Ross Houston wants to defend title against Nicolas Dalby in Scotland, not Denmark

Cage Warriors welterweight champion Ross Houston was the most coveted name at the promotion’s centenary show last weekend.

The feeling on the ground in Cardiff was that Nicolas Dalby’s win over Philip Mulpeter likely set up a title shot against the Scot when Cage Warriors ports in Dalby’s homeland, Denmark, on Mar. 9.

However, Houston believes he should own the advantage of home backing should he sign on the dotted line to face Dalby.

“It’s ridiculous. I ain’t traveling, I’ve got the belt; it’s my belt. Dalby had the belt he went to the UFC and now he’s back. I think he still thinks he’s got the same kind of relevance that he had before,” Houston told Eurobash.

“The bottom line is: the belt is in my house, I can see it right now, so if he wants it Cage Warriors can put on a show in Scotland. It’s ridiculous, at Cage Warriors 100, half the fights were involving Scottish fighters and we all won. There are a lot of good fighters fighting now; there’s me, Paull McBain, Scott Malone, Aidan Stephen and you’ve got guys like Chris Duncan and Jamie MacDonald coming through the ranks.

“There are some good guys here, we need to get [Cage Warriors] up there and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Houston doesn’t believe that Dalby’s recent form gives him the right to call for a title shot on home turf.

“My management will speak to [Cage Warriors], but the way I look at it is: I wouldn’t see it as a disadvantage, but I ain’t traveling all the way to Denmark to fight Nicolas Dalby. I want to give my fans something back. They’ve spent a lot of money over the years traveling to see me fighting and now that I’m the champion, things like this shouldn’t happen, especially for Dalby,” he explained.

“He’s only got a two-fight win streak. He just beat Philip Mulpeter, he’s a nice guy, but he had a bit of ring rust and he didn’t look like his former self. He beat some random Italian guy too who wasn’t up to that much. To be honest, out of both of them, I think Alex Lohore is on a better streak.”

Despite not being too warm to the idea of a fight in Copenhagen, Houston insisted that Dalby’s status as a former UFC fighter is tempting him into taking the fight.

“[Dalby being a former UFC fighter] does draw me closer to the bout. I was more impressed with Alex Lohore [at Cage Warriors 100], but Dalby is a bigger scalp. I guess the big thing they talk about is the fact that he drew with Darren Till. There’s that, and that’s obviously quite tempting as well.

“The balls in my court, I’ve got the belt, so it would be nice to repay the Scottish fans,” he added.