Attila Korkmaz is ready to throw down at Oktagon 90 on June 20th, but the opponent standing across from him has changed at the last minute.
For Attila Korkmaz, MMA is more than technique training, and he clearly considers all of the different variables of the game. When expounding upon the composure and confidence this gives him heading into the fight, Attila Korkmaz said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I mean, going into the cage is probably one of the most stressful things a human can voluntarily experience. Yeah, like every athlete has a different way to deal with this kind of pressure. Like with anxiety, being nervous and stuff, obviously in front of a big stage. Oktagon manages to put on big, big shows with a great audience. It’s incredible. The atmosphere is incredible and every fighter has to be able to deal with this kind of pressure. For me, it’s just being well prepared with a methodical approach. Obviously, that covers like my whole lifestyle.”
“My whole lifestyle is dedicated to the fight game from nutrition, from what I do in my free time, from my training. All training sessions are also like I prepare them and I also review them. So, I get the most of each training and yeah, it’s good to have like a methodical approach. But this is like I think individual to every athlete.”
As Attila Korkmaz reflected on his bid for the Oktagon lightweight title that didn’t go his way but still imparted some lessons to him, Attila Korkmaz stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I mean, every fight it’s the nice thing about the fight game is especially in MMA, there’s so many variables. So obviously you can do everything that is in your hands and still not be able to control the result because there’s just too many factors in that. But the most important thing is to be persistent and no matter what kind of setbacks you experience, you just have to go forward and like ideally learn from them.”
“Yeah, my last fight it was a tough five rounder and I think even in like the third round I was even almost able to finish my opponent but he survived it and there were some things some adjustments I certainly made especially in my training also the way I fight, the way I move, I did some adjustments there and also some adjustments in my diet. Like for sure I did some adjustments there.”
“So I was able to increase a little bit of my performance and also yeah like there’s also some factors in many people outside they don’t notice this but like recovering from a big weight cut also has a big effect on the performance on the fight night. So, making some adjustments there and making sure that there’s like basically no room for error, so I can go in 100% into a fight and maintain my cardio. I think this is also like one of the bigger lessons.”
Attila Korkmaz explains why he prefers Oktagon MMA to his time in Bellator MMA
Attila Korkmaz had a strong resume capturing titles in promotions like NCFC, RFC, as well as European Beatdown, and got to showcase your skills on platforms like Bellator and ACA before. But when speaking to what it’s been like fighting for a promotion like Oktagon MMA, Atilla Korkmaz quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I mean the nice thing about Oktagon is they really give the athlete a chance to be transparent, a chance to be accessible for the fans beforehand. For instance, in Bellator, obviously Bellator was a much bigger promotion and known all around the world, but it seemed like they didn’t make the fighter so accessible. Like I was in Dublin, I knocked out the guy in the second or third round. I knocked out my opponent and I didn’t even get a post-fight interview or like any kind of interview.”
“Like the media was not present so much over there and also if you try to build up a fight, they didn’t allow you to build the fight. For instance before the weigh ins you were like standing in line next to your opponent, you know what I mean? So you couldn’t even like; any kind of conflict that you would like try to provoke, it just wouldn’t work. You wouldn’t even make it to the weigh ins then. It was all a little bit awkward but in Oktagon, they really help you sell the fight, promote yourself as a fighter, give you a platform.”
“They support you in terms of social media. Like they see if you present yourself well in interviews and if you put effort in promoting yourself, then they will see that and pick up on that. Maybe you’re creating a storyline and they will catch on that. It’s nice to have this. That’s why this promotion is getting recognition. I mean, the athletes who fight in Oktagon, they’re already like at least all around Germany, they get popular very, very quickly and all around Europe as well.”
“I mean, I’ve been like; I travel to some random European country, I just like travel through Europe. People recognize me already, which is like crazy, which you wouldn’t expect. But yeah, I think they do a really, really good job in becoming more and more popular. You see this in their events, they’re all they’re all booked full. The seats are full.”
When offering up his prediction for how things will play out on fight night, Attila Korkmaz said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I am going to finish him. I am going to finish him, for sure. Like I’m aiming for that. I don’t want to deal with any judges or whatever decision or anything. I just want to put him to sleep, whether my fists or with my jiu-jitsu skills and then ride into the sunset and grab an ice cream.
Expressing his final parting thoughts during his BTB appearance, Attila Korkmaz stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, guys, tune in for June 20th in Berlin in the Uber Arena. I’m fighting in Oktagon on the main card. Yeah, if you guys want to learn MMA and you don’t have any access to a big gym near your place, but you want to still train at home, you can visit learn MMA online where I have training programs for you. You just need to work those, step by step, and you’ll see immediate improvements.”
