The OKTAGON welterweight title will remain vacant heading into December as the promotion’s 170-pound championship picture was given an unexpected shake-up in Brno, Czechia.
Moldova’s Surdu, who entered fight week as the defending champion, lost his title on the scale when he failed to make weight for his main event title fight with Andrej Kalasnik. After initially missing weight by three kilos, Surdu’s continued weight cut was stopped by the doctors and the fight went ahead with only Kalasnik able to win the title.
But on fight night at Winning Group Arena, Surdu showed the skills that took him to the title as he stunned, then finished, Kalasnik in the first round to claim a statement victory.
In the co-main event, Vladimir Lengal improved his record to 9-6 with a TKO finish of Ognjen Dimic, while rising Czech stars Tomas Mudroch and Radek Rousal claimed emphatic wins in their respective matchups.
Mudroch finished compatriot Jakub Dohnal with ground and pound mid-way through the first round of their lightweight contest, while Rousal battled through illness to knock out England’s Corey Fry in their featherweight matchup.
The fight card also saw important victories for Sweden’s Samuel Bark, who defeated former featherweight champion Mate Sanikidze, and for Nathan Haywood, who claimed his first win in the OKTAGON cage with a brilliant hook-kick and follow-up punches to knock out Lukas Chotenovsky.
OKTAGON 79: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Ion Surdu def. Andrej Kalasnik via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:27
- Vladimir Lengal def. Ognjen Dimic via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 4:52
- Tomas Mudroch def. Jakub Dohnal via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:01
- Radek Rousal def. Corey Fry via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:54
- Pedro Oliveira def. Daniel Ligocki via unanimous decision
- Samuel Bark def. Mate Sanikidze via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:31
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Nathan Haywood def. Lukas Chotenovsky via TKO (hook kick and punches) – Round 1, 2:58
- Vaclav Stepan def. Karol Kutyla via submission (Kimura) – Round 2, 3:46
- Liam Pitts def. Stephan Guidea via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:29
- Vasek Klimsa def. Jessy Joaquim via submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 1, 1:23
- Haruk Kurt def. Simon Bruknar via unanimous decision
