A new bout has been added to the Cage Warriors 69 fight card as Curt Warburton (13-4) faces Steven Ray (14-5) for the vacant CWFC lightweight title. Previous champion Ivan Buchinger has been released from his contract with the promotion, leaving the 155lb championship up for grabs.

Cage Warriors officials recently announced the new matchup.

Curt Warburton last fought at CWFC 62 in December 2013, where he scored a first round submission win over Wesley Murch in his promotional debut. Prior to that he suffered a first round TKO loss against Mansour Barnaoui at BAMMA 13. That loss snapped a five fight winning streak he had been on, defeating notable fighters such as Tim Newman, Declan Larkin and Lee Wieczorek during 2011/2012. Warburton will no doubt look to return to that form with a good performance against Ray.

“I can’t wait to be stepping back into that cage, with the opportunity of walking back out as the new Cage Warriors champion,” - Curt Warburton

Steven Ray will be looking to bounce back into the win column and reclaim the lightweight title following his fourth round submission loss to Ivan Buchinger at CWFC 63 in December 2013. Ray won the 155lb title at CWFC 60 after picking up victories over Jason Ball and Sean Carter in the lightweight tournament, but was unable to make a successful title defense against Buchinger two months later. An interesting fact is that Warburton and Ray have previously fought each other, it was at BAMMA 12 in March 2013 and the fight resulted in a decision win for Warburton. This means Ray has a chance to avenge that loss and pick up the lightweight title, an amazing opportunity for the 23-year-old Scotsman.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the win column, avenging my loss to Curt and getting my title back in London where I won it last October.” – Steven Ray

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