OKTAGON 33 takes place this Saturday night at the iconic Festhalle Frankfurt in Germany and the card is making history in more ways than one. Not only will it be the first time that the world-famous venue holds an MMA event, but it also marks the promotion’s first-ever show across the Czech-Slovak border.
The stacked fight card is now complete and features athletes from eleven different nations including veterans from the UFC, Bellator and KSW. There are only 500 tickets left for the show, which is set to be a sell-out, meaning the attendance will exceed the number drawn by the UFC when they last visited Germany in 2018.
In the main event of the evening, two-weight OKTAGON MMA champion, Ivan Buchinger (39-7), will defend his lightweight title against the undefeated interim-belt holder, Losene Keita (8-0), in an anticipated matchup. Will ‘Buki’ hold off the charge of another young prospect to further his own legacy or will the Belgian sensation pick up the biggest win of his career to date?
Team Captains of the OKTAGON Challenge TV Series will face off in the co-headliner when wrestling phenom, Stephan Puetz (20-5), takes on the man known as ‘King Kong’, Martin Zawada (29-16-1), in a light heavyweight showdown being billed as ‘The Battle for Germany’. National pride will be on the line with the victor emerging as the best at 205lbs in the country.
For the first time in his career, Christian Eckerlin (14-5), the biggest MMA star in Germany, is set to perform in front of his hometown crowd. The atmosphere will be absolutely electric when the former professional footballer enters the arena to square off with tough Brazilian, Denilson Neves de Oliveira (17-8), who is stepping into the welterweight bout on short notice.
Elsewhere on the card, Czech superstar, Karlos Vemola (31-6), returns to MMA competition after injury and has made it clear that he wants to regain the OKTAGON MMA middleweight title that he never lost inside the cage. ‘The Terminator’ will be taking on Polish fan-favourite, Michał Pasternak (16-7), who has only been finished twice during his career, in a light heavyweight contest.
Coming off a five-fight run in the UFC, David Zawada (17-7), is slated to make his promotional debut in a welterweight bout against dangerous Austrian, Erhan Kartal (10-1), and vicious knockout artist, Hatef Moeil (11-4), looks to add another first-round stoppage to his resume when he meets fellow heavyweight, Kerisson Leal (6-3, 1NC).
OKTAGON 33 kicks off at 6pm CEST/5pm BST on Saturday night and will be broadcast around the world on OKTAGON.TV. The first fight on the card, featuring the OKTAGON MMA debut of exciting UK bantamweight Cory Tait (10-6), will be streamed live and free on the OKTAGON MMA YouTube Channel.
OKTAGON 33 Fight Card
Saturday, June 4 – Frankfurt, Germany
Main Card
Main Event
OKTAGON MMA Undisputed Lightweight Title
(c) Ivan Buchinger (39-7) vs. (ic) Losene Keita (8-0)
Co-Main Event
‘The Battle for Germany’
Light Heavyweight
Stephan Puetz (20-5) vs. Martin Zawada (29-16-1)
OKTAGON Challenge Finale
TBA vs. TBA
Welterweight
Christian Eckerlin (14-5) vs. Denilson Neves de Oliveira (17-8)
Light Heavyweight
Karlos Vemola (31-6) vs. Michał Pasternak (16-7)
Welterweight
David Zawada (17-7) vs. Erhan Kartal (10-1)
Preliminary Card
Welterweight
Christian Jungwirth (11-5) vs. Ivica Trušček (41-35)
Middleweight
Zdenek Polivka (7-5) vs. Cheick Kone (18-11)
Heavyweight
Hatef Moeil (11-4) vs. Kerisson Leal (6-3, 1NC)
Featherweight
Jaroslav Pokorný (14-9) vs. Ahmed Vila (8-4-1, 1NC)
Heavyweight
Donald Ćosic (3-0) vs. Adam Pałasz (6-1)
Welterweight
Jamie Cordero (1-0) vs. Ibrahim Cholo (4-1)
Bantamweight
Michael Deiga-Scheck (8-4) vs. Cory Tait (10-6)