Tipsport Gamechanger 2 is here! Oktagon is happy with the participants, how important does the boss of the organization think the project is for growth and what is its future?

The second year of the Tipsport Gamechanger project will start on Saturday. The Oktagon has once again brought big names, there is a lot to look forward to. What does one of the heads of the organization Pavol Neruda say about the project? In an interview with Ruik, he assessed the satisfaction with the participants and outlined how the project is helping the organisation grow.

Oktagon is growing. The Czechoslovak organization is turning into a European one. It’s getting bigger. The revolutionary Tipsport Gamechanger project is helping a lot. On Saturday, March 2nd, 2024, the second edition will start.

Losene Keita, Ronald Paradeiser, Hafeni Nafuka, Vladimir Lengal, Mateusz Legierski, Makwan Amirkhani, Mochamed Machaev and Daniel Torres are among those taking part in this year’s pyramid, in which participants will again compete for a total of €1 million in prizes.

Oktagon reports satisfaction with this year’s line-up

“Satisfaction with the look of the pyramid is really great. We can find a lot of fighters who are number one in their countries. That’s exactly what we wanted, to catch up with the best that Europe has to offer. Hats off to the entire Oktagon team,” says Pavol Neruda, one of the heads of the organization, in an interview with Ruik.

The question was raised if Oktagon was interested in someone who would not eventually be involved in the project. “For those missing from Tipsport Gamechanger, it was usually an injury of some sort. It just didn’t work out. But otherwise, great satisfaction,” the Oktagon founder replied.

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However, Pavol Neruda also briefly reviewed the first edition, which quite possibly contributed to making Oktagon much better known in the eyes of the global MMA community. It was even nominated among the best organizations on the planet.

“I think Tipsport Gamechanger played a key role in this, although it is difficult to judge. The fact that Glismann was nominated is another direct proof. It makes sense. We want to connect with local media, we have long-term contracts with Serbian or Greek TV stations that broadcast all our events. We have regular fans there. The same goes for France, we have signed a contract with Finnish TV,” he says, looking back on his success.

“We are gradually recruiting fans. We are expanding the group and the increase thanks to Tipsport Gamechanger is significant. I don’t have exact numbers,” said Pavol Neruda.

Gala without or with Tipsport Gamechanger? Big difference, says Neruda

Naturally, we wondered if the Oktagon registers a difference in viewership and general interest between the galas depending on whether or not the Tipsport Gamechanger duel(s) are on it.

“It’s a big difference. We communicate directly with the local media, fan portals to get closer to them. We send them the materials they need. It’s a big change. The contact is coming from us, which they’re excited about. Right now, for example, in Spain we have a strong partner in DAZN. Spain will have a representative in Gamechanger. We’ve been sending them materials and they’re going to push them out to millions of people. It’s a whole different scale when a site like that throws something out,” Pavol Neruda let us hear.

“There is no increase in PPV. Especially in the big countries, we are on platforms like DAZN etc, so PPV growth is not even the intention. The intention is to get the word out as far as possible about Oktagon and Tipsport Gamechager and show that we are doing the best tournaments,” he added in his statement.

It’s worth noting that Oktagon is also seeing a surge in popularity and interest ahead of the second edition of Pyramid. The reason? Quite possibly expansion into England: “The media there is more followed and dominates the world’s. MMA Junkie writes about us, Ariel Helwani talks about us. We’re visible and it’s getting better and better.”

“This year’s Gamechanger will be even better because people already know what to expect. With the first one, they didn’t know too much. Now they’ve seen how big it is, that it’s real. Some organizations kick something off, have big talk, but end up not finishing it, or at a weak level. We proved that this is a great project,” Neruda reports.

What is the future of Tipsport Gamechanger?

It´s not yet clear how many editions of the spectacular project Oktagon would like to host, but there has been no reason to discuss it yet.

“It will be about communication with Tipsport (the largest Czech bookmaker), among other things. It also depends on cooperation with them. But it is something we enjoy and want to continue. To move European MMA forward. We owe Tipsport a huge thank you. They invest in the project, they care about the sport. They open up conditions for fighters that they would never have dreamed of before,” said Pavol Neruda.

There are also changes in the pipeline. We will see some of them already during this edition. In fact, one has already occurred when fans were able to vote not only on the lucky loser, but on whether the injured Losene Keita can continue in the pyramid due to the fight being moved to another gala.

“Life will always bring some change. The biggest one, apart from the fact that the fans could decide on Keita, is that the million euros will go to the fans and the tipsters. That’s crazy. We will explain the system on OKTAGON Time on Friday and the fans will be able to get involved. No one has ever done that before,” the head of the Czechoslovak organization concluded.

Source: Oktagon MMA, Ruik