Next Generation MMA Seizes the Spotlight at Cage Warriors 185
- Elliot Hughes
- Mar 16
- 2 min read
Liverpool's Next Generation MMA gym stole all the headlines at Cage Warriors 185 from Manchester last night, as all four of their fighters were victorious inside the distance.
The fight night was advertised as Luke Riley’s final outing with the European promotion, before he moves onto the world scene to the UFC, and in the main event the featherweight athlete lived up to expectations as he finished Tariel Abbasov by second round TKO.
Riley moved to 11-0 as a professional and confirmed that he wants to move on as he said to Fight Night Network: “Hopefully it’s the last [fight with Cage Warriors], against a combat sambo world champion, so I’m happy.
“I should be in the UFC, I’ve been on the radar since the Lööf fight, but I needed a small helping hand with visa issues continuing. I should be in the UFC next, hopefully.”
Elsewhere on the main card Liverpool’s Adam Cullen moved to 9-2 with a ground-and-pound finish in under two minutes.
The Scouser survived an early scare as he dropped to a knee from a big right hand in the opening exchange, but quickly reversed position to his advantage.
Cullen acknowledged that it wasn’t a perfect performance, but that he was still pleased with the result as he said: “I come in here to end people. A bit of a sketchy route to it, but it is what it is – dead man. Another win, another finish in the first round.”
On the prelim section of the card, “Crazy” Chris Price made his return to the cage for the first time since September 2023.
Despite controlling the opening two rounds of the contest, Price was on the wrong end of an illegal knee strike to the head, which ultimately granted him the win by third round disqualification.
When reflecting on his Instagram account, Price said: “I showed I was the better fighter, I fought fairly and have got the result needed to move on to bigger, better things. Fighting him again does nothing for my career.”
The fourth and final ‘Next Gen’ athlete at Cage Warriors 185 was Francis Breen.
The 24-year-old fighter dropped his opponent with a knee before he secured the finish with ground-and-pound in the first round.
Immediately after the win, Breen looked ahead to the rest of 2025 as he said that he wants to fight four times this year, to gain cage time and experience so that he can be in the UFC in three years time.
