Czech-Slovak MMA promotion Oktagon MMA has made great strides over the past year as it has established itself as one of the newest, dynamic fight promotions in Europe. Now the organization is set to launch its most ambitious project yet.
Oktagon 40 takes place on Saturday, March 4 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, with a stacked card featuring some of the best welterweights in mainland Europe. They have been brought together by the promotion’s Tipsport Gamechanger tournament, a single-elimination tournament that will crown one winner, who will win the lion’s share of the one million Euro prize pot.
The first round of the tournament takes place in Ostrava, with the entire field set for action in the first round at the Ostravar Arena.
Headlining the event is former Oktagon welterweight champion and longtime fan-favorite David Kozma. “The Pink Panther” recently lost his title, but the 42-fight veteran remains one of the most popular fighters on the Oktagon roster. He takes on Lukasz Siwiec, an 8-1 contender who has eyes on the tournament prize after capturing the 170-pound title for Polish promotion Babilon MMA.
The co-main event features two heavy hitters, as former Oktagon middleweight champion Samuel Kristofic drops down to 170 pounds in a bid to capture the tournament title. He’ll take on UK-based French contender Alex Lohore, a former middleweight title challenger who has picked up championships across Europe, and who punched his ticket to the tournament with a huge knockout of Matus Juracek in his last appearance.
The tournament also features German crowd favorite Christian Jungwirth who, remarkably, opted to take a fight in his native Germany in the lead-up to his first-round tournament bout. He picked up a decision win against Denilson Neves de Oliveira in that bout, and now carries real momentum into his first-round matchup with Spanish veteran Tato Primera, who earned his spot in the tournament after winning the fan vote to claim the final slot in the draw.
The tournament will also see the likes of Brazilian contender Leandro “Apollo” Silva, Danish submission specialist Louis Glisman and Hungarian contender Mate Kertesz.
Every tournament matchup will produce a definitive result so, if any f the three-round bouts finish in a draw on the scorecards, the judges must make a final decision on who won the fight. Then, at the conclusion of the first round, the remaining eight fighters will take part in a K-1 Grand Prix-style draw, as they randomly pull numbers from a hat before placing themselves in the tournament bracket for the quarter-finals.
Oktagon 40: Confirmed fight card
MAIN CARD
- David Kozma vs. Lukasz Siwiec – tournament bout
- Samuel Kristofic vs. Alex Lohore – tournament bout
- Christian Jungwirth vs. Tato Primera – tournament bout
- Louis Glismann vs. Amiran Gogoladze – tournament bout
- Leandro Silva vs. Andreas Michailidis – tournament bout
- Jan Siroky vs. Jaroslav Pokorny
Preliminary Card
- Mate Kertesz vs. Marcel Grabinski – tournament bout
- Bojan Velickovic vs. Ion Surdu – tournament bout
- Radovan Uskrt vs. Melvin van Suijdam – tournament bout
- Andrej Kalasnik vs. Matus Juracek – tournament reserve bout
- Ioannis Palaiologos vs. TBA – tournament reserve bout
Oktagon 40 will stream live globally via the promotion’s online streaming platform, Oktagon.tv.