Now, dozens of mixed martial arts promotions operate in Europe, but none has stood out more recently than Czech/Slovak outfit Oktagon MMA. They have held two events at football stadiums in different countries this calendar year. They head into their sixty-fourth event in Munich this weekend with the heavyweight and welterweight championships on the line.
Oktagon 64: Munich
In the main event, German Hatef Moeil(15-4) defends his Oktagon heavyweight title in a rematch from last November against Bulgarian Lazar Todev(11-6). While the belt holder has had a year out through injury and had his fight with Stuart Austin(18-8) cancelled, ‘the punisher’ Todev has remained active, picking up two knockout victories, one of those coming at Oktagon 62 inside Deutsche Bank Park, the home of Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt.
In the co-main event, fan favourite Ion Surdu(15-6) gets the title opportunity he craves in the stacked welterweight division, another fighter on the roster who has picked up a big win at a stadium this year. With ‘The Dracula’ picking up a stunning first-round victory at Oktagon 58 in June over Czech MMA legend David Kozma(32-14) at the home of Slavia Prague
He takes on the returning Kaik Brito(17-5), who last fought under the Czech/Slovak banner in December 2022 at Oktagon 37, coincidentally against David Kozma. The Brazilian went onto the Dana White Contender Series and was matched against Oban Elliott(12-2), who is now making waves in the UFC on a three-fight win streak.
However, Brito is not coming into the contest because of that loss. He fought and won on the United Fighting Series promotion twelve months ago. He and his Romanian opponent want to prove they are the best welterweights in the division. Get strapped in for a treat of two well-rounded fighters; this will not disappoint.
Full Undercard:
Hatef Moeil vs. Lazar Todev265 lbs
Kaik Brito vs. Ion Surdu170 lbs
A. Poppeck vs. Marc Doussis205 lbs
Max Holzer vs. E. Black-Dell150 lbs
P. Vespaziani vs. S. Herzberg265 lbs
M. Deiga-Scheck vs. Jakub Dohnal150 lbs
Jamie Cordero vs. Ion Taburceanu185 lbs
Daniel Škvor vs. J. Montagnac205 lbs
Gökhan Aksu vs. Jan Malach170 lbs
Marek Bartl vs. E. Brajshori170 lbs
Jan Stanovský vs. Fedor Duric155 lbs
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How to watch Oktagon MMA events.
The organization has its own pay-per-view platform in its territory, but for UK fight fans, the first fight is shown for FREE via the Oktagon MMA YouTube channel. The prelims and main card will be shown LIVE on DAZN in the UK from 6 p.m.
The Fastest Growing European Promotion.
Making their name in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where co-owners Pavol Neruda and Ondrej Novotny are from, has served them well. They have gone from small basketball arenas with no more than a couple of thousand in attendance to selling out 27,000 and 58,000 football stadiums. An incredible rise that has seen the promotion has journalists from several countries covering their mega-events.
Since November 2023, they have broken two records, overtaking Polish-based promotion KSW with the biggest outdoor attendance, smashing the previous number of 57,766 and the largest indoor attendance previously held by the UFC when they housed 18,000 in Cologne, Germany, for the first edition of this weekends main event. They are now second in the world for largest recorded attendance at an MMA event behind Pride Showcase from back in 2002, which has a recorded figure of 71,000
One of the many huge attractions to the central European powerhouse is ‘the Champions League of MMA’s TipSport Game Changer Tournament, where eight fighters at the top of a chosen division enter a knockout system. The final is held at the end of the year at the O2 arena in Prague for one million euros.
TipSport is the Czech betting company that backs the tournament, and they’ve seen it succeed. This year’s edition at lightweight will see the final contested between Ronald Paradeiser(21-8) and Losene Keita(15-1). It will be a mouth-watering contest to conclude another outstanding tournament.
As well as tournament MMA, they have some huge names on the roster, such as Czech superstar Karlos Vemola(37-8), who had six fights in the UFC, ‘terminator’ has now operated under the Oktagon banner for a total of fifteen fights, winning twelve and losing three. He has won titles at middleweight and light heavyweight during his time there and currently reigns as the king of the 205lb champion. He defends his belt at Oktagon 65 on December 29th against Irishman Will Fleury(13-3); World in Sport combat sports writer Dan Kelly is heading out for the event, so be sure to look out for the preview as well as interviews with the fighters from the pre and post-fight press conferences.
Former UFC fighter and American Top Team flyweight Zhalgas Zhumagulov(17-9) debuted this year against former title challenger Aaron Aby(16-10-1), announcing himself in style and now looks set to face Sam Creasey(19-5) for the gold. Another former fighter from the top dogs was the returning Makhmud Muradov(27-8), who came back with a dominant victory over Scott Askham(26-8) after having five years away where he went 4-2-1NC in the UFC. He is more than impressed with the organisation’s growth and wants to return to be a part of something. The man from Tajikistan will look to make a charge towards a fight with middleweight champion Kerim Engizek(21-4) in 2025.
The continued growth is clear, and the calibre of fighters in the promotion are hungry to test themselves amongst some of the best in European MMA. In the last twelve months, they have given the UK a sample of what their brand offers with shows in Manchester, Newcastle, and Birmingham. However, realising the UK market is a tough nut to crack, they have held back from securing any more dates for the British Isles since the last show in April and allowed dozens of UK/Irish fighters to seek opportunities elsewhere.
