Great Britain Top Team prepares for a busy month of bouts as the UFC returns to London
Great Britain Top Team is preparing for a busy few weeks, with 16 fighters all looking to make their mark in upcoming bouts before the month’s out.
Aiming to build on its Cage Warriors success, the Morden-based team will be well-represented at Cage Warriors 24 Academy South East on Saturday 12th March, with eight fighters including Jacob Gifford, Shaun Fraser, and Connor Patterson, competing at the sold-out event in Colchester.
Cage Warriors 134 follows, where five GBTT fighters take to the octagon at Indigo at the O2, London, on Friday 19th March; just 24 hours before teammate Nathaniel Wood is set to make his long-awaited return at UFC London in the main arena on Saturday night.
On the main card at CW134, GBTT’s Will Currie takes on France’s Patrick Vallee. At 41, Vallee is a veteran of the cage, with 26 professional fights to date. Currie last fought at CW131 in December, beating Nikola Zlatev in the first round.
On the prelims, Kingsley Crawford is looking to make it three wins in three against Aidan James, whilst Nik Bagley, whose pro record stands at 3-0-0, has a featherweight bout lined up against Welsh fighter Ben Ellis. Also undefeated going into CW134 is GBTT’s Dan Collins, who faces Declan McAleenan in the lightweight category, whilst flyweight Lone’er Kavanagh takes on Ryan Morgan.
Nathaniel Wood makes his return to competition at the much-anticipated UFC London at the O2 Arena on Saturday 19th March.
At 17-5-0, Wood last fought at UFC 254 in October 2020 in Abu Dhabi, where he was awarded Fight of the Night in a decision defeat against Casey Kenney. With much of the past year recovering from a broken hand, Wood has been training at GBTT Academy in Morden, which opened in January.
As the only Londoner on a packed card of British fighters, Wood is taking on Liudvik Sholinian, who made his UFC debut last September.
Welterweight Claudio Silva, who was training at GBTT Academy before heading out to American Top Team to complete his fight camp, is also on the card and will take on Gunnar Nelson in the first UFC London event for three years.
UFC fighter Mark Diakiese has also been training with GBTT ahead of his upcoming bout in Ohio on 26th March. The 28-year-old lightweight fights out of American Top Team.
Tickets are still available for Cage Warriors 134 and UFC London.