The event, which took place in front of 59,000 fans at Deutsche Bank Park, home of Eintracht Frankfurt, set a new attendance record for an MMA event in the modern era, surpassing the UFC’s biggest-attended show, UFC 243, and Polish promotion KSW’s epic Colosseum event, KSW 39.
And, on a spectacular night for the Czech-Slovak MMA promotion, it was Eckerlin who captured the “King of Germany” title with a five-round shutout of rival Jungwirth.
After two wild walkouts that the crowd singing from the tops of their lungs, Eckerlin started the faster as he established his jab and outstruck the constantly-advancing Jungwirth in the opening frame to take Round 1 on all three scorecards.
Jungwirth continued with his high-pressure approach and forced Eckerlin on his heels for much of the second round, but once again, with the fight taking place exclusively in the stand-up realm, it was Eckerlin’s cleaner work that held sway with the judges as the Frankfurt man opened up a two-point lead on all three cards.
Eckerlin then switched gears at the start of the third round as he took Jungwirth to the mat and immediately set to work with some vicious ground strikes as he punished the Stuttgart man with punches and elbows from top position. Eckerlin kept the action on the mat and dominated the remainder of the round to extend his superiority on the scorecards heading into the championship rounds.
But, despite Jungwirth’s efforts, it was Eckerlin who continued to dominate as he claimed both of the final two rounds to pitch a shutout, with scores of 50-45 on all three scorecards.
It was a superb performance from Eckerlin, who picked up a memorable, emotional victory in his home town.
Engizek extends win streak, dethrones Kincl for middleweight title
In the night’s co-main event, Kerim Engizek produced a calm, calculated performance to pick apart Patrik Kincl and capture the OKTAGON middleweight title.
Engizek started out looking to establish his striking, and set the table for the first three rounds of the fight. His superior striking, coupled with his reach advantage and use of kicks, meant that Kincl was on the outside, unable to find a way in.
After taking control of the fight through the first three rounds with smart striking, Kincl needed to switch things up to get a foothold in the fight, and he did just that as he relentlessly wrestled and grappled Engizek through the entirety of the fourth round.
But, needing a finish in the final round to hang on to his title, Kincl was unable to muster anything to turn the fight in his favour. Instead, it was
Same round, different method as Coga KO’s Racic in rematch
In the featured non-title fight of the evening, returning German MMA hero Max Coga faced old adversary Antun Racic in a rematch 11 years after their first meeting. And, just like in that first fight, Coga got the job done in the second round.
Coga used his height and reach advantage to outstrike Racic from the outside, but in Round 2, he adjusted his range a little and moved into the pocket, with devastating results. A huge shot dropped Racic to the canvas and, while Coga moved in looking to apply the finishing touches, they were unnecessary, as “Mad Max” picked up the knockout victory.
Samsonidse closes in on second title shot with finish of Torres
Niko Samsonidse moved one step closer to a second shot at the OKTAGON featherweight title with a bounceback win over fellow contender Daniel Torres.
Samsonidse challenged for the vacant title back at OKTAGON 50, but came up short against Losene Keita.
After taking time away to recharge his batteries and clear his injuries, Samsonidse returned to action in Frankfurt and bounced back into the win column with an impressive second-round submission of Torres, with the German star getting the finish via rear-naked choke after some nasty ground and pound forced Torres to give up his back.
Todev stops Palasz, sets up title rematch with Moeil
Bulgarian heavyweight contender Lazar Todev produced a superb performance to stop Polish contender Adam Palasz and tee up a mouth-watering heavyweight title rematch with Germany’s Hatef Moeil.
Todev controversially lost a decision to Moeil in his first title tilt, and has made no secret of his intention to fight for the belt and put things right in a rematch. He needed to get past Palasz first, and he did just that, and in fine style.
Todev stood in the pocket and threw hard against the taller man, and eventually broke Palasz down mid-way through the second round to claim a TKO victory and set up the rematch he’s been chasing.
The rematch was made official with Moeil entering the cage and engaging in a tense faceoff with Todev that ended with a double-handed shove by the defending champion. The rematch will be essential viewing.
Holzer dominates, then finishes, Trabelsi for crowd-pleasing win
Rising German star Max Holzer extended his perfect professional record with a dominant third-round victory over a tough, but outmatched Mohammed Trabelsi in the opening bout of the main card.
Holzer dominated from start to third-round TKO finish, as he came close to getting the TKO stoppage at the end of Round 1, then looked close to a submission in Round 2 when he cranked hard on a nasty-looking Kimura that somehow Trabelsi survived.
But Holzer was determined to get the finish, and it came in the third round after some vicious ground strikes finally broke Trabelsi’s resistance as Holzer moved on to 9-0 and continued his rise up the featherweight division.
Martin dethrones Dalisda to claim strawweight title
American Mallory Martin silenced the 60,000 crowd with a superb display as she shut down and dominated Germany’s Katharina Dalisda to capture the OKTAGON women’s strawweight title.
Martin mixed up her striking and wrestling superbly to keep Dalisda on the back foot, and showed a championship gas tank as she kept her work rate going through the full 25-minute duration to claim an emphatic win on the scorecards.
One judge saw it 49-46, but the other two scored it 50-45, with Martin’s dominant display putting her on top of the women’s 115-pound division.
Machaev edges Hendin
The preliminary card also featured a battle of top featherweights as Mago Machaev edged out James Hendin after three hard-fought rounds.
Machaev’s ability to mix his wrestling in with his strikes proved to be the deciding factor in a performance that proved that he’s right there in the mix at the sharp end of Oktagon’s loaded 145-pound division.
Fleury flattens former interim champ Langer, calls for title shot
In a conversation earlier this week, Will Fleury told The RDX Sports Podcast that he had something special planned for Pavol Langer here at OKTAGON 62. It’s fair to say he backed up that promise, and in some style.
Fleury produced a performance of calm composure as he walked down Langer and connected with big punches before scoring a show-stopping one-shot KO to deliver a huge statement to the rest of the light heavyweight division.
Fleury backed Langer towards the cage, then connected with a left hand that sent Langer face-first into the canvas. It was a stunning knockout, and one that should catapult Fleury to the front of the queue to challenge for the 205-pound title.
HUGE. KNOCKOUT 💣
Will Fleury 🇮🇪 dispatches of Pavol Langer in the very first round with a massive punch at #OKTAGON62
📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaDRbZ | DAZN | RTL+ pic.twitter.com/UuugoEq0iP
— OKTAGON MMA (@OktagonOfficial) October 12, 2024
And, with reigning champion Karlos Vemola sitting cageside on commentary duties, Fleury took full advantage of his mic time as he made clear what he wants next – a quick turnaround to replace Vemola’s original opponent, Samuel Kristofic, at OKTAGON 63 in Bratislava next month.
Vemola is considering his options after Kristofic was forced out of the bout through injury, but now, with Fleury ready to make the quick turnaround, the ball is firmly in Vemola’s, and OKTAGON’s court.
Nafuka grinds out decision win
It wasn’t pretty, but Hafeni Nafuka ensured that he walked out of the cage the winner after leaning heavily on his wrestling to grind out a decision victory over fellow German lightweight Arijan Topallaj.
Topallaj looked to stand and strike, but Nafuka signalled his intent early with a couple of double-leg takedown attempts. It took a few tries before he eventually find his mark, but once he did, Nafuka went back to the well time and time again over the course of the fight as he effectively stayed out of trouble on the feet and ground out a unanimous decision victory, with 30-27s on all three scorecards.
It’s unlikely to hog too many seconds on the OKTAGON 62 highlight reel, but for Nafuka, who suffered his first career loss to Predrag Bogdanovic earlier this year, it meant he was back on a win streak, with two wins from his last two Oktagon appearances.
‘El Pistolero’ out-duels Deiga-Scheck
The opening bout of the night saw a popular victory for former pro boxer Deniz Ilbay, who stopped Michael Deiga-Scheck in the opening round of their featherweight contest.
The pair promised to go to war from the very start, and that’s exactly what they delivered, as the pair went back and forth on the feet, with Deiga-Scheck looking to clinch up and take the fight to the ground in a bid to stifle Ilbay’s work.
But ‘El Pistolero’ wouldn’t be denied, and the German striker claimed his seventh career win with a relentless salvo of strikes that overwhelmed Deiga-Scheck for the first-round TKO finish.
OKTAGON 62: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Christian Eckerlin def. Christian Jungwirth via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – for “The King of Germany” title
- Kerim Engizek def. Patrik Kincl via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) – for middleweight title
- Max Coga def. Antun Racic via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:40
- Niko Samsonidse def. Daniel Torres via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:06
- Lazar Todev def. Adam Palasz via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:20
- Max Holzer def. Mohammed Trabelsi via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:33
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Mallory Martin def. Katharina Dalisda via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) – for women’s strawweight title
- Mago Machaev def. James Hendin via unanimous decision
- Will Fleury def. Pavol Langer via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:31
- Hafeni Nafuka def. Arijan Topallaj via unanimous decision – (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Deniz Ilbay def. Michael Deiga-Scheck via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:19
