Tag: Oktagon

Exclusive | Katharina Dalisda Talks Transformation of MMA in Germany Ahead of Oktagon 62

Katharina Dalisda Oktagon 62The German-born MMA fighter Katharina Dalisda will be looking to defend her world title in her hometown in front…

Katharina Dalisda Oktagon 62

The German-born MMA fighter Katharina Dalisda will be looking to defend her world title in her hometown in front of 60,000 screaming fans at Oktagon 62. This stadium event in Frankfurt, Germany, has shown how much the attitude of MMA has changed in Germany over the past decade.

Katharina Dalisda on German MMA

Katharina Dalisda had a background in Judo but never intended to compete in MMA, she was just looking for a good workout. Fast forward, now, she holds a world title in Oktagon and will be battling in front of a record-breaking audience live from Deutsche Bank Park, a massive stadium.

Speaking in an interview, she explained:

“I did judo for about 17 years. Then I stopped and did endurance sports for two years, like triathlons and running. I found it a bit boring and wanted more action. I met someone at the running track; we were both doing a half marathon, and we didn’t know each other. We started talking while running, and he said he was doing kickboxing. That piqued my interest. Yes, it’s kind of crazy! But training is fun. It became a true passion for me.”

Katharina Dalisda Tim Wheaton Oktagon 62

UFC 99 was hosted in Germany and the country was not welcoming of the new sport, painting it as a bloody affair with street toughs. Now, Oktagon will be hosting a major event in Frankfurt after investing in the nation. On this shift, Katharina Dalisda explained:

“I think it has a lot more awareness than it did two or three years ago. When I started, I had my first fight in 2019 at a really big event in. There were maybe two or three thousand fans, and it felt huge! Now, Octagon is doing a really good job with marketing and getting fans into the scene …

“More people are becoming aware of the sport. I hope the image of MMA continues to improve too. It’s mixed right now. Many “normal” people enjoy the sport and see the complex tactical aspects behind it, but not everyone is there yet. I think in a year or two, it will get even better.”

Oktagon 62

Oktagon 62 is an MMA event scheduled for October 12, 2024, at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany. This event is expected to attract up to 60,000 fans, making it one of the largest MMA gatherings ever. In fact, it even surpassed the UFC’s record attendance of 57,127 from UFC 243 in Melbourne.

The main event will feature a welterweight title fight between two popular German fighters: Christian Eckerlin from Frankfurt and Christian Jungwirth from Stuttgart. This matchup is being billed as a battle for the title of “King of Germany.”

‘Tigress’ Katharina Dalisda plans to defend her Strawweight title against former UFC fighter Mallory Martin. Germany’s Dalisda is looking to make it seven wins in a row.

See the full interview below:

Exclusive | Mate Sanikidze On Training Partner Merab Dvalishvili: “He has a Lionheart.”

Mate Sanikidze Merab DvalishviliOktagon MMA fighter Mate Sanikidze has worked closely with UFC contender Merab Dvalishvili as they are both from Tbilisi,…

Mate Sanikidze Merab Dvalishvili

Oktagon MMA fighter Mate Sanikidze has worked closely with UFC contender Merab Dvalishvili as they are both from Tbilisi, Georgia. We sit down with Sanikidze for an exclusive interview to discuss his upcoming fight and the UFC 306 main event.

Mate Sanikidze Talks Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 will be looking to capture the UFC bantamweight world title against ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley. While at Oktagon 61, upcoming on September 21, Sanikidze will be looking to make an impact in Oktagon’s bantamweight division. He is the former featherweight champion who is looking for gold at bantamweight.

Merab Dvalishvili UFC 306

Speaking in an interview with LowKickMMA, Sanikidze explained about Merab Dvalishvili:

“I have a good relationship with him. We are friends, and I know what’s happening in his heart — both as a friend and as a fighter. We could go so far if we start to describe particular things that will happen, but I just want to mention this: there’s only one guy, one guy, who can beat Sean O’Malley …

“There’s just one guy who can beat him. He’s the only one in the world because he has a lion heart. He’s patriotic, and his emotional state helps him before the fight.

“Your performance depends on your mood, you know? What really sets your mood, for example? In my case, before a fight, my mood isn’t always happy or anything like that.

“Every fighter is different. For Merab, it’s necessary to create a good mood naturally, not in a fake way or anything like that. And I know, I saw Merab in Tbilisi. We had a one-week camp together. We sparred, and I know he’s ready to beat the number one fighter in the world because he really is number one.”

See the full interview below:

Exclusive | Mate Sanikidze On Training Partner Merab Dvalishvili: “He has a Lionheart.”

Mate Sanikidze Merab DvalishviliOktagon MMA fighter Mate Sanikidze has worked closely with UFC contender Merab Dvalishvili as they are both from Tbilisi,…

Mate Sanikidze Merab Dvalishvili

Oktagon MMA fighter Mate Sanikidze has worked closely with UFC contender Merab Dvalishvili as they are both from Tbilisi, Georgia. We sit down with Sanikidze for an exclusive interview to discuss his upcoming fight and the UFC 306 main event.

Mate Sanikidze Talks Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 will be looking to capture the UFC bantamweight world title against ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley. While at Oktagon 61, upcoming on September 21, Sanikidze will be looking to make an impact in Oktagon’s bantamweight division. He is the former featherweight champion who is looking for gold at bantamweight.

Merab Dvalishvili UFC 306

Speaking in an interview with LowKickMMA, Sanikidze explained about Merab Dvalishvili:

“I have a good relationship with him. We are friends, and I know what’s happening in his heart — both as a friend and as a fighter. We could go so far if we start to describe particular things that will happen, but I just want to mention this: there’s only one guy, one guy, who can beat Sean O’Malley …

“There’s just one guy who can beat him. He’s the only one in the world because he has a lion heart. He’s patriotic, and his emotional state helps him before the fight.

“Your performance depends on your mood, you know? What really sets your mood, for example? In my case, before a fight, my mood isn’t always happy or anything like that.

“Every fighter is different. For Merab, it’s necessary to create a good mood naturally, not in a fake way or anything like that. And I know, I saw Merab in Tbilisi. We had a one-week camp together. We sparred, and I know he’s ready to beat the number one fighter in the world because he really is number one.”

See the full interview below:

Andreas Michailidis claims victory over ‘Apollo’ Silva in Oktagon Tipsport Gamechanger Round of 16 clash

Andreas MichailidisFormer UFC middleweight Andreas Michailidis captured a unanimous decision victory over Leandro ‘Apollo’ Silva at OKTAGON 40: TIPSPORT GAMECHANGER Round of 16. Michailidis is a former UFC middleweight who has faced off against the current 185lb champion, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira. His opponent, ‘Apollo’ Silva, is also a former UFC fighter, having gone 3-4-1 with wins […]

Andreas Michailidis

Former UFC middleweight Andreas Michailidis captured a unanimous decision victory over Leandro ‘Apollo’ Silva at OKTAGON 40: TIPSPORT GAMECHANGER Round of 16.

Michailidis is a former UFC middleweight who has faced off against the current 185lb champion, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira. His opponent, ‘Apollo’ Silva, is also a former UFC fighter, having gone 3-4-1 with wins over Efrain Escudero, Charlie Brenneman and Lewis Gonzalez.

Michailidis and Silva were competing in the Round of 16 in Oktagon’s one million euro Tipsport Gamechanger tournament. Whilst the fight was competitive throughout, Michailidis was the clear victor, having landed some of his signature kicks on Silva throughout the fight.

Silva did have success in the second round, appearing to come close to securing a submission at times. However, Michailidis survived, and now enters the quarter-finals of the million-euro tournament.

How far do you think Andreas Michailidis will go in the Oktagon tournament?

Bellator Kickboxing To Debut On April 16 On Spike TV

bellator-mma-logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oBhSq0xEA

Today in Houston, Texas as part of the festivities leading into tomorrow night’s Bellator MMA card, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that they will be launching a sub-brand, Bellator Kickboxing. Coker, of course, was a kickboxing promoter for decades before he ever got into MMA promotion. That’s why you sometimes hear about Strikeforce existing back into the mid-’80s; it was originally Coker’s kickboxing promotion with Cung Le and AKA head trainer Javier Mendez as the top stars. If you watched kickboxing on ESPN2 in the ’90s through the early ’00s, Coker provided much of that programming, with Lou Neglia’s northeast promotion making up most of the rest.

Coker and company unveiled a logo for the kickboxing promotion as part of the presentation:

https://twitter.com/ScottCoker/status/700433834223874048

The first card will take place on April 16th in Turin, Italy as part of a co-promotion with the Oktagon promotion that runs in the region. According to MMA Junkie’s report on the announcement, among the names being pushed as Bellator Kickboxing stars were Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross (one of Lion Fight’s signature stars), Keri Taylor-Melendez (Gilbert Melendez’s wife), and recent Bellator signee Anastasia Yankova.

Something like this had been rumored for a while, and became fairly obvious when Glory Kickboxing finished up with Spike TV after the “Glory” portion of the combined Bellator/Glory “Dynamite” card last year barely included Glory talent. On top of that, the Italy date and Oktagon’s involvement had both been public for a while, and it never really made sense why Bellator was co-promoting wth a local kickboxing group for a major MMA card.

bellator-mma-logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oBhSq0xEA

Today in Houston, Texas as part of the festivities leading into tomorrow night’s Bellator MMA card, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that they will be launching a sub-brand, Bellator Kickboxing. Coker, of course, was a kickboxing promoter for decades before he ever got into MMA promotion. That’s why you sometimes hear about Strikeforce existing back into the mid-’80s; it was originally Coker’s kickboxing promotion with Cung Le and AKA head trainer Javier Mendez as the top stars. If you watched kickboxing on ESPN2 in the ’90s through the early ’00s, Coker provided much of that programming, with Lou Neglia’s northeast promotion making up most of the rest.

Coker and company unveiled a logo for the kickboxing promotion as part of the presentation:

The first card will take place on April 16th in Turin, Italy as part of a co-promotion with the Oktagon promotion that runs in the region. According to MMA Junkie’s report on the announcement, among the names being pushed as Bellator Kickboxing stars were Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross (one of Lion Fight’s signature stars), Keri Taylor-Melendez (Gilbert Melendez’s wife), and recent Bellator signee Anastasia Yankova.

Something like this had been rumored for a while, and became fairly obvious when Glory Kickboxing finished up with Spike TV after the “Glory” portion of the combined Bellator/Glory “Dynamite” card last year barely included Glory talent. On top of that, the Italy date and Oktagon’s involvement had both been public for a while, and it never really made sense why Bellator was co-promoting wth a local kickboxing group for a major MMA card.