MMA
OKTAGON 52 as a gala evening of the “stranglers” and the Money Man. Check out all the finishes
The Octagon returned to England on Saturday, January 27. After appearing in Manchester in November, he headed to Newcastle. Trying to establish itself in the UK market is noble, however the Czechoslovakian organisation has not had an easy time of it, although the fights have not been bad at all. What did the OKTAGON 52 gala look like?
The Oktagon returned to England on Saturday, January 27. After appearing in Manchester in November, he headed to Newcastle. Trying to establish itself in the UK market is noble, however the Czechoslovakian organisation hasn’t had an easy time of it, although the fights have not been bad at all. What did the OKTAGON 52 gala look like?
OKTAGON 52 Prelims
The English rifles didn’t hesitate at the start
Given that the OKTAGON 52 gala was held in England, it was to be expected that it would be aimed at the local market through the match card. This was fulfilled. Right from the start, home prospect Daniel Bainbridge got his chance to be tested by Germany’s Hamza Dagdeviren.
It was the home fighter who won the first round for himself. He showed decent ground control, but he certainly would have liked to have used it better himself. In the second round, he took a lot of punishment in the stand-up, taking some hard shots. While he mostly held the center of the cage, he was training Dagdeviren more. The failed takedown attempts certainly didn’t boost his confidence.
In the third round, which could have been seen as the most even, there were not many crucial moments. Bainbridge, however, had a decent tactical game and was able to celebrate his first win in the organization. He improved his overall record to 3-0.
Then came the anticipated rematch, which had been pretty much arranged during the filming of the Anglo-Irish Oktagon Challenge. Jake McHugh was favored in the first fight, especially on the ground he was supposed to torment his opponent, only to be put to sleep by Armand Herczeg in the first round. In addition, the Irishman was continuously charging at the Englishman afterwards.
The rematch was inevitable and so it happened in Newcastle. Even now McHugh was the favourite, before that he had managed to make his professional debut in the organisation, gaining experience. It was time to show progress.
Right from the start of the match, McHugh was the one setting the pace. He pressed, he hit in the standup and once he took the fight to the ground, it was all his. One mounted submission didn’t work, so he patiently waited for the next.
He gradually improved his position until he deployed a body triangle and tightened a rear-naked choke that Herczeg couldn’t resist with 30 seconds left in the first round. He tapped out and lost. His opponent relished the win.
German joy and a big Slovak turn of events
Eduard Kexel was supposed to fight Shoaib Yousaf, but he had to withdraw and so Oktagon got a replacement in the form of Rafael Hudson. The German fighter was of course the favourite, not knowing what to expect from the Brazilian. He could only surprise, he was making his first appearance in the organization.
But there was no surprise. Kexel went for the win from the start. He controlled the Brazilian’s lunges brilliantly, timed his own punches well, then took the fight to the ground, where he patiently went for the opportunity to apply the choke and forced his opponent to tap out.
Roman Paulus fought the adversity before his duel. The Slovakian talent had to contend with his luggage not arriving in England, which understandably made it difficult for him to make weight. That’s why he was slightly overweight, but it was no tragedy.
Besides, his opponent Nathan Haywood, another of England’s great hopes, was going to make his stay in England unpleasant. Experience was to play in Paulus’ favour, which was why he was expected to win.
However, the very first round showed that if he wanted to win, he would not get anything for free. Haywood gave a better impression, he was more confident, more creative, more relaxed and also a bit more complex.
But in the second five minutes Paulus steered him away. He showed he is no stranger to turnovers, as he has shown a few times in the past. He shot hard, defended well, handled close situations. Almost sent Haywood down.
In the third round, the Englishman didn’t want to mess with Paulus anymore. He pushed him into the fence and tried to take him down, but he regretted it. The Slovak waited for a mistake and when he got it, he didn’t hesitate. The first submission failed, the second did. With less than a minute to go, Haywood tapped out. Paulus improved his score to 9-4.
Unfortunately, Jan Široký didn’t make it through the match
The first of the two most anticipated matches for Czech fans. Jan Široký had an unusual performance not only outside Ostrava, but also outside the Czech Republic. Moreover, his opponent was the controversial Denis Frimpong, the finalist of the Anglo-Irish Octagon Challenge, who despite his 0-2 record was very confident.
Frimpong was always picking on Široký, trying to provoke him. From social media, he tried to transfer this behaviour to the staredowns, but Široký would have none of it and had a clear objective. He wanted to save all his energy for the cage, where he wanted to punish the cheeky Irishman.
The tactics of the Ostrava patriot were obvious. Take the fight to the wire, then to the ground and try to keep the Irishman under control. Frimpong was ready for this and was able to force his knees to the bottom, exhausting Broad. He then broke him down with variations of combinations and played with him.
But Broad is also valued for his will and it was certain that he wasn’t going to give up anything. So he bit in the second round and tried to push as hard as he could. But Frimpong had the upper hand. Physically, mentally, he was breaking his opponent on the fly.
But in the second half of the second round, Siroky was able to throw the Irishman to the ground. But his dominance was not very pronounced. And he still didn’t get the round for himself.
If he wanted to win, he had to stop the fight. Frimpong, however, got an excellent position early in the round, got on Široký’s back and tried to apply a choke. After a minute and a half, the Czech escaped from his dominant position.
But the more technical and accurate Irishman was on the feet. He didn’t like the fight, everything was going against him, but he didn’t give up. His efforts were, however, to no avail. It did not lead to victory. Frimpong took the match and won on points.
Frimpong notched his first career win and improved his record to 1-2, while Broad lost his fourth match in five and has a 13-17 record.
Main Card OKTAGON 52
German talent runs over sniper, Austin claims title
The Anglo-German duel featuring Corey Fry and Max Holzer promised to be a very attractive spectacle. The English fighter defeated Denis Ilbay on his debut and now faced a great German hope who has not yet known the bitterness of defeat.
The opening saw a wild shootout, then Holzer was able to get to his opponent’s back and tried to set up a rear-naked choke. But Fry shook the German off and got himself into top position.
To make matters worse, grappling exchanges ensued, with the home side’s hall driving Fry to a better performance. But Holzer won the round on two points.
The second five minutes, however, was entirely in the German’s hands, as he tried the rear-naked choke for so long and successfully delivered it. He thus remains unbeaten and claimed a place in the top ten of the featherweights. Holzer is now 7-0, Fry 5-2.
Hatef Moeil as heavyweight champion is currently waiting to see who his next opponent will be. The duel between Adam Palasz and Stuart Austin should give a hint. The Polish fighter has already been close to a title shot once, but failed to win the key bout. Austin, who incidentally defeated Tom Aspinall, the interim UFC champion, in the past, does not have such a negative experience.
It was expected to be a tactical fight, not a quick ending, even though it was a duel in the heaviest weight class. Plus, it was a big fight, so the extra caution on both sides was understandable.
But could it be that both fighters were saving themselves? No. It wasn’t boring, and tactics didn’t play such a major role. Hard punches were thrown and the fight was over before the limit. Favourite Palasz went down after a hard combination and Stuart Austin tightened him up for an arm-triangle.
The Oktagon delivered a battle of great stories, dominated by Aby
Two powerful life stories. One battling adversity and health issues, the other having to overcome the death of his son, who made him want to go for the title. Aaron Aby already had a title shot, but lost due to a doctor stopping the duel. Oktagon wanted to give him another shot, but Elias Garcia didn’t agree to the fight.
In his place, Christopher Daniel, a tough opponent, was another obstacle in Aby’s way. The fighter from Wales was seen as the favourite, after all, we already knew what to expect from him. The American is another newcomer, however, who is looking to leave a distinctive mark.
On his debut in the organization Aby was the underdog, now the roles have swung in his favor and he showed why from the start. Attractive fight, great pace, stand-up exchanges, but also an entertaining fight on the ground. The flyweight duel was not boring.
However, the UK fighter still had the upper hand. He dominated all phases of the fight, although Daniel tried to fight him at times, and especially at the end he was very successful. In order to get him underneath him on the ground, he was in a dominant position and tried to finish the fight before the limit. He was not able to do that though.
So to score a valuable win, he converted another attractive duel and claimed another title fight, which he undoubtedly deserves.
Matěj Peňáz dismantled Bonner
The second biggest, perhaps the biggest fight of the Moravian fighter’s career. Matěj Peňáz wants a title fight, but outside of Sedriques Dumas beating him in a UFC contract fight, he hasn’t faced an opponent of the quality he’s facing now. Matthew Bonner is a former Cage Warriors champion, has never been finished, and is considerably more experienced than Money.
That made it all the more difficult to understand what the pre-fight odds looked like. According to them, Bonner should have had almost no chance of coming away with the win. But Money didn’t underestimate him. He was more than well aware of the Englishman’s qualities, moreover, he himself said that a win could propel him to a title fight, even if Samuel Kristofich didn’t like it.
The first round offered an interesting spectacle. While Money tried to keep the fight on the feet and hit the Englishman, Bonner tied the fight up as much as possible, trying to take it to the ground. But the Moravian had good defense, plus he was doing a lot of damage to his opponent’s face with his punches, which allowed him to control the round.
Of course, the second five minutes offered no different strategy from Bonner. He was no match for Peñaz in the stand-up department. But takedown attempts were futile and Money scaled whatever he could scaled. Plus, he hit one accurate low kick and Bonner took it full on. That meant only one thing, the end of the fight.
Magard had a great performance
They both talk a lot, but they also have great qualities in the fight. After all, Jonas Magard has already dominated the Oktagon once as champion, and now Jack Cartwright, who was the king of the Cage Warriors for a change, wants to do the same. A hard and sharp battle was expected, which will follow the colorful, colorful and above all energetic shakers.
The beginning went better for Shark, who managed to shake Cartwright with one of his first punches. Overall his punches were more forceful, it was clear that he was stronger in the duel. He even took the Englishman down, but he put on a dangerous submission. Magarde was probably saved by the end of the round.
The second round was in a similar vein, although most of it was on the ground and Cartwright had little to threaten the Danish fighter with.
On points it was decided, Magard had one goal in front of him. To see out the rest of the fight. So right at the start of the third round, he continued to do what worked. He delivered a takedown and controlled Cartwright underneath him.
Shark put on a controlled performance and the English crowd had another reason to mourn. The former Cage Warriors champion looked clueless. Although the referee brought the fight back to the feet at the end of the round, the Englishman was unable to deliver a crushing finish and instead Magard took him down again, where the duel was already over.
Cartwright lost for only the second time in his career. Magard was asking for a title shot.
Source: Oktagon MMA
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