will boost Cage Warriors, boost my name, boost James’ name, the fans are going to enjoy it – it’s going to be good for everybody.

“The Instagram clips, the Vine clips – we’ll make the whole s–t famous, just off Saturday night.”

For the latest on Cage Warriors 64, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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