Some fighters are cerebral assassins; cool, calm, collected technicians who work out your style, find an opening and exploit it with surgical precision. Then there are fighters who are all-out berserkers who attack their prey like the Tasmanian Devil until their opponent is left out cold on the canvas.
After Cage Warriors 118, it’s safe to say Nathias Frederick falls into the latter category.
The Cage Warriors middleweight champion won the title from James Webb last year through his relentless aggression, and was expected to deliver more of the same against Jamie Richardson in the main event of Cage Warriors 118 on Friday night.
It didn’t go completely according to plan for the Team Renegade training partner of Leon and Fabian Edwards, however. But, after dealing with a few early slip-ups (quite literally), “Notorious” showed us why he’s one of the scariest men on the European scene right now.
Frederick showed us his power early by decking Richardson with a huge overhand right with his very first punch of the fight, but he then found himself fighting against two opponents: Richardson and the fighting surface, which seemed to be uniquely slick for him, despite no other fighter appearing to have the same issue throughout the evening.
It was clearly affecting Frederick, though, and after a tough end to Round 2, he was clearly frustrated on his stool as he readied himself for the third round. When the action resumed, it didn’t take long for him to make his mark.
After backing “Young Gun” against the fence, Frederick let fly with one of the biggest left hooks of 2020 as he connected flush on the challenger’s chin, sending him falling, face-first, into the canvas.
One shot KO power
The champ Nathias Frederick with the shot of the night, successfully defending his Middleweight Title in the process.What a way to end #CW118
pic.twitter.com/S9dJna9Xfx
— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) December 11, 2020
It was a thunderous, brutal knockout, and rather than celebrate Frederick immediately apologized to everyone at cageside for his innocent, but unnecessary, follow-up shot as referee Rich Mitchell dived in to stop the fight.
It was a spectacular way to end a night packed with fun fights, and it begged the question, “If Frederick can do that while struggling to keep his footing, what on earth could he do if he had proper grip?”
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