Cage Warriors lightweight champion Agy Sardari was made to work for it, but the 27-year-old Dutchman successfully defended his title after a hard-fought battle at Cage Warriors 121. Sardari (14-2) was pushed to the limit by short-notice challenger Donovan Desmae , who answered the call to replace Mehdi Ben Lakhdhar on just 10 days’ notice at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. But, after five grueling rounds of action, the champion edged a split decision to hang on to his title and register his first title defense. The first three rounds of their lightweight title fight were virtual coin-flip calls as Belgian challenger Desmae (14-6) made light of his short-notice preparation by going toe to toe with the champion. But as the fight went into the championship rounds, Sardari turned up the pressure and made use of his takedowns to do just enough to take the victory on the scorecards.