Joe McColgan is set to return to action on March 20 when he takes on Brazilian Rafael Macedo at the much anticipated Cage Warriors London event, which is set to take place at the Indigo the day before UFC’s annual flagship European card in the English capital.

Multiple sources confirmed the lightweight fight to MMA Fighting.

An Irish fan favorite, McColgan (6-2-1) goes into the bout on the back of a first-round submission win over Robbie Scott at Cage Warriors 110 in Cork, Ireland. Ahead of his meeting with Scott, McColgan contested Cage Warriors’ 2019 “Fight of the Year” when he fought fellow celebrated striker, Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar, which resulted in a draw.

The Fight Academy Ireland product’s last defeat came against newly signed UFC lightweight and former Cage Warriors lightweight champion Jai Herbert, when they met at Cage Warriors 100 in Cardiff, Wales.

Macedo (10-4-1) comes in the bout on the back of two solid wins over well-known European quantities. In his last outing, the Brazilian earned a split decision nod over highly-touted Manchester lightweight, Kane Mousah, at Bellator 230. Before that, Macedo recorded a successful Cage Warriors debut when he banked a unanimous decision win over Perry Goodwin, who has since moved down to featherweight.

Cage Warriors London could prove to be a very pivotal night for the lightweight division given Herbert’s recent vacation of the title. Promotional frontrunner and former featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett is set for action in the division on the night when he takes on Donovan Desmae. Another fighter tipped to be the division’s next champion, Mason Jones, is also set to compete on the night when he takes on two-time UFC fighter, Danilo Belluardo.

The event also boasts two title shots as Samir Faiddine looks to defend his flyweight title for the first time against Luke Shanks. Morgan Charriere is also set to compete for the interim featherweight title on the night against an opponent that has still to be confirmed.

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