Oktagon in Manchester? It’s a success. Anyone who criticises it has no idea what they’re talking about. One day we’ll sell this place out, Novotny and Neruda say

The Oktagon made its first appearance on English soil on Saturday night. Manchester, however, seemed cursed. There have been a few changes, not even close to selling out the big hall, and the organization is basically starting from scratch. How do Ondřej Novotný and Pavol Neruda evaluate the gala evening?

One of the most anticipated matches didn’t take place, in one big duel the opponent was changed, only about 5 thousand fans showed up from the hall for almost 20 thousand people.

Even during the gala, bad luck was sticking to Oktagon’s heels. Despite this, OKTAGON 48 was not a boring event. One can talk about the fact that the expansion to England didn’t quite succeed at the first step.

Promoters Ondřej Novotný and Pavol Neruda, however, do not see the tournament as a failure. On the contrary. There was a positive atmosphere at the end of the tournament. Even among the fighters and journalists.

Of course, there were many critics and people who put down Oktagon and its work and obviously do not wish it success. But it was definitely not a failure despite everything.

Moreover, in January the organization will return to England again. It’ll show in Newcastle, then head to Birmingham in April. Apparently four tournaments in the UK across 2024 are planned.

Neruda said the Manchester tournament is just the beginning and that Oktagon is determined to put down roots in the UK.

Novotny and Neruda review Oktagon in Manchester

The enthusiasm of the journalists was evident at the press conference, with the promoters also looking for positives. “It’s very emotional. I have a lot of feelings. For me, this is one of the hardest times in the Oktagon. We put a lot of energy into it and we didn’t know what the outcome would be. We put our best into it and we saw the result. People care, the support has been tremendous. It’ s a big step for us on our way to becoming number one in Europe,” Neruda said at the press conference.

“It’s a completely new and different market for us. We have learned a lot. I think we are a bit different from other organizations and their promoters. Paul and I go to see people in person, we take all these buses and trams to these cities. We spent a lot of time with the guys from Oktagon Challenge. We don’t send a crew, we’re with them in person. It’s almost like a family. We try to stay connected,” Novotny said.

“They’re our heroes. We put all our money into them. It’s an investment. When we go to a new country, we’re slowly going from zero to broke. But we don’t mind because we love it. We’re certainly not going to give up. We’re selling tickets. We didn’t sell out this arena the first time. I’m not saying it’s going to be tomorrow or the next day, but we’re going to give it a go one day with the dudes that are sitting here today.”

After the gala, Novotny and Neruda took to the organization’s official Instagram account for a live stream, where they explained two different perspectives on what the Octagon has accomplished.

“No domestic organization in the last three years has had more than three thousand people at a tournament, we had five, so that’s why it’s a success. Anyone who criticizes that has no idea what they’re talking about, and they’ve probably never attempted anything like this. I’m satisfied. 100,000 people watched it on Channel 4 and DAZN,” Neruda reports.

And what does Novotny say? “Of course it was not enough, especially from the Czech and German point of view. The English view is like ‘wow’. We had probably the biggest and longest press conference, we are already fired up from the reactions of the journalists, probably the biggest media was here,” the main face of the organization concluded the topic.

Source: Oktagon MMA