Cage Warriors has formed a close relationship with the UFC, in which its shows are broadcast on the UFC’s streaming platform Fight Pass.

Riley was competing at last month’s Cage Warriors 178, with the promotion’s next flagship show taking part in Rome on Saturday.

What is noticeable about many Cage Warriors shows is the amount of children in attendance compared to other promotions, and this is a deliberate ploy by the organisers.

Many of the kids are family or friends of the fighters competing, exemplified by the party-like celebrations which greeted British bantamweight Jack Humphries’ impressive win over Fabian Ufs in Manchester.

“To build talent means bringing local, grassroots gyms into events. Bringing these grassroots guys, their family, the community, the mums, the dads, the kids who are training,” said Boylan.

“If you don’t bring them in and make them part of it, you’re not feeding the younger generation coming through.”

But what do Cage Warriors look for when they sign upcoming athletes like Humphries?

“We normally look for character. The fighting and the skillset, we can see that, but there are hundreds of fighters with skillsets. So we look for that little spark,” said Boylan.

Boylan references Britain’s Joe Fields as an example, who won to extend his record to 3-0.

Fields, nicknamed ‘The Butcher’, arrives wearing a butcher’s apron. He understands a big part of building a fanbase comes from showmanship, but his victory proves he is equally adept as an athlete.

“You just saw Joe Fields, that kid’s going to go far. He’s got the package – he’s got that spark, he’s humble, respectful, well-spoken,” added Boylan.

After beating Junior, Riley celebrated by placing an imaginary phone to his ear, before asking UFC president Dana White to “call him”.

Most promotions would do everything in their power to keep hold of their biggest star, but Cage Warriors are willing to lose fighters like Riley because they are already grooming the likes of Humphries and Fields to step into his shoes.

It is a system which has brought great success since Boylan took over Cage Warriors in 2010 and, if it’s not broken, then why fix it?

“We make jokes all the time that we’re the dream-makers, but there’s a lot of truth to it too,” said Boylan.

“Some you’re like ‘it would be great if we could keep them’, but we know our place in the sport. We understand what we do, it’s that simple.”

DEFENDER Kellen Fisher has revealed tales from his time at Norwich including having dinner with former owner Delia Smith and team-mates being egged in the dressing room.

The right-back, 20, joined Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side in 2023 from Bromley.

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He has already racked up 23 appearances for the club and helped them reach the play-offs last season.

They lost in the semi-finals to Leeds – a club whose fans he is full of praise for in SunSport’s exclusive interview.

Both on and off the pitch Fisher has a host of stories to tell – from dressing up as a zebra to playing on a “mud bath”.

Here are some of the trials and tribulations of Championship life seen by Fisher – in his own words.

Best ever EFL player?

Gabriel Sara, he was on another level last year.

You see some of the goals he scored last year, you’d think ‘What a player he is’.

Wildest night out?

On our Christmas do, we went to Winter Wonderland and we all had to dress up as a certain letter.

Luckily got a Z, which was a zebra. So we all started walking around Winter Wonderland in these funny costumes.

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I think Shane Duffy was dressed up as Goldilocks or something.

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Maddest dressing room tale?

It was Callum Doyle’s birthday and Borja Sainz told me to start filming and I didn’t know what was going on either.

Borja Sainz comes through behind him and throws three eggs and he said it was his birthday.

To be fair, Callum wasn’t too happy.

Wildest owner antics?

When I first joined the club, the player liaison Phil said to me that Delia wanted to have dinner with my family before one of the games just to get to know everyone.

I think she makes that effort with everyone to meet everyone’s families.

I think it was steak pie and I think mash and gravy.

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Iconic training ground tale?

I’d say one of the coaches scoring a worldie. One of the free-kicks, it’s gone over the wall, the keeper’s saved it and it’s come rolling back perfectly for the half volley.

I remember Glyn [Head of Physical Performance for Norwich] just absolutely smashed it and it’s gone flying.

It’s gone flying into the top corner and everyone was a bit shocked.

Best EFL fans?

I think I’ve got to say Leeds.

Last year in the play-off [semi]final, the place was absolutely bouncing.

Dodgiest EFL facilities?

I would say FA Youth Cup when I was at Bromley. The away changing rooms were all painted pink.

I think the pitch we played on wasn’t great either. It was just a mud bath.

Most annoying EFL fans?

I think I have to say Leeds again, in that play-off game.

I was on the bench just warming up, you’d hear little things in your ear in the corner.

Just getting a lot of stick from the home supporters.

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Moment that haunts you?

I made a little bit of a mistake in the cup game, FA Cup, Bristol Rovers at home.

I think the ball come to me, the keeper parried it and I’ve controlled it in the box and sort of just panicked and just flicked it around the corner and no one sort of reacted to the ball.

And then a Bristol Rovers player just come onto it and volleyed it into the top corner.

England are missing several regulars, with skipper Jos Buttler injured and a large number of the Test squad resting after the recent series loss in Pakistan.

In their absence, a number of untried and untested players have been chosen, rather than lean on the experience of players such as James Vince and Sam Hain, who have impressed in domestic 50-over cricket for numerous seasons.

In Antigua, spinner Adil Rashid outnumbered the caps of the rest of the line-up put together, with 140 to 127.

Furthermore, some of England’s debutants lacked experience of 50-over cricket, with Jordan Cox, 24, and Dan Mousley, 23, playing their first List A games in 20 months and three years respectively.

Of the other new caps, 21-year-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell had played 21 times in List A cricket, with fast bowler John Turner, 23, appearing 17 times.

It appears to be increasingly difficult for England’s best young players to experience List A cricket because of the scheduling of the domestic One-Day Cup at the same time as The Hundred.

“You can see the direction of where we’re trying to go, and that means blooding the next guys coming through,” added Trescothick.

“Playing people who have played before probably goes against the mantra of what we’re trying to do. I could give you five different examples of where we could go, but that’s not what we are trying to do.

“The opportunities are there for the guys to come in. That’s what they’re going to get. They’re going to pick up what it’s like to play in the Caribbean and they’ll be better for it.”

Francesco Bagnaia made an early statement in his bid to beat world championship leader Jorge Martin by setting the fastest lap time in Friday’s Free Practice 1 for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

In contrast to Pramac Ducati’s Martin, factory Ducati rider Bagnaia chose to run a soft front at the end of the session, a move that powered him to a time fully 1.647s better than Martin’s.

Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) joined Bagnaia with late runs on soft rubber, and duly set laps good enough for second and third on the timesheets respectively. Vinales was however 0.743s in arrears of Bagnaia, with Bezzecchi over a second adrift.

Jack Miller (KTM) in fourth was quickest of the riders to take the more conventional approach to the session by simply running a medium front tyre throughout.

Tech 3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta was fifth behind the Australian and the only rider to drop his bike during the session, with a very late crash at Turn 9.

Martin was third-quickest of the riders to stick with the mediums and thus sixth overall. The Spaniard, who leads the championship by 17 points over Bagnaia with one round to go after Malaysia, made one small mistake during the session as he outbraked himself and ran wide at the final corner.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) was seventh-fastest, followed by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Quartararo led much of the session before the likes of Bagnaia pitted for soft rubber. The Frenchman’s bike broke down with a few minutes remaining in the session, although he was able to coast it back to the garage.

MotoGP returnee Andrea Iannone broke into the top 10 for VR46 Ducati, where he is replacing the injured Fabio di Giannantonio. This ninth-fastest time was also courtesy of a late lap on a soft front, however.

Only five riders in total pulled the soft-rubber move, with Trackhouse Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori the fifth and slowest of these in 18th.

Acosta’s team-mate Augusto Fernandez completed the top 10, almost two seconds down on the pace-setting Bagnaia.

Gresini’s Marc Marquez was 12th and Bagnaia’s factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini ended FP1 14th. The pair are battling for third in the world championship.

Track action at Sepang started in slightly damp conditions after rain earlier in the morning, which led to an FP1 that was largely cautious and uneventful. It can also be regarded as inconclusive given the varying tyre strategies at play.

Photos from Malaysian GP Practice

JUNIOR Nsemba will have plenty of backing as he steps up to England level – not least from the children helped at his family’s orphanage.

Wigan’s back row sensation will make his Test debut against Samoa today, sparking scenes of celebration in the capital of Cameroon, Yaounde.

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And you could expect to see more kids on the streets wearing rugby league gear, almost 5,000 miles from where the 20-year-old will be doing his stuff in Leeds.

For Nsemba revealed his mother Giselle helps run an orphanage in her home city and donations mean plenty of those it aids can be found in the Warriors’ cherry and white.

“It’s a real tough thing to do,” said Nsemba, who will head to Cameroon in the off-season, after a holiday with pal and England team-mate Kai Pearce-Paul.

“It’s in Yaounde, where all my family is based, but I don’t actually know its name. I’d have to ask my mum as I don’t go into it too deeply with her. I just know she runs one.

“So we’ll sort the containers for there out and I’ll head to Cameroon with my mum. Kids there literally don’t have anything.

“But all the players at Wigan have helped massively. They give clothes they don’t want or need, or that don’t fit any longer, and we send them over in a container.

“It’s more than just once a year. One goes out whenever it’s full – now the kids are repping Wigan Warriors kit.

“There are dozens of kids running around Yaounde wearing Wigan’s kit. It’s good.”

Not everyone in Yaounde will be trying to watch Nsemba in action. He admits his fiercely protective grandmothers would be screaming at the TV if they saw him being tackled.

But Cameroon can claim credit for creating the breakout star of 2024, who Wigan were quick to get on a six-year contract as NRL talk swirled.

For its food helped turn an 18-year-old ‘tall, lanky thing’ into the powerhouse he is today after he announced his talents to some of his now team-mates in a 2022 pre-World Cup training session.

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“It’s purely down to the gym and my mum’s food,” added Nsemba, who actually started pre-season on crutches because of a knee problem.

“It’s Cameroonian food, let me tell you! The main thing is jollof rice but there’s plantain and your meats – the way they cook them is different.

“When I was on crutches, I was 97 or 98kg, now I’m 110kg.

“And at that training session, I was a tall, lanky thing, so I thought I was a target. Coming up training against England was a big thing.

“Being called up for that might not seem like it to some but it was for me. Just to see what the standards and training were like.

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“If anything, I was more nervous then than I am now. I’m a pretty nervous guy when it comes to things anyway but as you get older, you learn to control them.”

Nsemba is not the only Wigan player coming into England’s side today. Winger Liam Marshall will finally earn a cap while prop Luke Thompson is back from suspension.

And he is ready to put lessons from his enforced watching brief into action.

He said: “It was about seeing things I could exploit and having a look out for them – there were a few things we’ve spoken about that we could’ve done better.

“We started well but we’ve got to stick with that for longer. Hopefully, we’ll get better than last week and Test rugby definitely sees things go up a few notches.”