Oktagon 52: The Showdown

Oktagon 52 will return to the UK this weekend in a highly anticipated bantamweight showdown between Jonas Magard & Jack Cartwright.

The European promotion made it’s UK debut in November of last year and gave British fans a real taste of what can be expected from the ever dynamic Oktagon MMA. Shoaib Yousaf, a phenomenal British talent picked up a decisive victory and will also feature on the card in Newcastle this Saturday. Highly touted prospect George Staines defeated Irishman Denis Frimpong. Frimpong will be part of this weekends action too.

Jack Cartwright, who is one half of this weekends main event made his Oktagon debut. He made light work of Junior Assis with a first round submission victory. A fun matchup between scouse comedian Paul Smith & reality TV star Jake Quickenden was an added bonus drawing plenty of eyes. Both men trained MMA for a full twelve months prior to their matchup. Raising a significant amount of money for their chosen charities. Quickenden made easy work of Smith with a first round TKO.

The card also saw former UFC star Scott Askham debut with a points victory. Unfortunately though, we had a disappointing end to the main event. Welsh talent Aaron Aby was in control against Elias Garcia when challenging for the flyweight title. However, a bad cut called for a doctor stoppage, bringing a premature end to the contest.

Oktagon 52: Magard Vs Cartwright

Oktagon now return a mere two months later. Their second show in the UK brings a stacked fight card and a main event that is guaranteed to deliver. It is safe to say that there is no love lost between the former two-time Oktagon champion Jonas ‘Shark’ Magard & the former three-time Cage Warriors champion Jack Cartwright. This fight has been in the works for a number of years. Now, it is finally time to see the bitter rivals face off in the cage. Tensions have already begun to spill over between the pair. It is safe to say that these two certainly won’t need to go looking for each other on fight night. Both men have stated their desire to ‘stand-and-bang’ with one another. The opportunity to fight Felipe Lima for the title awaits the victor.

Magard, the former champion, lost his last bout via unanimous decision to current champion Felipe Lima. Whilst Cartwright, will be hoping a win here is no more than a stepping stone to the Oktagon championship.

The Main Card

The main event isn’t the only fight on this card that is certain to deliver though. The co-main event will see the super talented Matej Penaz face off against a veteran of UK MMA in Matthew Bonner. Bonner will be looking for his second consecutive win with Oktagon and will look to use his experience to outsmart Penaz. Penaz on the other hand is within touching distance of a shot at the title and has no intention of letting Bonner steal his limelight.

Aaron Aby, who headlined the show in Manchester, will look to bounce back from his disappointment and get back his shot at the title. Aby, a cancer survivor has a huge amount of support and that will show as he takes on Christopher Daniel. British heavyweight Stuart Austin & Adam Palasz will try to insert themselves into the title picture. Currently ranked at #1 & #2 respectively. These two can’t afford any slip ups in a fight which could explode.

The main card opener will feature Shoaib Yousaf and Eduard Kexel. Yousaf has been extremely impressive to-date but is keen to get his first finish with Oktagon. On the other side of the cage, the extremely dangerous German, Eduard Kexel. Kexel will look to catapult himself into the rankings with a win here. Kexel carries plenty of power in his hands and Yousaf will need to be on his toes.

The Prelims

Corey Fry will look to move up the rankings with another victory against Oktagon newcomer Max Holzer. Denis Frimpong will look to halt his slide as he tries to avoid going 0-3. He takes on the experienced Jan Siroky. Local boy Nathan Haywood will want to impress his home support as he challenges Roman Paulus. Jake McHugh and Armand Herczeg will run it back following their England Vs Ireland contest. Finally, Daniel Bainbridge will open the card against Hamza Dagdeviren.

The Oktagon 52 Showdown has now been released and you can watch it right here. For more information on the event, the card and all ticket details, head over to OktagonMMA.com