Rhys McKee stops Justin Burlinson in Belfast to claim Cage Warriors welterweight title

Rhys McKee had to battle through a cut brow to claim the Cage Warriors welterweight title on Saturday night at the SSE Arena, Belfast.

The Ballymena man stopped fellow highly touted welterweight Justin Burlinson with strikes in the third round after a thrilling back-and-forth affair.

McKee joins a long list of Irish talent who have previously held Cage Warriors gold including Conor McGregor, Neil Seery, Cathal Pendred, Chris Fields, Karl Moore and Ian Garry.

Both men enjoyed spells of dominance in the first. McKee had the better of the action on the fight, landing consistent, heavy shots on the Englishman. However, towards the end of the round, Burlinson opened a gnarly cut across McKee's brow with heavy ground and pound.

After fighting off a leg lock attempt from Burlinson in the second round, McKee roared back into action, landing big shots from top position.

Burlinson failed on a takedown attempt early in the third, opening him up to the signature stopping power of Skeletor, who landed a brutal right-left combination to bring and end to the contest.

Out of nowhere.#CW140 pic.twitter.com/YgbomvRkLL

In the co-main event, Caolon Loughran set the Belfast crowd on fire with a second-round stoppage of Festus Ahorlu.

Loughran landed the cleaner shots in the first before taking the fight to the ground, threatening with a rear-naked choke. Returning the fight to the canvas in the second, the Tyrone bantamweight landed unanswered strikes from Ahorlu’s back, prompting the referee stopped the action.

The win saw the Team Kaobon pro improve to 6-0.

Caolan Loughran dominates his opponent for the TKO finish and the #CW140 crowd goes wild