This past Saturday, October 18, OKTAGON made history once again by becoming the first major MMA promotion to be broadcast on mainstream TV network, RTL, in Germany. Lanxess Arena played host for OKTAGON 78 and 20,000 fans packed into the venue to witness another memorable night of action which included six first round stoppages.
Ivica Trušček (45-39) stunned Cologne into silence when he finished Christian Eckerlin (17-8, 1NC) during round one of their welterweight headliner. The Croatian brawler winded up on top of ‘The King of Germany’ and unleashed a series of elbows until the bout was waved off. It was the biggest win of Trušček’s eighty-four fight career while Eckerlin promised that he would return in search of victory again.
In the co-main event, Alina Dalaslan (4-0) remained unbeaten by besting Katharina Lehner (9-8) over three rounds at bantamweight. The 25-year-old landed the more significant strikes over fifteen minutes and got the nod on all judges’ scorecards. After the matchup, she teased a potential move down to flyweight where she would have number one ranked contender, Veronika Smolková, in her sights.
Two feature contests in the heavyweight division went down which provided some more clarity for the division. Kasim Aras (11-5) earned a unanimous decision win over Simon Biyong (11-6) and Patrick Vespaziani (6-2) continued his momentum by finishing Olutobi Kalejaiye (9-9) in the very first round.
Elsewhere on the card, Cihad Akipa (10-2) stopped David Piechaczek (4-2) by TKO in a back-and-forth middleweight battle and Tamerlan Dulatov (3-0) finished Henrique Melo (2-1) in just 52 seconds at welterweight. Marek Bartl (16-14) also delivered a spectacular spinning elbow which knocked out Kennedy Rayomba (6-6) during the first round of their middleweight matchup.
OKTAGON 78 Results
Main Card
Main EventWelterweightIvica Trušček (45-39) defeated Christian Eckerlin (17-8, 1NC) by TKO (elbows and punches) at 3:34 of round one
Co-Main EventBantamweightAlina Dalaslan (4-0) defeated Katharina Lehner (9-8) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
HeavyweightKasim Aras (11-5) defeated Simon Biyong (11-6) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
MiddleweightCihad Akipa (10-2) defeated David Piechaczek (4-2) by TKO (punches) at 2:12 of round two
HeavyweightPatrick Vespaziani (6-2) defeated Olutobi Kalejaiye (9-9) by TKO (elbows) at 2:23 of round one
Catchweight (74kg/163lbs)Arijan Topallaj (8-2-1) defeated Hassan Kayani (3-1-1) by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Preliminary Card
WelterweightTamerlan Dulatov (3-0) defeated Henrique Melo (2-1) by TKO (punches) at 0:52 of round one
MiddleweightMarek Bartl (16-14) defeated Kennedy Rayomba (6-6) by knockout (spinning elbow) at 2:59 of round one
Catchweight (95kg/209lbsSamuel Chavarría (7-0) defeated Aleksandar Stefanovic (5-8, 1NC) by verbal submission (strikes) at 2:19 of round one
Catchweight (68kg/150lbs)Altin Zenuni (2-0) defeated Marcel Máša (5-4) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Amateur Catchweight (80kg/176lbs)Michael Obodozie (4-0) defeated Chiril Negru (13-2) by knockout (punch) at 0:19 of round one
OKTAGON are back in less than two weeks with an exciting card packed full of fun matchups from the Czech city of Brno. Ion Surdu puts his welterweight title on the line in the OKTAGON 79 headliner opposite fellow fan favorite, Andrej Kalašnik. Radek Roušal battles it out with Corey Fry, Samuel Bark returns against Mate Sanikidze and Tomáš Mudroch looks for another first round finish opposite Jakub Dohnal.
