OKTAGON 65 results: Losene Keita captures OKTAGON triple-crown with TKO finish

Birthday boy Losene Keita produced a stellar performance in the main event of OKTAGON 65 in Prague as “The Black Panther” captured triple-crown glory in OKTAGON MMA.

Belgium’s Keita took on lightweight champion Ronald Paradeiser in the final of the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight tournament in a bout that saw the tournament title, Paradeiser’s lightweight title and OKTAGON MMA’s pound-for-pound No. 1 ranking all on the line.

And, in one of the best performances of his OKTAGON career, Keita stopped Paradeiser with elbows and punches late in Round 2 to catapult himself to the pinnacle of the promotion and capture the €300,000 tournament prize.

Keita started fast, and looked dialed in and sharp as he quickly found his mark with his punches, and swiftly moved from single shots to multi-punch combinations as he lit up Paradeiser with heavy shots to the head and body throughout an excellent first-round performance.

Paradeiser attempted to push forward in Round 2, but found himself on the end of Keita’s shots once again. But, with the Slovakian champion starting to find his range, a clash of heads left Keita with a rapidly swelling left eye, and Paradeiser started to pick up the pace.

But, when Paradeiser looked for a double-leg takedown up against the cage, Keita countered with nasty elbows, and one found its mark and sent the lightweight champion to the mat. Keita saw his moment and unloaded a barrage of strikes to close out the victory.

Fleury dominates Vemola over five rounds to capture light heavyweight title

His pre-fight prediction of a first-round knockout might not have come to fruition, but Ireland’s Will Fleury showcased his full MMA skillset to completely dominate Czech MMA legend and defending light heavyweight champion Karlos Vemola to capture the OKTAGON 205-pound title.

Fleury landed 259 strikes on Vemola over the five-round championship duration, with 192 of them significant strikes as he put Vemola on the back foot throughout. The Czech’s high-pressure approach was turned against him as Fleury pushed the pace and forced the veteran into a defensive posture for much of the contest.

There were moments when it looked like Fleury was close to finishing Vemola, and in the fourth round, when Fleury was hammering an exhausted Vemola with unanswered punches, another referee may well have stepped in. But the action was allowed to continue, and Vemola, through sheer guts and stubbornness, somehow made it to the final bell.

The scorecards were a formality, with Fleury taking the victory with scores of 50-44 across the board as he became the OKTAGON MMA’s first Irish champion.

Bolander turns the tables on Pudilova to claim women’s bantamweight title

The first title fight of the night saw a new women’s bantamweight champion crowned as Norway’s Cecilie Bolander outpointed Lucie Pudilova to capture the 135-pound crown.

Bolander was drafted in on short notice to replace the undefeated Slovakian contender Lucia Szabova, who was forced to withdraw from the contest, with the Norwegian facing Pudilova for the second time in successive fights after losing to the Czech veteran at OKTAGON 61 in September.

Bolander promised that “everything” would be different in the rematch as she challenged for the belt, and delivered a superb performance as the pair battled for the full five-round championship duration.

The action was closely contested throughout, with the open scoring revealing that the bout hung in the balance heading into the final round. And with the title on the line, Bolander threw caution to the wind in a wild final five minutes as she ensured she took the all-important final round to claim the title via split decision.

Severino edges split decision against former champ Magard

Severino came out all guns blazing at the start of the fight and rocked Magard early in a crazy sequence that saw the Brazilian push for a statement finish in the opening moments of the fight. But Magard showcased all the toughness that took him to the promotion’s 135-pound title as he weathered the storm, then used his wrestling and grappling skills to neutralise Severino and ensure he took no more damage in a tough opening five minutes for the former champion.

The fast-paced action continued in Round 2 as Magard took control and applied constant pressure to Severino, both on the feet and in the wrestling exchanges. During a spell on the feet, the Dane showed his own punch power as he badly rocked Severino with a succession of big shots.

With the fight even on two of the three scorecards, the fight hung in the balance heading into the final round, and Severino started well, landing a big overhand right that connected clean. Severino continued to land good shots through the first portion of the round, and Magard wisely changed levels and took the action to the mat to halt the Brazilian’s charge.

The Dane was unable to do anything of significance with the position, however, and Severino was able to turn the tables in the closing moments to close out a split-decision win.

Schwindt silences Prague with debut win

The Prague crowd was treated to a middleweight slugfest as Daniel Schwindt eventually stopped Radovan Uskrt to make a big impression on his OKTAGON MMA debut.

Both men loaded up and swung for the fences early as the two strikers looked to add a finish to their respective records, and as the round wore on, it was Germany’s Schwindt who began to break down the Slovakian fan-favourite with his more varied striking arsenal.

But, as the action resumed after an early low blow, Uskrt exploded into action and dropped Schwindt twice in quick succession before the action was stopped for what was thought to be an illegal knee by Uskrt to his downed foe. However, replays showed that the knee was legal and action resumed, with Schwindt benefiting from some valuable recovery time.

The German then turned the tables on Uskrt as he took the action to the mat, moved into mount and let loose with a vicious salvo of heavy ground and pound while Uskrt covered up to block as many shots as he could.

But Schwindt’s barrage continued, and with Uskrt not looking to improve his position, the referee stepped in to wave off the fight and hand Schwindt a huge TKO victory on his OKTAGON MMA debut.

OKTAGON 65: Official results

MAIN CARD

Losene Keita def. Ronald Paradeiser via TKO (elbows and punches) – Round 2, 4:02 – Tipsport Gamechanger final, for lightweight title
Will Fleury def. Karlos Vemola via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) – for light heavyweight title
Cecilie Bolander def. Lucie Pudilova via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) – for women’s bantamweight title
Igor Severino def. Jonas Magard via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Schwindt def. Radovan Uskrt via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 2, 2:23

PRELIMINARY CARD