Adamia and Creasey stood and traded for almost the entire fight, with Adamia the constant aggressor, while Creasey looked to score effectively on the counter. It led to something of a chess match as the two well-matched opponents could only be separated by the odd strike or combination during most of the rounds.
But, after Creasey took the lead in the bout on the scorecards after the third round, it looked like the bout was his to win, but Adamia pushed the pace through Round 4, while Creasey seemed to back off a little, and that handed the initiative to the Georgian challenger at a crucial point in the fight.
It meant that the final round was effectively winner-takes-all, and over the course of the final five minutes, it was Adamia’s more overt push for victory that saw him get the nod from the judges as he won the final round and claimed a split-decision victory with scores of 48-47, 47-48, 48-47.
Emotional Pukac claims career-best win
In the co-main event, Robert Pukac claimed an emotional victory as he stopped former welterweight champion David Kozma in the first round with flurry of strikes.
Pukac only threw 16 strikes in the two minutes, 15 seconds of fight time, but with 11 of them significant, he broke through Kozma’s defences quickly and easily to blast his way to a huge TKO victory.
A big right hand connected just behind the ear of Kozma, and the former champion never really recovered. Pukac followed up with more heavy shots as he sent Kozma to the canvas, then finished him with big strikes up against the fence.
After his victory, Pukac called for a bout against German star Christian Eckerlin later this year.
Stanton dominates Petrasek
England’s Mick Stanton showcased his top-drawer MMA grappling as he dominated Milos Petrasek through all three rounds of their Tipsport Gamechanger tournament bout.
Stanton was simply too good on the mat as he bossed the grappling exchanges throughout the contest as he nullified Petrasek’s striking at source by taking him off his feet and dominating him on the ground.
It ensured that “The Huyton Hammer” secured a shutout win on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27 to send the former Cage Warriors middleweight champion into the next round of the €1 million tournament.
Hulme impresses, and progresses
The night’s other Tipsport Gamechanger tournament bout saw South Africa’s Mark Hulme claim an eye-catching first-round finish of former welterweight tournament finalist Andreas Michailidis.
Hulme looked strong and confident on the feet as he landed big shots on the Greek athlete. But the finish eventually came on the mat as he locked up a guillotine choke to secure the finish at the 2:20 mark of the opening round.
OKTAGON 67: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Beno Adamia def. Sam Creasey vIa split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
- Robert Pukac def. David Kozma via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:15
- Mick Stanton def. Milos Petrasek via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mark Hulme def. Andreas Michailidis via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:20
- Niko Samsonidse def. Edgar Delgado via injury TKO (leg kick) – Round 3, 0:27
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Daniel Skvor def. Antonio Zovak via submission (Ninja choke) – Round 1, 0:26
- Jamie Cordero def. Milan Datelinka via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:10
- Tomas Mudroch def. Petru Buzdugan via TKO (upkick and punches) – Round 1, 1:22
- Veronica Smolkova def. Aitana Alvarez via unanimous decision
- Daniel Ligocki def. Dominic Schober via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:29
