'Cage Warriors: Countdown to 52' preview

Cage Warriors kicks off its 2013 campaign on Saturday with "Cage Warriors 52: Grimaud vs. Pendred." Check out a video preview of the event, which streams live and free on MMAjunkie.com.

The event takes place at HMV Forum in London, and welterweight champion Gael Grimaud (17-5) meets challenger Cathal Pendred (11-2-1) in the headliner.

Check out the video above for more on the title fight, as well as other bouts on the card.

The full Cage Warriors 52 card includes:

MAIN CARD (MMAjunkie.com, 4 p.m. ET)
•Champ Gael Grimaud vs. Cathal Pendred - for welterweight title
•Fouad Mesdari vs. Graham Turner
•Bruno "B.C." Carvalho vs. Steve Dinsdale
•Matt Inman vs. Jack Mason
•Paul Marin vs. Paul McVeigh
•Liam James vs. Alan Philpott
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 2:15 p.m. ET)
•Chris Fishgold vs. Steve O'Keeffe
•Alex Enlund vs. Martin McDonough
•Paul Redmond vs. Alexei Roberts
•Merv Mulholland vs. Brad Wheeler
•Dan Hope vs. Gary Kono
PRELIMINARY CARD (Untelevised, 1:30 p.m. ET)
•Anthony Ferguson vs. Ben Hajir
•Richard Griffin vs. Shah Hussain
•Olly Battell vs. Shaj Haque

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/03/video-cage-warriors-countdown-to-52-preview

Cage Warriors 52's Steven Dinsdale not worried about Carvalho's experience

Steven Dinsdale will for the first time in his career fight an opponent with a winning record at Cage Warriors 52.

Yet he isn't fully convinced that he's going to meet superior competition.

"He has the most experience, but I don't know about the toughest lad," Dinsdale told told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

Dinsdale (5-0) meets Bruno Carvalho (14-6) at the event, which takes place Saturday at HMV Forum in London and streams live on MMAjunkie.com.

Carvalho, an M-1 veteran, holds wins over "The Ultimate Fighter" vet Kyacey Uscola and DREAM vet Tatsuya Mizuno. He also holds black belts in judo and jiu-jitsu and comes from a decorated family of grapplers.

Dinsdale, who accepted the fight on two weeks' notice, said he trains alongside black belts at his gym, Next Generation MMA in Liverpool, England. Such experience, he said, gives him the ability to defend against the kinds of sweeps, chokes and takedowns he's likely to encounter against Carvalho.

But while he said he's comfortable in all areas of the fight, he isn't convinced his Brazilian opponent is capable of hanging with his striking.

"To be perfectly honest, I think it's the weakest part of his game," he said. "His ground and his judo are good. But his standup, especially as a welterweight, seems a bit slack. He seems predictable and a little flat-footed, so I plan to take advantage of that."

If Dinsdale were to beat Carvalho, it would be the biggest win of his professional career, which is why he accepted the bout with less than a full training camp. Carvalho, after all, suffered a decision loss to current Cage Warriors contender Cathal Pendred. A victory might put him in line to meet the winner of the Saturday event's headliner, which features Pendred against champ Gael Grimaud in a welterweight title bout.

"I'm really excited," Dinsdale said. "I've taken this fight only on two weeks' notice, but it's Cage Warriors, which is the best U.K. I want to be at the top of my game."

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/03/cage-warriors-52s-steven-dinsdale-not-worried-about-carvalhos-experience