MMA News, Oktagon

Strawweight title fight & Tipsport Gamechanger semifinals feature at OKTAGON 46

Aaron East

September 13, 2023

OKTAGON MMA is back this Saturday night, September 16, for the start of an incredible stretch of events that sees the top European promotion stage six shows over four months in the biggest arenas across the continent. We return to the place where the story began in Germany – the iconic Festhalle Frankfurt – for OKTAGON 46 which has been completely sold out with 9,000 fans for weeks. A strawweight champion will be crowned and both European MMA Champions League semifinals will play out so that just two competitors remain.

In the evening’s headliner, Katharina Dalisda (9-3) hopes to make history by becoming the first German OKTAGON MMA champion when she takes on surging talent, Jacinta Austin (5-1), for vacant strawweight gold. The Frankfurt native has won all three of her fights in the promotion, including two over UFC veterans, and wants to send the partisan crowd wild by emerging victorious in her hometown. However, following a very impressive first round submission win over Sofiia Bagishvili in June, Austin wants to spoil the party and take the belt back to Australia. Who will take their rightful place as queen of the division?

Czech MMA superstar, David Kozma (32-12), will rematch UFC and PFL veteran, Bojan Veličković (23-12-2), as part of the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger welterweight tournament semifinals in the co-main event. They first fought at OKTAGON 29 in December 2021 for the title but despite both men looking dangerous, it was ‘Pink Panther’ who came out on top. The Serbian, Veličković, accepted that bout on short notice so now wants to prove what he is truly capable of after a full camp of preparation. Will Kozma settle their rivalry once and for all or can Veličković gain revenge and secure his spot in the final?

A mouth-watering semifinal matchup also goes down in Frankfurt when Danish BJJ blackbelt, Louis Glismann (11-2), faces Greek Spartan, Andreas Michailidis (15-6), with a minimum of €130,000 up for grabs. Glismann made headlines everywhere after his quarter final victory over Melvin van Suijdam by stunning inverted omoplata, which earned him a nomination for ‘Submission of the Year’ in the 2023 World MMA awards. Michailidis picked up a spectacular stoppage of his own last time out, securing an arm-triangle finish against Marcel Grabinski. Fans of grappling will be locked to their screens during this one to see if either man can make their adversary tap and progress in the bracket.

Following success in the Tipsport Gamechanger ‘Lucky Loser’ fan voting, German warrior, Christian Jungwirth (14-7), will blow the roof off Festhalle Frankfurt when he steps into the cage opposite powerful striker, Ioannis Palaiologos (19-12-1), in a reserve bout. After finishing second in the same vote, hard-hitting Marcel Grabinski (23-8) also hopes to potentially re-enter the field by overcoming Brazilian all-rounder, ‘Apollo’ Silva (26-11-1, 1NC).

Elsewhere on the card, EMC middleweight champion, Kerim Engizek (18-4), makes his highly anticipated OKTAGON MMA debut and aims to continue his nine-year unbeaten run against fellow finisher, Matias Juarez (14-6-1). Five time world youth boxing champion, Deniz Ilbay (4-0), also arrives in his new home to take on striker, Marco Novák (2-0), at featherweight and hungry prospect, Niko Samsonidse (9-2), meets Moldovan bad boy, Nicolae Hantea (8-3), also at 145lbs.

OKTAGON 46 will be broadcast live on OKTAGON.TV internationally as well as worldwide on the global platform, DAZN, in all markets except from DACH and CZ/SK. For the first time ever, Channel 4 will also be streaming the show for fans in the UK and Ireland. The action begins at 5pm GMT/6pm CET/12pm ET/9.30am CT.

OKTAGON 46 Fight Card

September 16th – Frankfurt, Germany

Main Card

Main Event

OKTAGON MMA Vacant Strawweight Title

Katharina Dalisda (9-3) vs. Jacinta Austin (5-1)

Co-Main Event

Tipsport Gamechanger Semi Final

David Kozma (32-12) vs. Bojan Veličković (23-12-2)

Tipsport Gamechanger Reserve Bout

Christian Jungwirth (14-7) vs. Ioannis Palaiologos (19-12-1)

Tipsport Gamechanger Semi Final