On a crazy night of fights in Liberec, Czech Republic, Denmark’s bantamweight champion Jonas Magard produced a spectacular performance to defeat interim champion Gustavo Lopez and unify the 135-pound championship at Oktagon 41.
The pair had to be separated before the announcements were made ahead of their main event clash at Home Credit Arena, and when the action began, it was Magard who held the upper hand, thanks largely to his superior striking arsenal.
The Dane, who trains out of Manchester Top Team in England, immediately took the center of the cage and looked to establish his strikes, as he found his range with a few early leg kicks and a solid jab.
A big right hand connected inside the first two minutes, but Lopez reacted with a big grin. The American appeared to be looking to goad the Dane into overreacting in order to open up the chance of a takedown, but Magard stayed compact and continued to pop the jab and mix in leg kicks as the defending champion dominated the round with his striking.
Magard continued where he left off at the start of Round 2 and turned up the power to finish Lopez early.
He clipped Lopez immediately with a left hook as the American came flying out of his corner, then, just seconds later, dropped him with a big right hand that took Lopez off his feet.
Magard kept the pressure on and, after stuffing a desperate takedown attempt from Lopez, unloaded a huge right hand that dropped Lopez again. This time, Magard closed in and connected with a series of huge ground strikes to force the referee to step in and wave off the bout just 31 seconds into the round.
Vemola claims quick submission
In the night’s co-main event, light heavyweight champion Karlos Vemola defeated American knockout artist Al Matavao in their catchweight bout
Matavao had missed weight by a whopping six pounds for their scheduled 203-pound catchweight bout, but Vemola took the fight regardless and, after weathering an early storm, took his man to the mat, mounted him, then worked his way to his back before locking up a rear-naked choke to claim a quick tap and a first-round victory.
“The Terminator” whose win saw him bounce back from serious health complications earlier in the year, then set his sights on the promotion’s middleweight champion Patrik Kincl, who he’s now due to face in the main event at Oktagon 43 on May 20 in Prague.
The main card also saw a submission from Dan Vinni, who needed just 80 seconds to finish Daniel Skvor via heel hook, while Jan Malach picked up a first-round TKO finish of Ebrahim Hosseinpour.
The night’s other main card clash saw Lazar Todev earn a unanimous decision victory over Adam Palasz.
Oktagon 41: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Jonas Magard def. Gustavo Lopez via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:31
- Karlos Vemola def. Al Matavao via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:18
- Dan Vinni def. Daniel Skvor via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:20
- Lazar Todev def. Adam Palasz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jan Malach def. Ebrahim Hosseinpour via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 2:03
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Mateusz Strzelczyk def. Jorick Montagnac via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:51
- Vaclav Mikulasek def. Matyas Viszlay via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:47
- Robin Fosum def. Nermin Hajdarpasic via split draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28)
- Jamie Cordero def. Ondrej Raska via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:07
- Hafeni Nafuka def. Pater Gabal via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:42
- Melvin Mane def. Szymon Broncel via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 2:20