A CAGE fight has raised more than £1,000 for charity in a special ‘KO Cancer’ show.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran, Curt Warburton, and upcoming mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Liam Webstell, went head to head in honour of the Solan Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust.

The charity is a County Durham based organisation aimed at providing help and support to families affected by cancer.

Its founder, Mark Solan said: “The fight was brilliant. People who don’t know MMA won’t know the difference in class between them but that was maybe ten percent of what Curt can do, Liam deserved a medal for just getting in the cage.

“We really needed two belts because they were both winners and both deserved recognition.”

Warburton was on form despite retiring from active competition last year, he dominated the three-round match.

The fighter said: “It’s all for charity but I think Webstell took it more seriously. He was training in Thailand so I just felt him out to see how hard he was hitting.

“There was a great atmosphere once it filled up and it all went to a good cause."

Both fighters were awarded the Team Solan Charity Belt by Mr Solan for their efforts.

The event was held by organisers Made 4 the Cage at Rainton Meadows Arena and saw stars Tony Mustard, Kennedy Freeman and Shaj Haque take home the European championship gold in the tournament.

Made 4 the Cage founder Dale Percival, said: “Cancer is a cause that is close to us all but especially the North-East MMA community.

“We felt it was only right that for our first charity bouts, Mark’s charity should be the beneficiary.”

Mr Solan plans to run the event every year where a professional MMA fighter will battle against an amateur for the Team Solan Charity Belt.

The tournament was originally meant to see Mr Solan face ex-UFC fighter Robert 'Buzz' Berry, despite an eight stone disadvantage.

Plans were changed when he broke his ankle and tore the cartilage in his knee.

In the future, Mr Solan would like to fight the veteran once he is fully recovered.