Paddy Pimblett gets new opponent for Cage Warriors 113 as Davide Martinez steps in

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett has a new opponent for Cage Warriors 113.

“The Baddy” was all set to face fellow lightweight contender Donovan Desmae on Mar. 20 at the Indigo at The O2 in London. Now he will take on in-form Italian prospect Davide Martinez, who has stepped in on just over a month’s notice to face the Liverpudlian fan-favorite. The event will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

Pimblett (14-3) has seen his last two scheduled bouts fall through, with Joe Giannetti failing to make weight at Cage Warriors 111 and Desmae withdrawing from the upcoming Cage Warriors 113 event due to personal reasons.

But Pimblett will remain on the card and face promotional debutant Martinez (8-2) at the showcase event, which is set to take place the night before UFC on ESPN+ 27 in London. Martinez heads to England riding a six-fight win streak, and “Ispanico” is looking to score a big-name scalp on his Cage Warriors debut.

Pimblett, who hasn’t fought since September 2018, said he’s grateful to his new opponent for stepping in to keep his fight on the card.

“I hope he’s ready for a scrap come fight night, because I’m coming to make a statement,” he said.

“I’m happy to have a new opponent to focus on, and want to thank Davide for taking the fight as he’s the only person to actually want to fight me. Everyone else talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk.”

The event will feature a fight for the interim featherweight title, with rising French star Morgan Charriere set to face an opponent to be named in due course, while his fellow countryman, Samir Faiddine, will put his flyweight title on the line for the first time against Englishman Luke Shanks.

Cage Warriors 113 confirmed fights include:

MAIN CARD

• Morgan Charriere vs. TBC – for interim featherweight title
• Champion Samir Faiddine vs. Luke Shanks – for flyweight title
• Davide Martinez vs. Paddy PimbletDanilo Belluardo vs. Mason Jones
• Ian Garry vs. TBC

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Rafael Macedo vs. Joe McColgan
• Steve Aimable vs. Perry Goodwin
• Davide Baneschi vs. Cory Tait
• Nathan Jones vs. TBC
• Emrah Sonmez vs. Aidan Stephen
• Kingsley Crawford vs. Lewis Monarch
• Kris Edwards vs. James Hendin
• Matthew Bonner vs. Jamie Richardson
• Coner Hignett vs. Darren O’Gorman
• Adam Amarasinghe vs. Jake Bond
• Jack Collins vs. Joshua Onwordi