Cage Warriors 118: Frederick vs. Richardson takes place on Friday, December 11 at York Hall in London, England. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the event, and MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a look at the opening odds below.
Cage Warriors 118 Odds
Nathias Frederick -285
Jamie Richardson +225
Leonardo Damiani -125
Aaron Khalid -105
Adam Ventre -175
Decky McAleenan +145
Madars Fleminas -155
Mick Stanton +125
Nathan Fletcher -285
Leigh Mitchell +225
Liam Gittins -240
Josh Reed +190
Matt Inman -155
Matthew Bonner +125
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds for Cage Warriors 118:
- The main event of Cage Warriors 118 sees middleweight champion Nathias Frederick (8-2-1) put his belt on the line against Jamie Richardson (9-5). Frederick is a lame bloomer to MMA, having made his pro debut in 2015 at age 32. He’s 37 years old now, but he is fighting at a high level, having gone unbeaten in his last nine fights since losing his first two fights to open his MMA career. It’s actually pretty amazing how much he has been able to improve his game in his late 30s. In Frederick’s last fight in November 2019, he won the middleweight belt from former champ James Webb by fourth-round TKO. He now puts his belt on the line against Richardson. The 24-year-old Brit has won his last three fights in a row to earn this title shot against Frederick. Still, I have to go with the champion here to retain his title. Frederick has fought and defeated better fighters and despite being the older man, I think he wins this one.
- In the co-main event, we have Leonardo Damiani (8-2-1) against Aaron Khalid (10-5-1) in a welterweight bout. Damiani is a 30-year-old Italian fighter who has gone undefeated over his last three bouts to earn this contract with Cage Warriors. Damiani actually just fought last month, picking up a stoppage win in Abu Dhabi on the Sergei Kharitonov vs. Oli Thompson card. As for Khalid, the 27-year-old Wales native is coming off of a submission win back in September in CWFC and overall he has won four of his last five fights. We have close odds here and this is a tight matchup but my slight lean is to the younger fighter in Khalid here.
- Another fight to keep your eye on features bantamweights Liam Gittins (5-1) and Josh Reed (10-4). Gittins won the first five fights in his MMA career before losing a decision for his first career defeat in his last outing earlier this year. As for Reed, the Wales native has won three of his last four fights and he is coming off of a bulldog choke submission win in his last outing. Once again this looks like a close fight but I would consider taking a shot on the dog Reed.
- Finally, let’s take a look at a middleweight bout between Matt Inman (20-10) and Matthew Bonner (7-6-1). Inman is the most experienced fighter on this whole card but he enters this bout as only a small favorite after a three-year layoff. As for Bonner, he has won three of his last four fights, but he’s essentially a .500 level fighter. Despite the layoff, give me Inman here.
