Cage Warriors Academy South East 30 report: Debut win for Tariq Pell

Lightweight Pell stepped into the paid ranks for a risky fight with former UCMMA champ Davies (now 5-6) in the main event at Colchester's Charter Hall.

And it looked as though disaster was going to strike as the creative, unorthodox Davies dropped the Tsunami Norfolk man with a spinning kick midway through the first round.

Tariq Pell, left, in his pro debut against Harry Davies (Image: Brett King)

To his credit though Pell, who went 6-2 as an amateur, kept his composure and, although clearly hurt, took Davies down to end the round and clear his head.

Both men came out firing in the second stanza, Davies reaching deep into his box of tricks to test Pell, before being taken down again.

From there Pell worked to take his back and locked in a rear naked choke, forcing the tap as Davies flirted with unconciousness.

Tariq Pell locks in the fight-ending choke on Harry Davies as ref Dan Movahedi looks on (Image: Brett King)

It is a debut from which Pell will learn a lot, having come through a crisis, while Davies emerges from the absorbing battle with his reputation enhanced and clearly a lot of fight left in his tank.

In the co-main event, SX MMA's Dom Rogers lifted the vacant amateur lightweight belt previously held by Pell, tapping Charlie Hatton to an armbar in the first round after a frantic grappling exchange.

Rogers (now 7-0) chained together submission attempts after an early takedown from Hatton (5-2), getting the win in impressive and decisive fashion.

Dom Rogers on his way to an armbar win over Charlie Hatton (Image: Brett King)

He joins middleweight gym-mate Connor Hayes as a Cage Warriors Academy champion, the unbeaten duo dancing a jig of celebration in the cage after the fight.

Elsewhere, Tommy Brunning upset reigning amateur bantamweight champ Harry Myers to move to 6-0 and claim gold with a relentless grappling attack, surviving a scare in the final round to earn a unanimous decision.

Tommy Brunning on the attack against Harry Myers (Image: Brett King)

Yusuf Ali-Taleb (now 2-1) won the vacant amateur welterweight title by hurting and then stopping Dawid Jarowienko (4-2) with ground and pound in the first round.

And Benoit Prigent (now 8-0) defended his amateur featherweight strap for the first time by grinding out a unanimous decision win over Rizvan Ayubov (6-3).

Jon Vetle Furuheim moved to 2-0 with another submission win (Image: Brett King)

On the earlier part of the card shown live in Norway, elite prospect Jon Vetle Furuheim improved to 2-0 as a professional with a triangle submission win over Renaud Guillier (1-3).

But that only tells part of the story, with Guillier really pushing the 20-year-old 'Wonderboy' at times, putting him on his back and testing his mettle.

Featherweight Furuheim was up to the test though, eventually locking in the triangle after threatening with other submissions.

Jon Vetle Furuheim suplexes Renaud Guillier (Image: Brett King)

And there was also a submission win for top Norweigian talent Cecilie Bolander on her pro debut, forcing Danielle Misteli (now 1-3) to tap to her trademark armbar in the first round of their 140lbs catchweight clash.

Bolander, a decorated 7-1 amateur, has claimed all eight of her wins so far via submission, seven via that nasty armbar.

Cecilie Bolander has her hand raised on her pro debut (Image: Brett King)

Also on the ealier card, Angus Hewitt defended his amateur light heavyweight title and moved to 5-0 with a first round triangle win over Vebjorn Jorgensen, who dropped to 3-1.

In the night's other title fight, Tony Di Gasparro improved to 5-0 and lifted the amateur European lightweight title with a unanimous points win over Jan Ricard Joreid (now 1-2).

It was a good night for local fighters on the card too, topped by super-popular featherweight Mason Kinsella moving to 3-0 with a first round rear naked choke win over Ryan Kelly as the Charter Hall rocked to the sound of his fans.

Mason Kinsella slips a jab on his way to victory (Image: Brett King)

BKK Fighters gym-mate Ethan Barry also had his hand raised, improving to 4-3 with a split decision middleweight win over the game Matteo Abbate. 

BKK's other fighter on the card, welterweight Danny Parker, showed his trademark heavy hands but was outgrappled by Klorenc Dedja, who earned a unanimous points win.

There was a return to the win column for flyweight Christian Young, of Colchester's Combat Institute, who tapped Frankie Lilly to a first round rear naked choke and boosted his record to 3-1 after suffering his first defeat last time out.

Finally, Tsunami Norfolk's bantamweight Tayler Mills used a dominant all-round display of martial arts, blending rapid, spiteful striking with effective grappling to claim a unanimous points win over Alex Kittelsen and move to 1-1 in his fledgling MMA career.