Cage Warriors plans multiple California events in 2021 after CSAC approves license

Leading U.K. promotion Cage Warriors is heading Stateside in 2021 as the organization looks to expand its reach across the pond to the U.S. in the new year and beyond.

Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan told MMA Junkie that his application for an MMA promoter’s license has been approved by the California State Athletic Commission as of Thursday. MMA Junkie also received a copy of the approval letter.

Boylan said the promotion is in the process of planning its transatlantic expansion, with its first U.S.-based event likely to take place early in 2021.

Cage Warriors became the first MMA organization to receive approval from the U.K. government as it was given official clearance to host behind-closed-doors events during the coronavirus pandemic, and the promotion is looking to follow up on the successful staging of its first “Trilogy” of shows in Manchester in September with another triple header at London’s storied York Hall in December.

Speaking to MMA Junkie from San Diego following receipt of his license, Boylan explained how the promotion intends to expand its footprint despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve got the government approval in the U.K., so regardless of what happens with COVID and what happens with fans being allowed into arenas, we’ve got the approval to run behind-closed-doors shows in the U.K., which is why we’re doing our ‘Trilogy Strikes Back’ shows in December,” Boylan said. “Until fans are allowed back into arenas, we will carry on holding these behind-closed-doors shows, and we will be holding another ‘Trilogy’ series in the new year.

“But now that we’ve got the Californian promoter’s license with CSAC, we’re going to do one or two events, maybe behind closed doors, in the U.S. But we’ll definitely look to get at least one show in the first half of the year to start things off, then we’ll do four events a year (in California).”

Rather than setting up a new U.S.-based promotion, Boylan said the organization is simply expanding its territory to include California. A second team of staff will be formed to manage the U.S. side of operations from San Diego, and events held in the state will feature a mix of locally signed talent plus a selection of fighters from the promotion’s established European roster.

“We’ll be building a roster here in California and the U.S., and we’ll bring over guys from our main roster to go against them,” he explained. “We’ll get the guys who are making waves over in the U.K. and the guys who are making waves in the U.S. and put on some big shows, both in the U.S. and back home.

“We’ll bring the big guns over from Europe and get them lined up against the biggest names we can get from California and nationwide in the U.S., and we’ll look to develop talent, just as we’ve done for years over in the U.K. It’s a new platform and, because I’m based here, I’m in the gyms here, and I’m back and forth between here and London, it just made sense for us to do shows in both places, and we’ll get this rolling. It won’t be Cage Warriors Europe and Cage Warriors U.S.; it’ll all be one roster, with only one championship per weight class.”

For now, Boylan’s immediate plans are focused on the three-night “Trilogy Strikes Back” shows that will take place in London from Dec. 10-12, but thoughts are already turning to the promotion’s 2021 schedule, with another three-night U.K. run likely early in the new year followed by, Boylan hopes, Cage Warriors’ maiden event Stateside.

“We’ll do another ‘Trilogy’ series early in the new year in the U.K., and we may get an event off early in the new year in the U.S.” he said. “It’s a moving environment with COVID regulations and things moving at different speeds, but we have the approval to do our shows in the U.K., and we’ll see what pans out here over the next month or two.

“We’ll see what happens here in California, and if we can put something on early next year, we will. We’re looking to host something early on, probably the end of Q1, start of Q2, just to get one under our belts and let people get to know the brand, then we’ll go from there. The building blocks are in place – the first thing was getting that license from the California State Athletic Commission – and now we can get moving with this.

“The next thing is to get (Cage Warriors matchmaker) Ian Dean his matchmaker’s license so he can go wild (in California) and open it up for a whole load of U.S. fighters who can fight here, and come over to Europe to fight our guys over there, too. We’ve helped develop 105, 108 signed UFC fighters, and that number’s only going to get bigger and better as we open things up to a new market and develop even more of these guys for the UFC.”