Graham Boylan reflected on why Nicolas Dalby’s second shot within the UFC has stayed with him.
Cage Warriors 200 takes place this Saturday night from the RDS Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
Making it to this landmark event is a large success story for the promotion, as is the quantity of fighters who’ve gone on to compete within the UFC after fighting in CW.
A number of the biggest stars within the history of the game, from Conor McGregor to Paddy Pimblett to Ilia Topuria have placed on their signature yellow gloves before achieving incredible things at the best level.
Luke Riley’s impressive debut last yr is only one example of how they’re still sending top talent to the Octagon, but of all of the UFC calls which were received through the years, one stands out to the promotion’s president.
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Graham Boylan recalls Nicolas Dalby’s emotional call to receive a second shot within the UFC
As Cage Warriors president, Graham Boylan has had the duty on loads of occasions of calling a fighter on their roster to inform them that their UFC dream has come true.
Boylan has even given fans a glimpse into what this moment is like previously by posting videos of an athlete’s response to hearing those initials via a phone call.
He says that CW putting over 150 fighters into the UFC is one among the things that separates them from other promotions.
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Boylan was asked if there’s one call specifically that stands out to him, and one memory quickly sprung to mind.
“Nicolas Dalby stands out with me because we didn’t do it once, we did it twice,” he responded.
Dalby was released from the UFC in 2016 but was capable of return to Cage Warriors, where a five-fight run saw him return to the Octagon in 2019.
He’s spoken previously about battling issues like depression and alcoholism before getting one other shot on the leading MMA promotion’s roster, where he stays to at the present time after going 7-3 with one no contest.
“The second phone call is one among the calls that may really persist with me,” Boylan reflected. “You could possibly see in that phone call, you possibly can see in his face, the expression, the response, how much that meant to him. To not say that it doesn’t mean the identical to everybody else that I’ve had those phone calls with. To do it once is a completely f—— amazing achievement. To do it twice is just in need of f—— spectacular.”
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The fundamental event of Cage Warriors 200 could lead to the following UFC call
Cage Warriors 100 in 2018 was headlined by Jack Shore winning the bantamweight title in front of his home fans before he signed to the UFC the next yr.
For CW 200 on February 21, it’s the featherweight belt that’s on the road within the fundamental event, though a UFC call is also awaiting the winner.
Solomon Simon and Nik Bagley have had just about all of their skilled fights within the promotion, leading to a combined record of 12-1 while they’re within the yellow gloves.
Their clash on the RDS Arena in Dublin may already be a UFC-level matchup, but just one man can leave with the 145-pound gold.