Finland’s Cage promotion is going full steam ahead with fight announcements for it’s upcoming show labeled “Cage 24”. Light heavyweight title fight on the card was announced couple days ago and now the promotion continues with the featherweight title bout for the November show in Turku, Finland. Reigning champ Tom “Stoneface” Niinimäki (19-5) will put his belt on the line against Mike Corey (12-3) who is the third consecutive American challenger for Niinimäki. In the previous two title defenses against the Americans, Niinimäki has decisively beaten former WEC champ Chase Beebe and UFC veteran Walel Watson.
Hometown hero Tom Niinimäki is riding a stunning eleven fight win streak and has been considered for years as one of the very best featherweights in Europe. At Cage 23 Niinimäki put his ever improving grappling skills in good use and submitted Walel Watson with a beautiful modified kimura. Niinimäki has made it clear that his goal is to get the UFC deal which he should already have with his track record.
29 year old Mike Corey has been fighting professionally since 2005. He fights out of Jeff and Pat Curran’s gym that lies near Chicago, Illinois. Corey holds notable wins over Ronnie Mann, David Gastillo and Brian Cobb. He has fought his last three fights in Bellator where he has gone 1-1-1 with a win over Ronnie Mann, draw with Chris Horodecki and a loss to Daniel Straus in his most recent fight. The former Marine hails from high school wrestling pedigree and has competed successfully in grappling tournaments such as Grapplers Quest. Corey has taken half of his twelve wins by submissions.
