Wanliss vs. Siraj moves to OKTAGON 56 in Birmingham after backstage altercation

One of the most intriguing matchups in the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight tournament opening round is heading to Birmingham!

Akonne Wanliss (7-2, 1NC), the only UK representative in the 2024 European MMA Champions League, will settle the score with Swedish knockout artist, Sahil Siraj (9-2), at OKTAGON 56 inside Resorts World Arena on April 20.

The talented pair were originally scheduled to fight this past weekend in Ostrava, Czech Republic, but Wanliss was attacked backstage by two members of Siraj’s team following the OKTAGON TIME press conference. This meant that the bout could not proceed as planned with both athletes feeling extremely disappointed due to putting in a whole camp of preparation and completing hard weight cuts.

As a result of this, both of Siraj’s team members have been given lifetime bans from OKTAGON MMA as these incidents are not tolerated.

Wanliss now gets the opportunity to fight in his hometown of Birmingham as part of the biggest European MMA tournament in history with life changing prize money. The Team Renegade product and Leon Edward’s training partner will have the whole arena behind him on what promises to be an electric night in April. ‘The Jedi’ is ready to unleash the force for the ultimate revenge.

OKTAGON 56 also features the return of Liverpool’s own Shem Rock, OKTAGON Challenge winner, George Staines, inspiring cancer survivor, Aaron Aby, and debuting Irish standout, Will Fleury. Tickets for the show can be purchased right now at The Ticket Factory.

Be sure to follow OKTAGON MMA across all of our media platforms and find out more about OKTAGON 56 here.