- George Chung
- Feb 16, 2024
- 2 min read
Cage Warriors has today confirmed the addition of a huge lightweight title bout to its already stacked CW 169 event at London’s indigo at The O2.
Returning champion George Hardwick will attempt the third defence of his 155lb crown, when he meets American challenger Lucas ‘Cassius’ Clay (10-3).
The bout will take place over five rounds at London’s indigo at The O2, on Saturday, March 30th, and airs live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners.
27-year-old Hardwick, from Middlesbrough, UK, last competed in the famous yellow gloves in April of 2023, stopping Luxembourg’s Yann Liasse with a barrage of unanswered punches in the very first round.
Prior to that, he captured the vacant title in a brutal war of attrition against Kyle Driscoll, before making a successful defence against Chris Bungard.
Hardwick last saw action in a spirited defeat to the UFC’s Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady on Dana White’s Contender Series in August.
He’ll now return to the European leader in a bid to claim his championship outright with a third successful victory, kickstarting another UFC run in the process.
Challenging Hardwick will be St Louis, Missouri’s Lucas ‘Cassius’ Clay.
The 28-year-old, a product of St Charles MMA, initially came to prominence as one of the first fighters of note to hit a buggy choke in MMA competition.
A gifted amateur, Clay compiled a 9-1 record before making the leap to the pro ranks, where he has thus far achieved ten victories including four by way of submission.
“On March 30th, we've got the Cage Warriors lightweight champion back in action…” said CW President Graham Boylan."
“George Hardwick will defend his belt against Lucas Clay. Lucas is ten and three, has eight wins via submission (across amateur and pro) and he's never been finished."
“George has also never been finished and is coming in on a six fight Cage Warriors win-streak. This one is locked and loaded!"
The bout joins a number of high-profile contests previously announced for the card, including Jordan Vucenic vs Simone D’Anna, Lone’er Kavanagh vs Shawn Da Silva, Will Currie vs Leon Aliu, Matt Figlak vs Kamil Dołgowski and more.
Tickets are available via CageWarriors.com, with the entire event airing live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners.
