By press release

Cage Warriors – Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation – have today announced a huge title bout for their upcoming CW 184: Unplugged event, with George Hardwick defending his lightweight championship against American challenger Lucas ‘Cassius’ Clay.

The pair were originally scheduled to meet at CW 169 in March of 2024, and will finally cross swords almost a year later in a five-round affair on Friday, March 14th.

Hardwick (12-3) returned to the promotion in September 2024, defending his title for the first time since his one-round destruction of Yan Liasse at CW 152 in 2023.

The Middlesbrough man outpointed Christian Iorga on that occasion, equalling the record for successful lightweight title defences jointly held by Alexandre Izidro and Chris Fishgold, and will now look to retain the gold a record breaking fourth time.

Challenging Hardwick will be St Louis, Missouri’s Lucas ‘Cassius’ Clay (10-3).

The 29-year-old, a product of St Charles MMA, initially came to prominence as one of the first fighters of note to hit a buggy choke in MMA competition.

A gifted amateur, Clay compiled a 9-1 record before making the leap to the pro ranks, where he has thus far achieved ten victories including four by way of submission.

“We’ve got a big weekend of MMA coming up in Manchester, so it’s only right that we kick it off with a serious main event at Unplugged!” said CW President Graham Boylan.

“There’s a lot on the line for both guys; Lucas Clay has an incredible opportunity to capture CW gold on his debut, while George Hardwick could potentially break the record for lightweight title defences.”

“They’ve been waiting almost a year to get it on, so I’m expecting an all-out war when the first bell rings!”

Cage Warriors 184: Unplugged is a ‘behind closed doors’, invite only event taking place the night before CW 185: Manchester.

The event will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners.