LONDON – Kent Kauppinen marked his debut as a Cage Warriors fighter with a first: a decision win.

Former Bellator campaigner Kauppinen (13-6) had claimed each of his previous victories inside the distance, but he was forced to battle all the way to the scorecards against former middleweight title challenger Jamie Richardson at Cage Warriors 120 as he positioned himself as a serious title contender at 185 pounds.

The first round saw Kauppinen immediately take the center of the cage as he walked down Richardson (9-7), who seemed happy to work off the back foot and frustrate the veteran. Despite his aggressive positioning, Kauppinen was economical with his output through the opening five minutes as he spent much of the round trying to draw shots from Richardson to open his man up for counter punches.

Round 2 saw Richardson give Kauppinen what he wanted by upping his work rate and giving him opportunities to counter. A solid lead uppercut reminded Kauppinen that he had to be wary, however, as both men started to load up in the middle round.

Richardson worked the jab well and followed up with some decent straight shots, while Kauppinen, after finding his man’s chin a little hard to locate with his counters, switched up his attack and connected with a thumping body shot.

Kauppinen came out of his corner for the final round and immediately looked to connect with big shots, while Richardson stayed elusive on the back foot. After a clinch battle against the cage, Kauppinen again tried to walk down Richardson, and fended off a takedown attempt from the former title challenger.

“Get up! GET UP!”#CW120 pic.twitter.com/G7vNeWQGRq

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 18, 2021

Then, with 35 seconds remaining in the fight, Kauppinen made the crucial breakthrough. He dropped his man with a huge right hand but, rather than follow him to the mat in search of a ground-and-pound finish, he called for Richardson to get back to his feet. He then connected with a big body kick and, even though he was subsequently taken down, Kauppinen connected with a succession of elbows off his back to put the seal on his most decisive round of the fight.

After the final horn had sounded, all three judges were in agreement as Kauppinen earned scores of 29-28 across the board to seal a debut victory and push him right into the title mix at 185 pounds.