European fight promotion Oktagon MMA has unveiled its full 12-fight lineup for Oktagon 59 as the promotion gets set for a “Summer Party” event in Bratislava.
The open-air Peugeot Arena will play host to the event on Saturday, July 20, with a pair of Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-finals set to play a starring role on a packed night of fights in the Slovakian capital.
Headlining the event is Slovakia’s own Ronald Paradeiser. The Oktagon lightweight champion will continue his quest to add the Tipsport Gamechanger title to his list of honours as he takes on Austrian contender Daniel Torres for a place in the final four of the €1 million lightweight tournament.
The night’s other Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final will feature arguably the most dangerous man in the tournament. Belgium’s Losene Keita has captured Oktagon titles at both featherweight and lightweight in the past, and now the reigning featherweight king will look to move one step closer to the tournament final when he takes on 16-1 Serbian contender Predrag Bogdanovic.
The two tournament bouts sandwich a middleweight contender clash, as Slovakia’s No. 5-ranked Vlasto Cepo faces Austria’s Erhan Kartal.
Also set for action are Slovakian fan-favourite and former two-division champion Ivan Buchinger, who faces Poland’s Lukasz Rajewski in a Tipsport Gamechanger reserve bout, and Slovakia’s undefeated bantamweight Lucia Szabova, who will look to extend her perfect record with victory over Spain’s Aitana Alvarez, who claimed a hard-earned win on her Oktagon debut in Birmingham earlier this year.
Kicking off the main card is a welterweight battle between Slovakia’s Radovan Uskrt and Czech Republic’s Petr Knize that will pit Uskrt’s knockout power against Knize’s submission skills in a real clash of fighting styles.
The prelims will feature former interim middleweight champion Piotr Wawrzyniak, who takes on Tipsport Gamechanger welterweight runner-up Andreas Michailidis in a 185-pound battle, while former Oktagon bantamweight champion Jonas Magard, who was originally set to headline the bout in a title rematch against then-champ Felipe Lima, will now face Canadian newcomer and seven-fight Bellator veteran Josh Hill as he looks to position himself for a shot at the newly-vacated title following Lima’s departure to the UFC.
Oktagon 59: Confirmed fight card
MAIN CARD
- Ronald Paradeiser vs. Daniel Torres – Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight quarter-final
- Vlasto Cepo vs. Erhan Kartal – middleweight
- Losene Keita vs. Predrag Bogdanovic – Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight quarter-final
- Ivan Buchinger vs. Lukasz Rajewski – Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight reserve bout
- Lucia Szabova vs. Aitana Alvarez – 59.5-kg/131-pound catchweight
- Radovan Uskrt vs. Petr Knize – middleweight
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Piotr Wawrzyniak vs. Andreas Michailidis – middleweight
- Radek Rousal vs. Marco Novak – 68-kg/150-pound catchweight
- Jonas Magard vs. Josh Hill – bantamweight
- Ondrej Raska vs. Milan Datelinka – middleweight
- Veronica Smolkova vs. Jovana Dukic – flyweight
- Mileide Simplicio vs. Elin Oberg – TBC
