Sherdog Prospect Watch: Michele Martignoni

When your post-fight celebration lasts longer than the fight! 🙌

Michele Martignoni's six-second KO ties the record for fastest knockout in #Bellator history! #Bellator203 #BellatorRome pic.twitter.com/UZXCmjwh2u

— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) July 15, 2018

Michele Martignoni will attempt to capture the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship bantamweight title in front of a hometown crowd when he meets Dominique Wooding in the CW 144 headliner on Friday at Fiera Roma in Rome. The 26-year-old Martignoni sports a 7-1 record with a 71% finish rate. An Aurora MMA representative, he has proven to be a versatile competitor who appears to be equally adept at submitting opponents and putting them down with strikes. Martignoni boasts five first-round stoppage victories, the fastest coming in a mere six seconds.

Martignoni is one of the first Italian professionals to grow up as a pure mixed martial artist. He acquired plenty of experience as an amateur, capturing a silver medal at the 2016 International Mixed Martial Arts Federation European Championships. Martignoni made his pro debut in January 2017 and started his career 3-0 with one no contest. “The Italian Thunder” then faced Simone D’Anna at Bellator 203, where he brought down his countryman with a head kick in six seconds, tying Hector Lombard and Mike Kimbel for the fastest knockout in Bellator MMA history.

After returning to the regional scene with yet another sub-minute finish, Martignoni signed with Cage Warriors. He brilliantly overcame the first real test of his career when he took a unanimous decision from Weslley Maia in a CW 117 bantamweight battle. Maia started strong in Round 1 and looked to be closing in on a finish, but Martignoni survived those efforts and turned the tide by controlling his counterpart on the canvas across the second and third periods.

In his next outing, Martignoni tasted defeat for the first time when he submitted to a rear-naked choke from Nathan Fletcher at CW 122 on March 20, 2021. The loss prompted him to drop to 125 pounds, only to see an accidental eye poke during his debut in a new weight class result in a no contest with Adam Amarasinghe. Martignoni moved on to confront Scott Malone in a 132-pound catchweight clash at CW 140, where he dominated the Scotsman on his way to a unanimous decision on June 25.

With a 2-1 record in Cage Warriors now in his back pocket and a reputation for exciting performances already established, Martignoni took up management on its offer to challenge Wooding—a man on a three-fight winning streak—for the bantamweight title.Emanuele Zaccaria vs Bogdan Barbu Micol DiSegni vs Bryony Tyrell