Paul Hughes vs Jordan Vucenic Official for Cage Warriors 119

Photos by Dolly Clew / Cage Warriors.

A featherweight fight between Ireland’s Paul Hughes (6-0) and England’s Jordan Vucenic (6-1) will take place on Saturday 12th December at Cage Warriors 119. The fight was first announced by Hughes himself on The Bash Podcast and was officially confirmed by Cage Warriors on Monday evening.

With French fan favourite Morgan Charrière set to compete against Perry Goodwin for the vacant Cage Warriors featherweight championship, Hughes vs Vucenic is widely being discussed as a potential number-one contender matchup for the division that saw Conor McGregor win his first MMA title back in 2012. It’s also a matchup that makes a lot of sense given that both Hughes and Vucenic claimed victory on the most recent Cage Warriors 116 card back in September.

The undefeated Hughes extended his 100% finish rate by submitting Scottish prospect Aidan Stephen in the third round of a fight that many had described as a striker vs grappler matchup prior to the contest. Advancing to 6-0 and yet to see the judges’ scorecards, the Castledawson native made a statement and dispelled any question marks around his grappling prowess.

Vucenic is making waves in his own right. The BST Academy fighter is currently riding a 4-fight win streak since suffering the sole defeat in his pro career back in 2018. Most recently, “Epidemic” bested Cage Warriors veteran and former title contender Steve Aimable over three rounds to notch his second victory in the promotion. Similar to Hughes, Vucenic is no one-trick pony. The 24-year-old Harlow native is dangerous on the feet, but he also boasts a BJJ purple belt, and the Aimable fight showed that he is comfortable in all areas of fighting.

After their respective victories at CW116, both Hughes and Vucenic called for a fight against each other, and it appears that Cage Warriors matchmaker Ian Dean is in agreement with the pair. This is set to be an explosive Ireland vs England contest between two prospects vying to make their case for a title shot with a win.

Cage Warriors 119 will be broadcast LIVE on UFC FightPass on Saturday 12th December.