It was yet another good night for Italy in the Cage Warriors cage, with Stefano Paterno joining Mauro Cerilli in the promotion’s hall of champions after an emphatic promotional debut win.

Paterno (12-2-1) beat home product Mehrdad Janzemini (9-3) in the Cage Warriors 95 headliner at Indigo at The O2 in London to take home the promotion’s vacant welterweight belt. The main card streamed live on UFC Fight Pass, with prelims on Facebook.

The win came at the 3:43 mark of Round 1, as Paterno repeatedly struck Janzemini with punches to the face from mount. It was the seventh finish of Paterno’s current eight-fight unbeaten streak, which includes a majority draw, and certainly quite a nice way of announcing himself to the Cage Warriors audience.

Paterno started the action with a head kick, but it offered no real danger to Janzemini. The two engaged shortly after that, but Janzemini’s attempt to close the distance backfired as he was taken down. Janzemini stayed on the ground, on his back, as his opponent circled around him, eventually plunging with strikes. One of Paterno’s charges created an opening for Janzemini, who grabbed hold of his leg, and the two were locked in on the ground for a bit before Janzemini threatened with a leg attack. Paterno was able to squirm out of it, though, briefly returning to his feet before landing back on the ground, this time on Janzemini’s guard.

From there, Paterno transitioned to the half-guard and eventually to the mount, At first, Janzemini attempted to halt Paterno’s offense by gripping his arms around his opponent’s torso, but that would only stave him off for so long. Soon, Janzemini was in a bad spot, with a postured Paterno launching shots to his face. Janzemini managed to protect himself for the first few blows, but eventually something connected, and he seemed briefly out of it as the ref stepped in.

Mike Ekundayo stays perfect with domination of Ed Arthur

Ed Arthur stayed alive even under the most discouraging of conditions, but was ultimately no match for Mike Ekundayo’s stifling wrestling in the night’s bantamweight co-headliner.

The result of Ekundayo’s (7-0) strategic, to-the-point approach was a dominant display, reflected on 30-26 scorecards across the board. Arthur (8-4) was no push-over, though, ever-searching for attacks during the long stretches of time that he spent under his opponent.

As far as introductions go, Ekundayo made a solid one in his Cage Warriors debut and kept his spotless record in the process. Arthur, in turn, is on a two-fight skid in his return to the cage after 19 months.

Ekundayo’s plan was clear from the get-go, as he immediately went for the single leg and snatched his first takedown. Arthur managed to get himself back up, but Ekundayo wouldn’t give him any room and made a move toward his back. Ekundayo was soon able to secure a body triangle and take Arthur down but could only secure one hook in the process, and that ended up costing him. Arthur was able to restore full guard on the ground and, though he was in bottom position, had his best moment yet in his pursuit of angles. A scramble led to the two back on their feet, but Ekundayo’s arm wouldn’t let go of Arthur’s neck. Arthur’s neck was still dominated as they went back to the ground, but he eventually managed to beak free and got in top position, working from Ekundayo’s half-guard and managing to get his opponent’s arm. He wasn’t able to secure it, though, and was back in bottom position. Arthur was menacing with an armbar attempt, but it was a no-go again, and Ekundayo had his own submission attempt by the time the first round ended.

Arthur kicked off the second round with a nice combination, but Ekundayo wasted no time pressing him against the cage once more. Arthur resisted a little, but Ekundayo was able to get the takedown and landed on Arthur’s half guard. Arthur stayed active off his back, pursuing angles and submissions, but Ekundayo repeatedly shut down the offense. Ekundayo played it mostly safe from there, staying close to Arthur, throwing occasional short blows with no power. An escape attempt by Arthur saw Ekundayo landing on side mount, but Arthur stayed calm under adverse conditions. Ekundayo got back up, holding on to Arthur’s neck from the front and squeezing him against the cage. Arthur resisted, though, and eventually managed to get a takedown – even if Ekundayo’s arm was still wrapped around his neck as he did it. Ekundayo was the one on the bottom this time on the ground, but no noteworthy attacks happened as the second round came to an end.

Ekundayo was immediately off to a takedown in round three, moving quickly toward Arthur’s back as the two hit the ground at the center of the cage. Again, Arthur kept his cool and escaped, getting back on his feet. Ekundayo pressed Arthur against the cage until he was finally able to get yet another takedown, but Arthur remained alive from the bottom, fighting his way back up. Ekundayo, however, never relented his back and forced Arthur back once more, this time with the body triangle locked. That was all she wrote. As Arthur struggled to keep Ekundayo’s arms off his neck, Ekundayo threw body shots to open him up, and the routine repeated itself as the round wore on. Arthur avoided further danger and threw some shots of his own, but was hopelessly stuck on Ekundayo’s body triangle. The two remained that way until the fight ended with a clear, stifling victor.

Full Cage Warriors 95 results include:

• Stefano Paterno def. Mehrdad Janzemini via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:43 – to claim vacant welterweight title
• Mike Ekundayo def. Ed Arthur via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
• Brad Wheeler def. Orlando D’Ambrosio via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:44
• Ross Houston def. Nathan Jones via submission (rear-naked choke)  – Round 2, 2:59
• Mason Jones def. Konmon Deh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• James Webb def. Pelu Adetola via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 0:29
• Adam Amarasinghe def. Aaron Laleye via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:08
• Paull McBain def. Steve Aimable via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Phil Wells def. Konrad Iwanowski via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Kris Edwards def. Luca Iovine via unanimous decision (28-26, 29-25, 28-26)
• Gurd Shergill def. Joshua Onwordi via DQ – Round 2, 4:00