Amiran Gogoladze is the new OKTAGON welterweight champion. At the SAP Garden in Munich on Saturday 31 October he got up from a first-round knockdown and beat Jessin Ayari by unanimous decision, 49-46 on all three cards, to win the vacant belt. Ayari had taken the fight on a few days’ notice after Felix Klinkhammer withdrew, and for most of the first round it looked as though the late replacement would leave with the title. Below is how the main event turned, followed by every result from the official OKTAGON 96 card, which had 11 fights.
The event started at 18:00 in Munich, which was 17:00 GMT, 13:00 ET and 19:00 in Riga. There were no Latvian fighters on the card. You’ll find the full card and fighter pages on our OKTAGON 96 event page.
Gogoladze vs Ayari: down early, champion late
Gogoladze, known as “The Sniper” for how quickly he usually finishes people, walked Ayari to the fence at the start and spent the first minute tied up with him there. Then he got caught. About a minute and a half in, OKTAGON’s report says, Ayari landed a hard shot that put him on the canvas. Ayari went straight after the finish with punches and then a choke, and for a stretch the title looked close to changing hands. Gogoladze held on, worked his way back to his feet and saw the round out. All three judges gave that round to Ayari. As it turned out, he didn’t win another one on any card.
The rest of the fight looked very different. Ayari slowed down in the second, kept his distance and let Gogoladze take the centre of the cage, and the Georgian was the sharper of the two in a careful round. In the third Gogoladze started kicking at Ayari’s lead leg, and both OKTAGON and MMA Fanatik describe Ayari having trouble with it from then on. Gogoladze’s cleaner work won him the third and a close fourth, so he went into the last five minutes 3-1 up on rounds by MMA Fanatik’s count.
Ayari knew he needed a finish and opened the fifth swinging. Halfway through the round he landed hard and pinned Gogoladze to the fence, but Gogoladze turned the position, took him down and kept him there. Ayari got back up near the end without enough time left to do anything with it. All three judges scored it 49-46 for Gogoladze.
Gogoladze is now 19-3 as a pro and 5-0 in OKTAGON, according to his official OKTAGON profile. OKTAGON also gave him the Performance of the Night bonus, worth an extra €5,000. Ayari, who has fought professionally since 2009, drops to 19-7, but he went from a regular welterweight bout to a title fight in the same week and gave the favourite a hard first round. No first title defence has been announced yet.
Paradeiser wins his 25th OKTAGON fight
In the co-main event Ronald Paradeiser beat Tyrone Pfeifer by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards. Pfeifer was quick and dangerous on the feet, so the Slovak former lightweight champion took it to the mat: a takedown midway through the first and another just before the horn, then long spells of top control in the second and third where Pfeifer had very little room to work. It was Paradeiser’s 25th fight in OKTAGON, a promotion record, and his 18th win there. He’d lost his previous two, and the win also ended Pfeifer’s winning run.
Todev edges Biyong, Aksu needs under two minutes
The heavyweight fight between Lazar Todev and Simon Biyong was a slow, cagey 15 minutes that went to a split decision, 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29. Biyong won the first round on two cards, Todev took the second and pulled away in the third by throwing more. OKTAGON lists Todev as its No. 1 heavyweight, and this was his fourth win in a row.
Gökhan Aksu didn’t need anything like that long. He went after replacement Rene Runge from the opening bell at a 73 kg catchweight, put him down, took top position and finished it with punches at 1:58 of the first round. OKTAGON ranks Aksu No. 2 at lightweight, and after his loss to Legierski in Berlin this puts him back in the title conversation.
Michael Deiga-Scheck closed the main card with a unanimous decision over Lukáš Chotěnovský, 29-28 on all three cards. The Munich fighter won the first with calf kicks and a late takedown, dropped Chotěnovský with a counter in the second, then had to hold on through a hard final round. The win ended a three-fight losing run for him.
Bartl is the first to stop Manning
The prelims had three first-round finishes. Marek Bartl got Brian Manning down after a long spell against the fence, landed an elbow, took his back and forced the stoppage at 3:03 of round one. OKTAGON says it’s the first time Manning has been stopped. Endrit Brajshori was rocked himself against debutant Christian Mach before he dropped him with an uppercut and a right hand and finished it at 4:38 of the first. And Burak Kizilirmak, on his OKTAGON debut, got out of a guillotine from Kevin Hangs and finished him with punches from top position at 1:54 of round one.
Henrique Madureira beat Daniel Schordje on the cards (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after winning the first two rounds on the feet and on the mat. Ivan Klevets beat Ronaldo Ferreira by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) in a 72 kg catchweight. Ferreira came in on fight day for his teammate Hafeni Nafuka, who OKTAGON says missed weight, and he’d actually travelled to Munich as part of Nafuka’s corner. Klevets has now won six in a row. On the free prelims, Abdulmalik Aliev lost the first round to Marat Nessar and then took over on the mat to win his OKTAGON debut 29-27, 29-27, 30-26.
What’s next: OKTAGON 97 in Hannover
OKTAGON is straight back in action. OKTAGON 97 is on Saturday 7 November at the ZAG Arena in Hannover, with Igor Severino against Max Holzer in the main event. The full OKTAGON 96 replay is on OKTAGON.TV.
OKTAGON 96 full results
Winner first. Results, method, round and time are from OKTAGON’s official card, checked against Sherdog and Tapology. Scorecards are from ge.globo, checked against FightBook MMA.
WinnerWAmiran Gogoladze
LoserLJessin Ayari
WinnerWRonald Paradeiser
LoserLTyrone Pfeifer
WinnerWLazar Todev
LoserLSimon Biyong
WinnerWGökhan Aksu
LoserLRene Runge
WinnerWMichael Deiga-Scheck
LoserLLukáš Chotěnovský
WinnerWMarek Bartl
LoserLBrian Manning
WinnerWEndrit Brajshori
LoserLChristian Mach
WinnerWHenrique Madureira
LoserLDaniel Schordje
WinnerWIvan Klevets
LoserLRonaldo Ferreira
WinnerWBurak Kizilirmak
LoserLKevin Hangs
WinnerWAbdulmalik Aliev
LoserLMarat Nessar
