Speaking to MMA Junkie from San Diego following receipt of his license, Boylan explained how the promotion intends to expand its footprint despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got the government approval in the U.K., so regardless of what happens with COVID and what happens with fans being allowed into arenas, we’ve got the approval to run behind-closed-doors shows in the U.K., which is why we’re doing our ‘Trilogy Strikes Back’ shows in December,” Boylan said. “Until fans are allowed back into arenas, we will carry on holding these behind-closed-doors shows, and we will be holding another ‘Trilogy’ series in the new year.
“But now that we’ve got the Californian promoter’s license with CSAC, we’re going to do one or two events, maybe behind closed doors, in the U.S. But we’ll definitely look to get at least one show in the first half of the year to start things off, then we’ll do four events a year (in California).”
“We’ll be building a roster here in California and the U.S., and we’ll bring over guys from our main roster to go against them,” he explained. “We’ll get the guys who are making waves over in the U.K. and the guys who are making waves in the U.S. and put on some big shows, both in the U.S. and back home.
“We’ll bring the big guns over from Europe and get them lined up against the biggest names we can get from California and nationwide in the U.S., and we’ll look to develop talent, just as we’ve done for years over in the U.K. It’s a new platform and, because I’m based here, I’m in the gyms here, and I’m back and forth between here and London, it just made sense for us to do shows in both places, and we’ll get this rolling. It won’t be Cage Warriors Europe and Cage Warriors U.S.; it’ll all be one roster, with only one championship per weight class.”