Mason Jones set for Cage Warriors return at Cage Warriors 158 in Rome

Former two-division Cage Warriors champion Mason Jones is back in the famous yellow gloves, and now has a fight confirmed for his promotional return.

Jones, who went 1-2 (1 no contest) during a stop-start stint in the UFC, returns to the promotion that saw his best performances as he takes on Alexandre Ribeiro in a lightweight matchup at Cage Warriors 158 in Rome, Italy, on Saturday, July 29.

Jones’ first stint with Cage Warriors was a spectacular success. The Welshman went 7-0 with the promotion as he became a two-division Cage Warriors champion.

After building a five-fight win streak, Jones defeated Northern Ireland’s Joe McColgan via first-round TKO to capture the vacant lightweight title at Cage Warriors 113 in March 2020, then followed up with another first-round finish, as he defeated Adam Proctor to win the welterweight title just six months later at Cage Warriors 116.

Those two title victories earned Jones a shot on the world stage with the UFC, and he dropped a unanimous decision to Mike Davis on his debut before his bout with Brazil’s Alan Patrick, which he was winning handily, was stopped and ruled a no contest due to an accidental eye poke.

Jones pursued an immediate rematch with Patrick, but a scheduled bout fell through after the Brazilian withdrew, and Jones instead faced, and defeated, David Onama in a cracker of a bout at the UFC Apex to pick up his maiden UFC victory.

Unfortunately, the last bout of his contract, against L’udovit Klein, ended in a unanimous decision defeat and Jones took the opportunity to pursue free agency before re-signing with Cage Warriors.

Jones’ first fight back with the promotion will see him face Brazilian finisher Ribeiro, who has finished 14 of his 20 career victories, and heads into the bout with three wins from his last five outings. All of his last five victories have come via knockout.

The bout joins a packed fight card at Fiera Roma, with the event set to be headlined by a battle for the flyweight title, with defending champion Shaj Haque putting his title on the line against Italy’s former bantamweight champion Michele Martignoni.