Keita won another title! Chepo and Kimball finished off their opponents. How did OKTAGON 42 look like?

Octagon returned to Bratislava. The OKTAGON 42 gala evening delivered fights of domestic stars, but also new faces from abroad. The packed hall could see attractive fights hoping for knockouts like recently in Liberec. Did it happen?

Prelims

The tournament opened with an impromptu match in the Underground rules due to changes in the schedule. Marek Bartl and Ole Magnor faced off. The first round in particular was almost a one-sided ride for the home fighter.

The next two rounds were a bit more evenly matched, but Bartl was able to claim them for himself and deservedly won on points. He admitted after the fight that he injured his thigh muscle. Moreover, he stood against a heavier and bigger opponent in terms of weight, for which he deserves more credit.

Jakub Dohnal and British prospect Callum Mullen had their first fight in MMA. The not-so-attractive bout went in favor of the Czech fighter, who won a close points decision and improved his record to 11-3. Mullen lost for the first time in his career.

The only women’s bout on the entire card followed. German fighter Katharina Dalisda wanted to show that she deserved a title shot, but Isabella De Pádua was up against it. However, she was pulling the short end of the rope from the start, cashing in a lot and going on the offensive in a very risky and reckless manner, which the German was able to punish.

Moreover, in the third round she was able to take the fight to the ground, where she clearly dominated. Although she didn’t bring the seeded submission to a successful conclusion, she nevertheless began to destroy the Brazilian with hard shots afterwards, delivering the first early stoppage of the evening with just seconds left in the match.

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The last fight of the prelims card raised hopes that the two heavyweight fighters would heat up the night with some hard knockouts, only for not much to happen in the first round as Stuart Austin expertly took the fight to the ground and John Winter didn’t exactly show great defense against takedowns.

The next two rounds were mostly identical and Austin increasingly tilted the fight his way. Winter managed to survive to the end, but didn’t show anything of substance and deservedly lost on points.

Main Card

The Octagon has new stars!

Right off the bat, the new card featured a new potential star of the Octagon. Roman Paulus faced a man who is said to be a similar revelation to Losene Keita, Niko Samsonidze.

Paulus got a lot of cheers when he came out, only it didn’t help him during the match either. Samsonidze showed tremendous qualities, technically and qualitatively he was better than the Slovakian in all aspects.

In three rounds he played with Paulus like a cat and mouse, he allowed him practically nothing and Paulus has his face full of Samsonidze’s autographs. He’s not going to wake up in the morning. The new star of the organization won clearly on points.

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The next big star is set to be Shem Rock, a draw for the UK market in particular, however with an almost almost cinematic storyline he has the chance to impress anyone anywhere. It’s just that his opponent, Arthur Lima, hasn’t even sat on his ass as a favourite. On the contrary.

It was the Brazilian who clearly dictated the pace of the match in the first round. He had two submissions caught well on the ground in particular, but Rock was able to escape them.

In the second round the roles were reversed, the Brit was in a dominant position for most of the round but had to be very careful. In fact, Lima was constantly threatening, either with his up-kicks or his attempts to put leverage on the legs.

By the third round, both fighters were looking very tired. Rock, however, had more power and immediately took the fight to the ground, actively trying to control it. He was peppering the Brazilian with punches, but it wasn’t easy. Lima was dangerous in almost every situation of the fight.

Both fighters showed quality especially in grappling and Octagon can be happy with the new prospects. The fight ended in a draw on points and the fans showed their displeasure by booing. Lima has his second career draw (10-2-2), Rock is experiencing it for the first time (8-1-1).

The Grizzlies were in office, the Czechoslovakian derby and Chepo again

Two metal entrances, two heavyweights, two tough guys. Jeremy Kimball is back in the Octagon after six months and he’s looking for one more big ride. Now Ruben Wolf has stood in his way and now he may regret it.

Kimball has been in fantastic form and has literally destroyed his opponent. He played him like a cat and mouse. He was the better man from the start. If he had wanted to, he could have stopped the fight in the first round. But in the end, the fans had to wait until the second round for the finish. A landslide victory.

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Czechoslovakian derby, a battle of two fighters from the elite five of the Oktagon lightweight division. Matouš Kohout challenged the home fighter in front of a Slovakian crowd. Karol Rysavy went into the fight as a slight underdog, moreover after a nasty injury.

But it didn’t show in his performance. Both fighters did not spare themselves. The blood, the hard stand-up, the hard punches, there was nothing missing. From the first round, the fight was fought at a tremendous pace, the fans enjoyed the best fight of the night so far.

You could tell that this was a fight between the narrow top of their weight division. Both fighters also respect each other, so the fight was not preceded by any trash talk, it was purely a sporting contest. When the third round started, both fighters challenged the fans to make the already very good atmosphere even better.

In the third round, they had a wrestling match, although the pace had dropped slightly. They earned a big ovation after the fight. However, the fight ended on points and was won by Rysavy on all the judges’ scorecards. He improved his record to 12-5, while Kohout scored his sixth defeat and has a record of 7-6.

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Afterwards, fans were treated to another amazing fight by Vlast Chepa. For the first time in his career, he didn’t win in the first round, but in the second round. Ion Taburceanu certainly didn’t let his skin go cheap. On the contrary. He gave the Slovakian star a hard time, but it still ended in a hard knockout in the second round.

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Keita dominated the battle for the interim title

Even the main event of the tournament saw some changes a few days before it took place. That’s because champion Mate Sanikidze got injured, so Losene Keita didn’t fight for the rightful title. He was challenged by the talented Jakub Tichota in the duel for the interim champion’s belt.

Keita was a huge favourite in the fight, Tichota was not given much of a chance, but writing off the 23-year-old fighter may be risky. He has shown in the past that he can win fights that he may not be so good in.

But this time it wasn’t the case. Keita came into the fight hard. In the first round, Tichota was still able to resist, but he immediately understood that the stance would not lead the way to eventual victory. So he gave a nod to Filip Mack and dropped to the ground several times in each round to bait Keita.

Keita, however, didn’t fall for Tichot’s plan and went about his business. He gradually dismantled the Czech fighter in his stance until the referee had no choice but to stop the fight in the fourth round.

Keita now holds two belts. He will have to face Sanikidz for the rightful featherweight title. He improved his record to 11-0, Tichota is now 5-2.

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Source: Octagon MMA