Blow for Oktagon and Slovak legend! Buchinger will miss the tournament in Bratislava due to health problems

The Oktagon will return to Bratislava at the end of April and together with the organization, the legendary Ivan Buchinger, who was supposed to be one of the main stars of the tournament, will return to the event after a long time. Health problems, however, have once again sidelined him.

A 180-degree turn in his career. That’s something Ivan Buchinger can boast about. Unfortunately, instead of his already successful career gaining even more momentum, his star is plummeting.

As of November 2021, he still held titles in two weight classes in the Octagon, and was even seeking a third. His fight with David Kozma was coming up, and it was even officially announced. However, due to an injury, it didn’t happen.

To make matters worse, he lost one of his titles in June 2022 when he was stopped in the first round by Losene Keita. He injured his shoulder in the fight, plus he had a torn ligament in his knee. So he had to take a break.

Back in December, it was announced that the Slovak legend would be back in the cage in April 2023, when Buchinger was to be one of the biggest stars of the OKTAGON 42 tournament in Bratislava.

But right at the beginning of January, the organization announced that Buchinger had undergone shoulder surgery and would therefore not fight in Bratislava.

Let’s hope that the former champion of the Cage Warriors organization will not lose his appetite for wrestling and that another injury will not force him to end his career. After all, Buchinger will celebrate his 37th birthday in February and it wasn’t that long ago that he said he didn’t have that fire in him anymore.

OKTAGON 42 will take place on April 29, and there are sure to be some interesting fights on the card even without Buchinger. The duel between Vlast Čepa and Matěj Peňáz is already confirmed, Vojto Barborík, with whom Buchinger had a memorable battle in September 2021, will also be in action.

Source: Oktagon MMA, Sherdog