A new year is on the horizon, and that means it’s time for Combat Press to take a look back at the best of MMA in 2020. In the coming days, Combat Press will announce its award winners in multiple categories, covering everything from the action in the cage to the biggest stories surrounding the sport.
It isn’t easy being a regional organization. It takes work to gain a reputation for a stellar product and maintain a roster of quality fighters in a segment where larger shows are constantly pursuing the best talent out there. It really isn’t easy being a regional organization in a year when a pandemic has led to shutdowns that prevent the usual revenue associated with such shows, including ticket sales.
In what has been an extremely difficult year even for the UFC, Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League and Invicta FC, a handful of regional and international organizations have managed to hang in there and excel despite the odds. Poland’s KSW has consistently put together stacked fight lineups behind closed doors. Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation is set to cap off a solid year with an epic New Year’s Eve show. Meanwhile, it’s Britain’s Cage Warriors that has truly stood out.
Cage Warriors managed to host eight events in what turned out to be a crazy 2020 for even the hardiest of MMA promotions. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic started prompting the cancellation of shows, Cage Warriors salvaged its March 20 card and even served up a couple of spots in the lineup to UFC talent, including Darren Stewart and Bartosz Fabiński from the canceled UFC on ESPN+ 29 event scheduled for the same weekend.
The company didn’t return until September, but it did so in a big way. Instead of staggering its events throughout the remainder of the year, the promotion opted to host a trilogy of shows on consecutive days. Each card included a title fight and aired live on UFC Fight Pass.
The trilogy format returned in a December run that once again included at least one championship affair at the top of each bill. The series produced two finishes in title bouts and could set the table for a round of call-ups to the UFC for the victors, led by undefeated flyweight prospect Jake Hadley.
With the perseverance that Cage Warriors has shown during these trying times and the quality of the shows it put together, the British organization is this year’s choice as the Combat Press Regional/International Promotion of the Year.
Other Finalists: KSW, Rizin Fighting Federation