Shaj Haque Upsets Michele Martignoni to Defend Flyweight Championship at CW 158

Shaj Haque picked up his first successful defense of the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship flyweight title by overcoming Michele Martignoni in Rome on Saturday.

In the CW 158 headliner, Haque (15-5, 7-2 CW) outpointed Martignoni (8-1, 2NC; 3-1, 1NC) to defend the 125-pound title in front of a partisan crowd. “Superman” looked fast and accurate with his strikes, opening a cut over his foe’s right eye early into their clash. When former 135-pound titleholder Martignoni failed to match Haque’s speed, the Italian was forced to aggressively chase his foe, with Round 2 arguably being the best one for the challenger. Haque never lost his composure and equalized all threats. The story of the fight was the same throughout, with Haque neutralizing most of Martignoni’s initiative and retaliating with some violence of his own. Even though he didn’t manage a finish, Haque impressed with his dominance and durability. After the clash went the distance, the cageside judges drew 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 scorecards for Haque, who is now riding a six-bout winning streak.

In the co-main event, precise striking and grappling finesse carried up-and-coming 185-pounder Dario Bellandi to a unanimous decision victory over Naglis Kanisauskas. Bellandi (6-1, 4-1 CW) set in place an effective strategy by attacking his foe from afar with quick jabs. In spite of Bellandi’s well-known submission skills, Kanisauskas (6-3, 1-2 CW) didn’t mind going to the ground with his opponent, but he never threatened offensively. Throughout the contest, Bellandi dictated the pace and the place of the action, dominating his adversary on the canvas, even though he fell short of finishing him. When the dust settled, the cage announcer revealed 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 tallies for Bellandi, who picked up his fourth consecutive win.

THE DRAGON IS BACK

Mason Jones makes a statement with this HUGE first round KO at #CW158 pic.twitter.com/ceiYbRn0p1

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 29, 2023

Elsewhere, 155-pound Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Mason Jones (12-2, 1NC; 9-0 CW) wrecked Alexandre Ribeiro (20-11-1, 2NC; 0-1 CW) with punches at 3:23 of Round 1; 115-pounder Amanda Torres (9-6, 1-0 CW) edged Micol Di Segni (10-5, 2-1 CW) thanks to a narrow split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29); and Italian prospect Michael Pagani (7-0, 1-0 CW) outclassed James Power (4-1, 2-1 CW) en route to a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) at lightweight.

Emanuele Zaccaria closes the #CW158 prelims in style. Dominating his opponent on the round, getting the tap in the 2nd round.

📺 Watch the #CW158 main card live on @UFCFightPass
➡️ https://t.co/LGew2YusEy pic.twitter.com/sJYtUqQWi8

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 29, 2023

On the preliminary card, Emanuele Zaccaria (6-1, 2-0 CW) choked out Sylwester Miller (10-7, 0-2 CW) via rear-naked choke at 3:23 of Round 2 at bantamweight; 155-pounder Leon Hill (5-1, 2-1 CW) submitted Dumitru Girlean (6-2, 1-1 CW) with a rear-naked choke at 3:51 of the opening frame; Niko Ceraglia (1-0, 1-0 CW) outpointed Simone Manno (0-2, 0-1 CW) en route to a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in their 150-pound catchweight match; Gianluca Scottoli (9-3, 1-0 CW) outclassed Sam Kelly (4-2, 2-1 CW) en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) in their bantamweight tilt; 155-pounder Gianluca Rocca (8-3, 1-0 CW) forced Guido Possidente (3-1, 0-1 CW) to tap due to a guillotine choke 29 seconds out of the gate; Daan Duijs (9-2, 2-1 CW) crushed Alexander Sasha Pirev (6-4-1, 0-1 CW) with punches at 2:40 of the opening period in their 139-pound catchweight duel; Giacomo Michelis (5-1, 1NC; 1-0 CW) upended Idriss M'Roivili (2-2, 0-1 CW) on all scorecards (29-27, 30-27, 30-27) in their welterweight affair; Emanuele Sabatino (5-1, 2-0 CW) submitted Aaron Johnson (7-4, 0-2 CW) with an arm-triangle choke at 2:45 of the opening stanza at lightweight; 125-pounder Emanuele Tetti (1-0, 1-0 CW) put Dario Palazzo (0-1, 0-1 CW) away with a head kick and punches combination 68 seconds into the contest; and finally Amir Malekpour (4-2, 1-0 CW) smashed Florian Doskja (4-3, 0-1 CW) with elbows and punches at 2:27 of Round 2 in their 130-pound catchweight scrap.