Poppeck was denied interim title glory when he was edged by Langer by split decision in their first meeting at OKTAGON 44, but he made sure the judges weren’t a factor in the rematch as he quickly found his mark with his punches to put Langer on the back foot.
And while the big Slovak has managed to absorb punishment before turning the tables on his opponent before, Poppeck wasn’t going to let him off the hook a second time, and he kept the pressure on before he landed a huge shot to finish the job after just 75 seconds of their light heavyweight main event.
The co-main event saw Ireland’s Denis Frimpong score an emotional victory in the most impressive performance of his career to date.
“The Menace” has claimed easier victories in the past, but against Arijan Topallaj, he was forced to weather an early storm as “The Albanian Eagle” came flying out of the gate and loaded up early in a bid to finish Frimpong in the opening round.
Frimpong threatened with submissions off his back as he survived the opening round, then used his ground game to his advantage on the second round as he sapped the gas tank of his German opponent.
By the time Round 3 started, Frimpong was level with Topallaj on two of the judges’ scorecards, and two rounds down on the third. It meant he had to win the round to secure victory on the scorecards, but in the end, he didn’t need them.
With Topallaj looking exhausted, Frimpong put his combinations together as he hurt his opponent and sent him to the canvas. Then he swarmed his man and continued to land strikes until the bout was waved off, 44 seconds after the restart.
Also on the main card, Liverpool’s Shem Rock claimed his biggest win to date under the OKTAGON MMA banner as he defeated the respected Attila Korkmaz via split decision.
Rock’s relentless grappling proved the difference between the pair as he ground out the win, then called for a fight at OKTAGON 72 next month in Prague’s Eden Arena, though his callout of lightweight champion Losene Keita was flatly rejected by “Black Panther” after he entered the cage.
The main card also saw impressive performances from Patrick Vespaziani, Gokhan Aksu and Tomas Mudroch, who all claimed first-round finishes on a night that only saw the judges called into action twice.
The night’s featured preliminary fight saw England’s “Saint” George Staines claim his biggest win to date as he dominated German rising talent Hafeni Nafuka.
The pair scrambled back and forth on the canvas through much of the opening round, but Staines took over in Rounds 2 and 3 to secure a clear decision win, with scores of 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.
The prelims also saw the fastest finish of the night, as Brazil’s Wanderlei Junior needed just 19 seconds to knock out Jakub Dohnal in their featherweight matchup, before saying that he wants to fight at his optimal weight class of bantamweight in a bid to battle his way to the 135-pound title.
OKTAGON 71: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Alexander Poppeck def. Pavol Langer via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:15
- Denis Frimpong def. Arijan Topallak via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 3, 0:44
- Shem Rock def. Attila Korkmaz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Patrick Vespaziani def. Jovan Zeljkovic via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 0:41
- Gokhan Aksu def. Ognjen Dimic via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 2:43
- Tomas Mudroch def. Ozan Aslaner via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:03
PRELIMINARY CARD
- George Staines def. Hafeni Nafuka via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Wanderlei Junior def. Jakub Dohnal via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:19
- Zdenek Polivka def. Harun Uzun via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Peter Gabal def. Elias Jakobi via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:07
- Endrit Brajshori def. Jan Malach via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:33
