Shaj Haque Has Been ‘Upgrading’ His Software and Hardware for CW 158 Clash in Rome

Shaj Haque will attempt his first Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 125-pound title defense in front of a partisan crowd in Rome.

The crowd is expected to be on fire when Haque (15-5, 7-2 CW) takes on Michele Martignoni in the CW 158 headliner on July 29. Haque captured the flyweight championship after knocking out Sam Creasey at CW 148 in December, overcoming his longtime opponent with another dominant victory after taking home a unanimous decision in their first class in November 2016. A former 135-pound champion, Martignoni vacated the bantamweight belt to attempt to become a two-division champion. While talking with Sherdog, Haque expressed excitement about fighting in Italy for the first time, looking forward to experiencing the culture there. He also acknowledged that Italian fans can be hostile but didn't think it would affect his performance as he possesses the skills and adaptability to overcome his foe.

“I'm quite excited to see myself perform this time. I've been training, I've been working on some new things. I feel like I'm a lot stronger than I was. I've been doing a lot of strength training in that time. I don't take much time off. Some people wait till they get a fight. I train all year round. I've been training since January after my last fight. I took a few weeks off and now straight went back into how I can improve. For the last six months, I've been upgrading myself. I've been upgrading my software and hardware way this time. I've been working on a lot of different things. I don't see this fight going the distance, I don't think people can survive five rounds with me. After the first round or two, they're gonna realize that it's a tough fight, and they've got another whole three rounds to go. I think he's gonna quit mentally, and I’m gonna break him.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:16) Preparing for Martignoni
(00:34) His journey to Rome
(01:27) Defeating Creasey
(02:52) Bouncing back after the defeat to Jake Hadley
(05:12) What he expects from Martignoni
(06:07) Whether he thinks his opponent will make weight
(07:42) Presenting the best version of himself
(08:39) His take on Martignoni defeating Dominic Wooding
(09:28) Praising the Italian fans for supporting their athletes
(10:27) Acknowledgments
(11:18) Outro