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Four Champs In 20 Years: Cage Warriors Finally Got A New Female Champion!
Female Cage Warriors champions. Photo via Instagram
At last night’s Cage Warriors card we saw the vacant women’s bantamweight belt get a new owner as undefeated Kennedy Freeman (6-0) stopped Mafalda Carmona (7-3).
The 26-year-old bantamweight is a real powerhouse who finished all of her fights in the promotion. Last night she was looking to add a third straight stoppage win to get the Cage Warriors strap, and she sure lived up to the expectations.
After four relentless rounds, where Kennedy dominated from bell to bell, a bruised and battered Carmona had enough and her corner stopped the fight before the fifth and final round.
With the win, Freeman is the fourth woman in history to become a Cage Warriors champion. Click ”Next” to take a closer look at the three champs before Freeman!
1. Rosi Sexton – 2005
Female Cage Warriors champions. Photo via Instagram
- Age: 47
- Record: 13-5
- When did she win the CW title? 2005
- Title defenses: 0
- Satus as a fighter: Retired in 2014
MMA pioneer Rosi Sexton won the inaugural Cage Warriors Women’s Bantamweight Championship in 2005. She then moved on to fight in different promotions, including Bellator and UFC, where she faced the likes of Jessica Andrade and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
2. Pannie Kianzad – 2014
Female Cage Warriors champions. Photo via Instagram (@panniekianzad)
- Age: 32
- Record 16-9
- When did she win the CW title? 2014
- Title defenses: 0
- Satus as a fighter: Active
Sweden’s Pannie Kianzad won the vacant Cage Warriors bantamweight title in 2014, at age 22, but moved on to Invicta FC before defending it.
The Swede’s next career move was TUF and then UFC, where she tested herself against the world’s absolute best bantamweights, including Ketlen Vieira, Raquel Pennington and Bethe Correia.
A few months back she parted ways with the UFC and there’s currently no word on where she’s going nexts.
Parallel to her fighting career, Kianzad has worked as a live commentator for Swedish promotion FCR as well as commentating UFC fights for Viaplay.
3. Molly McCann – 2018
Female Cage Warriors champions. Photo via YouTube
- Age: 34
- Record: 14-7
- When did she win the CW title? 2018
- Title defenses: 0
- Satus as a fighter: Active in the UFC
Molly ”Meatball” McCann won the inaugural Cage Warriors women’s flyweight title in 2018 with a second-round TKO against Bryony Tyrell.
Just a few months later she made her UFC debut where she eventually rose to stardom. In thirteen UFC fights she collected four post-fight bonuses and pulled off two of the sickest spinning-elbow KO’s we ever seen.
Despite a pretty uneven record she’s still a big name in the world’s leading MMA promotion.
4. Kennedy Freeman – 2024
Female Cage Warriors champions. Photo via Instagram (@kennedyyfreeman_)
- Age: 26
- Record: 6-0
- When did she win the CW title? 2024
- Title defenses: 0
- Satus as a fighter: Active in Cage Warriors
Following a stellar amateur career, Kennedy Freeman made her pro debut in 2018. After back-to-back wins she stepped away from the cage for five years.
Freeman returned in November 2023, this time in Cage Warriors, and racked up three straight stoppage wins. The future is certainly bright for ”The Machine 2.0”.
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