Sherdog Prospect Watch: George Hardwick

George.Hardwick has done it, he becomes the Lightweight Champion of Cage Warriors!!!

A huge rally in the 4th round gets him the TKO finish on the biggest stage of his career. #CW141 pic.twitter.com/veD9bMU6Hk

— Cage Warriors (@CageWarriors) July 22, 2022

The 155-pound division is home to some of mixed martial arts’ best and brightest, and George Hardwick is on his way to becoming an excellent member of that exclusive club. The 25-year-old is set to defend his Cage Warriors Fighting Championship lightweight title at CW 147, where he will collide with an experienced opponent in Chris Bungard. Together with his brother Harry Hardwick, George represents the Middlesbrough Fight Academy. He boasts a 10-1 record with six finishes and four decisions. The surging English fighter has never been finished, with his only loss coming by decision to Madars Bertholds-Fleminas. Going into his next assignment, Hardwick will ride a six-bout winning streak.

BIG SHOCK!

George.Hardwick makes a successful start to his Bellator career with a submission win over Richard Kiely. #BellatorDublin pic.twitter.com/tUWtj8s08W

— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) February 22, 2020

Hardwick made his MMA debut at 20 on Aug. 19, 2017, when he took home a unanimous decision over Craig Edwards. After piling up three more triumphs, Hardwick received the call from Cage Warriors to face Fleminas. While his first clash went down at lightweight, Hardwick subsequently moved to 170 pounds. The Fleminas fight showed that Hardwick wasn’t big enough to stay at welterweight as his opponent made the most of his weight advantage to silence Hardwick’s offensive en route to a unanimous decision victory with three 30-27 nods from the judges. After taking his first and only loss to date, Hardwick took part in a 175-pound contest against Richard Kiely at Bellator 240 and then definitely moved back down to lightweight.

In his second Bellator MMA foray, Hardwick overcame Nicolo Solli via unanimous decision at Bellator Milan in September 2020. He then signed with Cage Warriors again and made his promotional return by stopping Dean Trueman with a nasty punch to the body at CW 124. He then rattled off consecutive victories after submitting Oktagon MMA vet Jakub Dohnal and smashing Lukasz Kopera (10-7, 0-1 CW) with a barrage of punches at CW 129 and CW 134, respectively. His three back-to-back stoppages earned him a chance to fight for the vacant lightweight championship. In the CW 141 headliner, Hardwick outstroke Dana White's Contender Series alum Kyle Driscoll in a majestic performance punctuated by a liver shot followed by several punches that forced referee Marc Goddard to stop the after 85 seconds into the fourth round. Now, Hardwick is ready to showcase his remarkable striking skills once more, hoping to notch his first title defense.