This weekend Cage Warriors hosts a very strong card in Newcastle, England. Some of Cage Warriors best prospects are fighting on this card. Unfortunately for the promotion a lot of their up and coming talent last on their last card so hopefully we see their most promising guys put on good performances here. The card will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass at 01:00 PM ET on Saturday, 6th December.

SEAN CLANCY JR. (7-0) vs. MELVIN VAN SUIJDAM (15-7) – Interim Welterweight Championship

Sean Clancy is Scotland's best hope for another big UFC talent. I thought Mark Ewen was going to be the one to put Scotland on the map, but he ended up signing for the PFL and has looked quite fraudulent since. Clancy is solid boxer, but his grappling is where he finds a lot of success. For a welterweight he has a great ability to take the back of his opponents on the ground, or up against the cage. On the feet he mixes up his shots well and won by body shot TKO recently. His opponent MVS is 37 years old and has experience fighting for OKTAGON and Levels Fight League. He is pretty slow on the feet and I don't think he has a technical skillset but he did show that he power in his last fight which he won by KO in round 1. He swarmed his opponent and caught him off guard. He is a wrestler first but I am not super high on his wrestling ability. This should be a good test to see where Clancy's wrestling is at as he will need to defense take downs against a big opponent in MVS. Clancy is the young, up and coming fighter with the more technical skillset in my opinion. I think Clancy has a good performance here. It is interesting that this is for the interim title as Justin Burlinson is the champion, who recently made weight in Qatar for the UFC so we know he is healthy. So maybe Burlinson did get a UFC contract.

Pick: Sean Clancy Jr. by submission. Medium-high confidence.

GEORGE HARDWICK (14-3) vs. DANIEL KONRAD (7-2) – Lightweight

It has been a big fall from grace for George Hardwick. Myself and many others fully believed in him before he fought on the Contender Series in 2023. He then lost to Al-Selwady in what was believed to be a lay up given Al-Selwady's poor performances in Brave CF. He looked gun shy and was pressured the whole fight. Since that loss he hasn't had an impressive performance and lost a 5 round fight to Samuel Silva, a fight which Silva took on short notice. Silva then went on to lose by KO to Mandel Nallo on this years DWCS. He is coming off a KO win but that was over a Brazilian journeyman who fought him on short notice. For those unfamiliar with Hardwick, he is a very talented boxer who has an awesome highlight reel of wins prior to 2023 where he looked untouchable. He still has good technical boxing but has lost that confidence and aggressiveness that he once had. He also mixes in shots to the body incredibly well and mostly throws in combinations. His wrestling is pretty good as well and he can grapple. He will need to show that off here against Daniel Konrad as Konrad is a very aggressive grappler. He is a big lightweight who looks to wrestle and get a submission early. Most of his wins come in the first round, and out of the three times he has seen the third round, he has lost twice. His cardio is a concern as he did gas out and get submitted in the 4th round in his most recent loss. This is a good opportunity for him to make himself more well known as Hardwick's current form is him lacking confidence to let his hands go and a lot of backing up. Konrad could definitely find success here if he can start aggressive and take Hardwick down early. However Hardwick has shown decent wrestling in the past and I think he can take over after the first round if Konrad doesn't get a quick submission. I am going to pick Hardwick to win by decision based off of winning the last two rounds, or getting a late TKO over a gassed out opponent.

Pick: George Hardwick by decision. Low-medium confidence.

SHAJIDUL HAQUE (17-5) vs. NICOLAS LEBLOND (12-4) – Flyweight Championship

This fight has been rebooked three times. I have picked Haque every time it has been booked but now Haque is getting old for this weight class at 35. I think Haque is the more skilled fighter here and that is typically how I tend to pick fights. But at 35 years old and only fighting once in two years his current ability could have regressed and maybe his chin is going to go. He is a crafty vet who doesn't have a lot of finishing ability. He can mix in wrestling as well as striking to win minutes, which is something he did against his most recent opponent Jawany Scott. I have never been too high on Scott and I did pick Haque there, but there is a strong argument that he lost that fight. Like Scott, I am also not too high on Leblond. He is an odd fighter as he has a lot of power and strength for this weight class. He has some big KOs and even some highlight submissions. But recently he has been taking guys the distance, including a short notice opponent with a losing record. A Leblond finish wouldn't surprise me but I think if that happened it would likely be due to Haque's age catching up to him. He didn't look too bad against Scott so I am going to pick him to avoid the power of Leblond and win another close decision.

Pick: Shajidul Haque by decision. Low-medium confidence.

GEORGE STAINES (7-0) vs. IOAN HARRIS (5-2) – Lightweight

This is a solid fight between two prospects, but I worry that it could be very boring. Both guys are wrestlers who don't have great striking so a lot of this fight could be both guys fighting for position against the cage. Staines had a good career fighting for OKTAGON and I think if he was to get a couple good wins in Cage Warriors we will see him in the UFC. Admittedly his fights are very boring as he basically grapples the whole fight. He is a big lightweight and he does threaten submissions but he hasn't been able to finish many opponents in his career (professional and amateur). Harris is also a wrestler. He has pretty bad striking defense but he makes up for that with toughness and an ability to constantly shoot take downs Oban Elliot style. I am unsure if he can control Staines here though. Even if he loses here he is a good enough fighter to go on a win streak in Cage Warriors so maybe we see him in a big spot again, but I can't see him controlling Staines over the three rounds.

Pick: George Staines by decision. Medium confidence.

ADAM CULLEN (9-3) vs. ORLANDO WILSON PRINS (5-5) – Lightweight

I'm not a big fan of Cullen, he has a pretty arrogant personality but has never been able to back it up. He is a big guy with a lot of power and some big KOs, but every time he has stepped up in competition he has lost. I don' think Prins is a guy who can test him and honestly I am not sure why Prins is taking this fight. He is a small wrestler with bad striking. Cullen is going to get a big KO here.

Pick: Adam Cullen by KO. High confidence.

TEDDY STRINGER (5-1) vs. LEANDRO CAMARGO (7-5) – Lightweight

I was waiting to fade Stringer as his striking is genuinely terrible. He then went on to lose to Torpal Merjoev and honestly I think that loss is going to age really badly. Stringer is a solid grappler even if he gets hit a lot, but he should be able to submit Camargo here. Camargo is a small lightweight and is coming in on short notice.

Pick: Teddy Stringer by submission. Medium confidence.

JOE FIELDS (5-0) vs. RAILSON PAIXAO (11-8) – Featherweight

This fight is interesting as Joe Fields is actually a flyweight. The fight has been put together on short notice, but at featherweight, and Paixao also usually fights at flyweight. So maybe both guys just aren't cutting weight for this one. I think Fields is one of Cage Warriors best flyweight prospects and I would like to see him get a step up in competition soon. He has a pretty successful amateur career which involved some big KOs but as a professional he hasn't been finding many finishes. Paixao is mostly a grappler, just like Fields so this should at least be a fun test for him. I think Fields gets a big finish here though. If he can get another win around April of 2026 we will likely see him on the Contender Series.

Pick: Joe Fields by submission High confidence.