Cage Warriors 55: Seery vs. Silander

(PRESS RELEASE) -- AN inaugural CWFC flyweight title bout has been set for Cage Warriors 55 at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, June 1.

Dublin’s own Neil Seery and Finnish star Mikael Silander will clash in a bid to become Cage Warriors’ first ever 125lbs champion.

Officials had scheduled to determine the new title-holder via a four-man tournament to be contested on the night, but with several potential participants being ruled out in recent weeks, a bout for the vacant belt has been fixed instead.

“I’m disappointed that we haven’t been able to keep the tournament on the card, but a few of the fighters at the top of our list had become unavailable due to injuries or having fights scheduled on other shows,” explained Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan.

“Neil Seery has been the top performer in our flyweight division over the last year or so, while Mikael Silander is one of the best in Europe and was already contracted to take part in the tournament.

“It will definitely make for a fitting fight to crown the first ever Cage Warriors flyweight champion. We also still have our bantamweight and lightweight tournaments to look forward to later in the year.”

Mikael Silander will challenge for the CWFC flyweight title.

Seery (12-9), ranked third in Europe, has put together a 4-1 record since making his debut under the Cage Warriors banner with a KO win against Niko Gjoka in October 2011.

Since dropping a loss to Artemij Sitenkov at Cage Warriors 46, the 33-year-old Irishman has embarked on a run of three consecutive wins, the most recent of which saw him dispose of Paul Marin with a stunning liver-kick KO at Cage Warriors 53 in Glasgow last weekend.

Seery said: “I’m very grateful to Cage Warriors for giving me this title shot. I feel at home fighting for Cage Warriors and the opportunity to become their first flyweight champion is a great privilege, especially in my hometown. I can’t wait for June 1. “

Silander (8-1) has put together an impressive record since making his professional debut in September 2010, with his only defeat to date coming via a close decision against European number two Ali Bagautinov.

Holding notable wins over highly-ranked opponents such as Michal Hamrsmid and Toni Tauru, 27-year-old Silander is currently seventh in the European rankings.

“I’m truly honoured to be given the opportunity to win the first ever Cage Warriors flyweight title,” said Silander. “This fight comes at a perfect time in my career. I’ve been training really hard and it will be an awesome chance to showcase my skills to a wider audience.”

Meanwhile, Neil Seery’s Team Ryano colleague Paul Redmond will be searching for a fifth straight CWFC win at Cage Warriors 55 when he faces Marc Allen.

Redmond (7-3) has risen rapidly up the rankings following wins over Yuri Malko, Lew Long, Ryan Roddy and Alexei Roberts - all by second-round stoppage - since making his Cage Warriors debut last June.

The 26-year-old Dubliner said: “I can’t wait to be back in there again, especially on another stacked card in Dublin. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep the winning run going.”

Allen (7-2), who’ll be fighting for CWFC for the first time in his career, has been victorious in each of his last three outings and will join team-mate Che Mills on the Cage Warriors 55 bill.

“This is going to be a fast and exciting fight,” said Allen, a 30-year-old Englishman. “I plan to take Redmond into deep waters with my wrestling.”

Cage Warriors 55 will also feature a CWFC welterweight title bout between defending champion Cathal Pendred and Che Mills, with many more fights also still to be announced.

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