Caolan Loughran silenced a partisan crowd with a second-round stoppage of Italy's Dylan Hazan in their main event clash at Cage Warriors 154 in Rome to claim the promotion’s vacant bantamweight championship.
After a strong first round in which he stopped two takedown attempts from the wrestling standout, Loughran poured on the boxing offence in the second, dropping Hazan before finishing him with grounded strikes.
👑 Caolan Loughran gets it DONE! He is the new Cage Warriors Bantamweight champion.
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) May 6, 2023
Finishing his opponent in an early fight of the year candidate!#CW154 pic.twitter.com/R7nOSO7RhH
With the Irish flag draped over his shoulder, the Tyrone man cut an emotional figure as Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan wrapped the prestigious gold belt around his waist.
Three of the fighters who previously held the bantamweight title - Brett Johns, Nathaniel Wood and Jack Shore - have gone on to be signed by the UFC.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport ahead of the title clash, Loughran insisted that he would be the next Irish fighter signed to the UFC when he defeated Hazan, who suffered his first professional loss on the night.
Despite the event taking place in Rome and featuring over 15 Italian fighters, the Tyrone fighter brought a significant travelling contingent with him. Throughout the contest there were audible choruses of support for the Team Kaobon fighter as well as a throng of tricolours throughout the Fiera Rome venue.
AND NEW 🇮🇪🏆 pic.twitter.com/eG7Z32N2Bg
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) May 6, 2023
The victory sees Loughran become the promotion’s third concurrent Irish champion, with Ballymena’s Rhys McKee sitting atop the welterweight division and Derry’s Paul Hughes the titleholder at featherweight.
This is the first time Irish fighters have held three Cage Warriors titles. The country previously boasted two Cage Warriors champions on two previous occasions.
In 2012, Conor McGregor held the featherweight title while SBG teammate Chris Fields held the middleweight belt. And in 2013, when Cathal Pendred was the promotion’s welterweight champion and Team Ryano’s Neil Seery claimed the flyweight strap.
With Cage Warriors known as the European path to the UFC, Irish fans will be clamouring to see its three Irish champions signed to the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion as soon as possible.
