MMA News

€1 million Tipsport Gamechanger tournament kicks off on March 4 at OKTAGON 40

Aaron East

March 1, 2023

The biggest tournament in the history of European MMA is about to kick off!

Sixteen fighters representing fifteen different countries will battle it out for their share of €1 million in the Tipsport Gamechanger – the most prize money ever awarded in a European MMA tournament. OKTAGON MMA stars will compete alongside UFC, Bellator and PFL veterans in the Champions League of MMA at OKTAGON 40 on Saturday, March 4. Ostravar Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic will play host to the entire eight-fight opening round of the welterweight bracket as well as two reserve bouts on a truly landmark card in the history of the top European promotion.

In the main event, David Kozma (30-12) looks towards a new challenge after losing his OKTAGON MMA title in December when he faces Babilon MMA welterweight champion, Łukasz Siwiec (8-1), in the Tipsport Gamechanger. ‘Pink Panther’ was the longest reigning belt holder in the promotion and defended his crown five times, fending off all challenges until he ran into Kaik Brito at OKTAGON 37. Kozma remains one of the biggest stars in the organisation but Polish finisher, Siwiec, wants to prove he can make the step up to the summit of the European food chain and silence his opponent’s adoring crowd. Will Kozma begin his path back towards the top while flying the flag for the Czech Republic or can Siwiec cause a huge upset?

Former interim OKTAGON MMA middleweight champion, Samuel Krištofič (16-4), was enjoying his run at 185lbs but the draw of the life-changing cash prize in the Tipsport Gamechanger has made him drop back down to the welterweight division. At OKTAGON 40, ‘Pirát’ will represent Slovakia in the co-main event opposite Bellator veteran, Alex Lohoré (22-8), who was born in France but raised in the UK. ‘Da Killa King’ cemented his place in the bracket after a vicious knockout of Matúš Juráček in his last outing and after joining Great Britain Top Team, he feels that now is the time to achieve his sporting potential. Can Lohoré become the first man to finish Krištofič or will ‘Pirát’ sail through to the quarter finals?

Also on the main card, German warrior, Christian Jungwirth (13-6), enters the tournament after picking up a victory over Denilson Neves de Oliveira in Munich three weeks ago. He will square off with Tato Primera (18-12) who was awarded a place in the bracket after winning the final participant fan vote with big support from his home country of Spain.

In arguably the best matched contest of the opening round, lethal submission artist, Louis Glismann (9-2), travels to Ostrava from Denmark to try and progress in the project over Georgian prospect, Amiran Gogoladze (14-3). Furthermore, Leandro ‘Apollo’ Silva (26-10-1, 1NC), is the only non-European in the Tipsport Gamechanger and will proudly fight for Brazil against Greek athlete, Andreas Michailidis (13-6).

Elsewhere in the field, the best Hungarian welterweight, Máté Kertész (13-5, 1NC), clashes with Germany’s Marcel Grabinski (22-7) and UFC veteran, Bojan Veličković (21-12-2), will represent Serbia when he takes on the man known as ‘Dracula’, Ion Surdu (12-4), from Moldova. Slovakian knockout machine, Radovan Úškrt (7-3), won the fan vote to replace the injured Christian Eckerlin in the bracket and looks to continue his 100% first round finishing streak when he faces LFL welterweight champion and top Dutch fighter, Melvin van Suijdam (13-5). John Hathaway has had to withdraw from the opening round due to an injury he has suffered.

No matches in the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger tournament can end in a draw so if the points are even after three rounds, the judges must decide who the overall winner of the bout is. Once the opening round has been concluded in Ostrava, the eight fighters who progress to the quarter finals will randomly draw numbers from 1-8 and place themselves in the next round of the bracket. Therefore, some competitors will decide who they face in the quarter finals.

Fan interaction is a vital component of the project as they will vote between eight ‘lucky losers’ from the first-round bouts and two winners from the reserve contests. Out of these ten options, the two competitors who receive the most votes will take part in reserve fights in the quarter final round against two athletes selected by OKTAGON MMA. In the case of an injury, the ‘lucky loser’ or reserve bout winner who received the most votes would replace the hurt fighter in the bracket and jump into the tournament. As a result of this, if a participant from the tournament is defeated, they may still get a chance to later re-enter the field.

The complete rules for the tournament can be found on the official Tipsport Gamechanger website.