The fighting organization OKTAGON MMA organized a big tournament in Oberhausen, which became the scene of eleven great fights. See how the event went.
Hard knockouts, chokes, exciting three-round battles and many surprises. Saturday’s Octagon 60 had everything MMA fans could ask for. In addition to German names, famous Czech and Slovak fighters performed at the event, and we also saw one women’s match. Although the tournament was affected by several changes due to injuries, the spectators were treated to a spectacular spectacle.
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The 60th anniversary gala opened with a women’s match and the climax of Project Y. It pitted Haifa Reso against Laura Kirtzel. In their previous matches, both of them left as winners before the limit, but the big favorite before Saturday’s fight was Kirtzel, who, as expected, dominated the final of the project. However, it was tighter than many thought. Especially thanks to her dominance and control on the ground, Kirtzel convinced two of the three point judges of her victory, becoming the champion of Project Y. For the entire match, you can look here.
The Czech beater officiated
The first blood of the tournament was spilled in the second match. The decision was made after less than three minutes. The Czech fighter Bartl entered the match sharply and applied his rich positional experience. After one of the hard blows, Solaja started to bleed from the nose, but Bartl did not let up and went for the finish. Solaja could not stop the volley of blows and could no longer defend himself, so the referee ended the match. The two-time sire Bartl thus celebrated his return to the winning saddle in the best possible way!
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A slightly more balanced duel was offered by the matchup between Danilo Hromek and Emir-Can Al. After two rounds, the two referees saw the match as a draw, but in the last one, the Slovakian fighter Hromek pulled for the longer end, and in the end he grabbed a unanimous victory on points. After the fight, he thanked his supporters, but at the same time sent a few harsh words to those who wished him to lose. “F*ck you!” he told them curtly. In Oberhausen, he claimed his fourth career win.
Source: OKTAGON MMA
Match Cihad Akipa vs. Dominic Schober almost pulled off a big surprise. At the beginning of the fight, the favored Akipa made a mistake and found himself under pressure from Schober, but the crisis moment stopped and he gradually began to take over the reins of the match. Among other things, he used sharp low-kicks that began to take their toll on Schober’s leg, but even in the third round, Schober was still out of the game and did not want to give Akip anything for free. Nevertheless, the favorite of the match convinced all the point judges, from whom he took a unanimous victory on points. For Akipa, this is the first win in the organization.
There were several changes to the match card prior to the tournament and one of the fights that was arranged at the last minute was Hassan Shaaban vs. Kevin Enz. The fight initially felt like a game of cat and mouse at times, with a confident Hassan toying and provoking his opponent. However, his overconfidence nearly backfired as Enz got in Shaaban’s back in the third round and he had to fight off a choke attempt. At times it seemed that Enz was not far from an unexpected end. In the end, however, he failed to do so and Shaaban took home a narrow 2-1 points win.
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German fighter Gjoni Palokaj didn’t have it easy before the match. His opponent changed about three times, in the end he was faced by the Venezuelan fighter Karol Jesus Arteaga, who had five wins and ended them all before the limit. His domain is mainly submissions, but he was unable to apply them against the excellently prepared Palokaj. Three rounds of finishing before the limit did not bring a clear winner, but it did. This made Palokaj dominant, for whom this is already the fourth win in a row.
The executioner of the Czech fighters won
However, another match brought a rather quick end. In it, Czech fighter Max Handanagić and “Stone Eater” Wahed Nazhand from Afghanistan faced each other. And the fight did not last long. After a few minutes of the first round, Nazhand, who was in great motion, applied a strangulation to his opponent from which there was no escape and forced Handanagić to give up the fight. The executioner of Czech wrestlers Nazhand, who last defeated Bahník, thus celebrated his second win in an organization on whose soil he has not yet found a conqueror.
Source: OKTAGON MMA
Popular Czech fighter Jakub Bahník faced the biggest challenge of his career on Saturday. In the cage, he fought the feared Marcel Grabinski, who was his toughest opponent to date. Mudman, however, dealt with him successfully. The fight brought several attractive exchanges in stance, but Bahník demonstrated greater activity, accuracy and aggressiveness, who at the same time demonstrated impeccable defense against takedowns, which Grabinski repeatedly attempted. The referees awarded a 2:1 win to Bahník, who was able to enjoy his most valuable scalp to date.
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Elbow to the back of the head and a rough KO
The match between Jamie Corder and Milan Ďatelinka ended after 34 seconds, but unfortunately in the worst possible way. The home hitter inadvertently hit his opponent with an elbow directly in the back of the head, after which he managed to deliver a few more blows to the shaken Ďatelinka’s head before the referee stopped the match. After a discussion by the judges, the fight was finally declared a No Contest due to a foul. The doctors took Datelinka away on a stretcher and the arena applauded him.
An extremely quick end came in the next fight as well. At the beginning of the first round, Niklas Stolze hit Matouš Kohout with a precise combination to the chin, which staggered him, shortly after that he received another hard knee to the chin, after which came the last blow, with which the former UFC fighter Stolze sealed his victory and loudly claimed the bonus for the performance of the evening. No one expected such an exhibition KO against Kohout.
Source: OKTAGON MMA
The legend fell in the 1st round
The golden nail of the evening belonged to the legendary Ivan Buchinger and the elite striker Lom-Ali Eskiel. The match was scheduled for five minutes after five minutes, but the end came before the end of the first. Buchinger didn’t manage to get into the match properly and took several hard stance shots from Eskiel that shook the legend. It was obvious that the German had the upper hand in his stance, which was soon confirmed again when he submitted the Slovakian champion to the net with a hard knockout.
Out of 22 wins to date, this is Eskiel’s 11th victory by KO/TKO, and with a win over such an experienced opponent as Buchinger, he sent a warning to anyone who challenges him in the future. When his fists find a target, he sends anyone to the ground.
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