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Cage Warriors 210 runs on Saturday September 26 at the RDS in Dublin, with 13 fights live on UFC Fight Pass. Middleweight champion Paddy McCorry, 8-1, makes his first title defence against Gustavo Sousa, 7-2, who replaces the originally announced Julio Spadaccini. The card is built around Irish fighters, from Max Lally to Conor McCarthy.
Key takeaways
- Cage Warriors 210 takes place on Saturday September 26 at the RDS in Dublin, prelims at 17:30 Irish time and main card at 20:00, live on UFC Fight Pass.
- Middleweight champion Paddy McCorry (8-1) makes his first defence against Gustavo Sousa (7-2), who took the place of Julio Spadaccini.
- The main card also features Max Lally, Ger Harris, Conor McCarthy, Keith Keogh and Solomon Simon.
Cage Warriors 210 main event: a change of opponent
Spadaccini out, Sousa in
When Cage Warriors confirmed the title fight in July, McCorry’s challenger was the Brazilian Julio Spadaccini, 10-4. The official card published on September 22 now lists Gustavo Sousa in his place. The promotion has not detailed the reason for the change in its card announcement.
What the champion brings
McCorry, 28, from West Belfast and trained at Fight Academy Ireland, won the belt at CW 200 in Dublin with a TKO of Dario Bellandi. Before that he won a unanimous decision over In Su Hwang on the Contender Series in 2025, then came back to Cage Warriors. His only loss is a decision to James Webb in 2022.
A tall finisher
Of his 8 wins, 4 came by knockout or TKO and 2 by submission. At 6ft 3in, he is a long middleweight, and the Tye Palmer knockout in 46 seconds is the clip that follows him around.
Gustavo Sousa and the first title defence
A 7-2 challenger
Sousa arrives with a record of 7-2. Stepping into a title fight as a replacement usually means a shorter camp for the challenger and a changed game plan for the champion, who prepared for a different opponent.
Why a first defence is different
Winning a belt at home in front of the biggest Irish crowd Cage Warriors has drawn is one thing. Keeping it against someone you did not prepare for is the test that tells a promotion whether its champion can carry the division, and McCorry takes that test at home again.
What a win opens
McCorry has already had his look from the UFC once, on the Contender Series. A successful defence would be a stronger case than a single decision win in Las Vegas.
CW 200 Dublin was one of the biggest events in European MMA history, and we're only just getting started.
The rest of the Cage Warriors 210 card
The main card
Max Lally faces João Pedro Saldanha at featherweight, Ger Harris meets Anderson Soares at 132 lb, Conor McCarthy takes on Dumitru Girlean at lightweight, Keith Keogh faces Jhonatan Cordeiro at 150 lb, and Solomon Simon moves to lightweight against Kenny Mokhonoana.
Times and broadcast
The prelims start at 17:30 Irish time, 12:30 ET, and the main card at 20:00, 15:00 ET, all live on UFC Fight Pass and international partners. 7 bouts make up the prelims.
Follow Cage Warriors with real numbers
Results, records and our ratings across European promotions are updated in the FightHub app after every event. Download it to follow McCorry, Sousa and the Irish prospects after Saturday night.
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