MMA
There are thousands of police officers at the Oktagon tournament in Frankfurt. Why did the promoters choose Germany? Kincl would like the tournament overseas
The big day is here. Oktagon finally headed beyond the Czechoslovakian borders and held the OKTAGON 33 tournament. In Germany, however, they have to deal with prejudice, which is why thousands of police officers are ready for action.
The big day is here. Oktagon finally headed beyond the Czechoslovakian borders and held the OKTAGON 33 tournament. In Germany, however, they have to deal with prejudice, which is why around a thousand police officers were ready for the event.
Czechoslovakia’s biggest MMA organization held its first tournament abroad on Saturday when it headed to Frankfurt’s Festhalle. The tournament sold out and nearly 10,000 fans bought tickets to the arena.
It was the first ever martial arts tournament in Frankfurt and the Festhalle. And, as Pavol Neruda, one of the promoters and owners of Oktagon, admitted, the perception of MMA among German society is perhaps even worse than it was in our country before the creation of Oktagon.
“They see it as something that should perhaps be banned. That’s why we have potential here. We can convince people that fighters deserve their attention,” Neruda expressed in the studio during the tournament.
But as far as the “professional public” was concerned, i.e. clubs, gyms and fighters, Oktagon had the door open everywhere. Some of them even withdrew from various contracts they had negotiated in order to cooperate with the Czechoslovak organization.
But it will be a long road. The tournament in Frankfurt was attended by police officers, who were supposed to be around a thousand in number, in addition to the spectators. There were undercover police officers and police officers with dogs.
“There is a high alert because we are MMA. On the other hand, it’s natural. We can convince them that there is nothing to be afraid of,” Neruda sees positives as well.
Why did the choice fall on Germany, even though the situation there is so bad? The fact that it is a close country played a role. Other reasons include a functioning economy and the size of the market, as Germany has a population of around 85 million
Besides Neruda, Patrik Kincl, the middleweight champion of the Octagon, was also in the studio. He praises the move to Germany, but has a big challenge for the organization
Source: Oktagon MMA
