Cologne experiences spectacle at Oktagon MMA - and Eckerlin loses
Record crowds, spectacular fights and cracking knockouts. A whole host of German fighters have to prove themselves at the MMA event in Cologne. They succeed, although not all of them leave the cage as winners.
It was supposed to be a Saturday evening with records and thrilling MMA fights. The Czech promoter Oktagon succeeded in doing what many thought was impossible years ago. 19,000 spectators celebrated in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne - never before have there been so many people at an MMA event in Germany. The cage fighters from Germany celebrated several successes, even the losing athletes had their highlights.
For Hatef Moeil and Lazar Todev, the main fight was for the heavyweight title. Moeil from Düsseldorf had the power advantage on his side, while Todev from Stuttgart had the speed and agility. Although Moeil comes from a wrestling background, the fight remained stationary without exception. The first three rounds followed the same pattern. Moeil shot forward in a measured and always explosive manner in order to get a punch combination through. Todev slowed his opponent down with kicks to the calf and quick jabs.
In round four, Moeil landed more punches, but the kicks to the calf were noticeable. Todev repeatedly applied them and forced the Iranian-born fighter to change his delivery. Another leg kick even caused Moeil to stagger. In round five, Moeil went on the offensive, giving Todev wild swings, the Bulgarian literally ran away in the ring, but in many situations he also had effective answers. He gave Moeil a cut above and a swelling under his eye - which severely impaired his vision. Both ended the final round in a wild exchange of blows. After a close points decision, Moeil was able to celebrate as the new heavyweight champion.
Eckerlin shows his full range against Silva
For Germany's best-known MMA fighter Christian Eckerlin, the fight against Leandro Silva was the expected difficult task - and both delivered an MMA spectacle that had pretty much everything a fan could want to see. The first round was still a kind of feeling out. Eckerlin worked on the Brazilian's front leg, skillfully mixing feints and one-two punch combinations. Silva often countered with right straights. Eckerlin initially intercepted a takedown at the end of the round, but the Brazilian still took him down and was unable to use the few remaining seconds to score. Things then became much more open in round two: both the German and Silva landed effective punches.
In particular, Silva's almost ruthless right jab repeatedly shook Eckerlin, even taking him down once. While Eckerlin was frenetically cheered on by the crowd, there were boos for the Brazilian, who had taken a liking to his role. Almost motionless and without cover, Silva stood at the edge of the cage and provoked Eckerlin. Eckerlin went for a takedown, lifted Silva up and threw him to the ground. Silva seized the opportunity and immediately went for a heel hook, twisting the Frankfurt-born fighter's ankle. Eckerlin made himself difficult, leaned over Silva and countered with elbow strikes.
In round three, the 36-year-old Silva's experience made itself felt - he repeatedly landed the majority of the punches with counter-attacks. Eckerlin was bleeding from the mouth and nose when the final siren sounded. The judges saw Silva ahead in the end with 29-28,29-28,29-28. "I wanted to win the fight. I'm not a winner or a loser - the fans are the real winners," said the defeated German. "Look at where the sport has gone." Afterwards, Eckerlin, who turned 36 a few days ago, demanded a birthday serenade from the audience. The 19,000 spectators loudly complied with his request.
Engizek makes short work of it again
After his one-punch knockout victory in his debut a few weeks ago, Kerim Engizek wanted to make another exclamation mark. A new opponent had to be found for the Düsseldorf native at short notice, and Oktagon was able to match him with Adam Horváth, an experienced fighter who is tall and lanky for middleweight. Both fighters traded leg kicks before the Hungarian went for a takedown and took Engizek's back. However, the German-Turkish fighter easily straightened up on the edge of the cage and turned into the better position. He then dominated his opponent in ground-and-pound. When Horváth, who had clearly been hit by punches, was able to stand up, Engizek landed a hard right hook that sent the Hungarian straight back down - another knockout victory for the 32-year-old.
Oktagon in Cologne was to be the big stage for the absolute local hero Deniz "El Pistolero" Ilbay. He ran in to "Viva Colonia" complete with sombrero and Mexican mask. The audience roared along. The featherweight fight against Britain's Corey Fry initially went as expected. Former boxer Ilbay let his fists fly and put his opponent under pressure, landing some heavy blows. However, he then interspersed kicks, one of which Fry caught and switched directly to a ground fight. In the end, Ilbay had to concede defeat to the Brit.
Niklas Stolze's comeback could hardly have gone better: The welterweight fighter defeated Czech Adam Kalasnik by knockout in round one.After a takedown from his opponent and a long clinch at the edge of the cage, Stolze was able to break free and land a left-right combination that put Kalasnik down.
"MMA Germany is finally where it should be," said the 30-year-old after the fight. "I knew that I had more batz in my hands at 77 kilograms. Kalasnik deserves a lot of respect for stepping up." Several opponents had previously turned him down.
Veteran Bonner stops talented Akipa
Cologne-born Chihad Akipa had a real tough opponent in Matthew Bonner. Bonner was already champion with the British organization Cage Warriors. The Brit went for an early takedown and wrestled Akipa to the ground, who tends to be stronger when standing. Bonner controlled the action and Akipa's back, landing several punches. The previously unbeaten Akipa squirmed for a long time, but was only able to free himself a minute before the end of the round. The roles were reversed in round two: Akipa piled on the pressure, wrestling Bonner to the ground and landing powerful punches to the head and body. The Brit repeatedly tried to shift the fight to the ground, but the German fended off the attempts and landed several knee strikes to the body in the clinch.
Both fighters only had a week to prepare for the cage duel - this was evident in round three, when the strength on both sides dwindled. Bonner ultimately had more energy in the tank: the Brit kept looking for the clinch and inflicted Akipa with knee strikes. Although the man from Cologne looked wobbly on his feet, he still had the speed of reaction to avoid many of Bonner's swings. With the exception of one knee, Akipa did not deliver enough counter-strikes to win over the judges, who saw Bonner ahead on points (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
For Konrad Dyrschka, the fight began on his back. The Brazilian's first takedown went through straight away and Silva clung to the German's back for the entire round, repeatedly trying to apply takedowns and punches. Dyrschka tried to wriggle out of the bad position and land punches himself. It was not until ten seconds before the end that Silva went for a dangerous armbar hold. Dyrschka gritted his teeth and saved himself over time. The fighter from the Düsseldorf UFD Gym was much more active in the second round, landing several one-two combinations and body kicks. Silva actually only had one strong combination that found its target. The fight was therefore even on points.
In the final third round, Dyrschka was once again much more agile, landing punches and even scoring a knockdown that sent the Brazilian to the ground. The 32-year-old followed up with elbow strikes and punches. This time Silva managed to survive the round. The judges decided in favor of Dyrschka by majority decision. "That was a shitty fight," said Dyrschka afterwards and thanked his supporters from Leipzig. After his serious motorcycle accident, he was glad that he was able to fight again. "I turned down a lot of offers to be able to fight here. I wanted to make history here in front of almost 19,000 spectators."
However, Arijan Topallaj made the most successful start from a German perspective on Saturday evening. The fighter from Balingen in Baden-Württemberg made a big statement. The fight against Slovakian Roman Paulus went much better than the preliminary round. Topallaj stepped in with just one week's preparation and had to bring his fighting weight below 70 kg in a short space of time. One day before the fight, both fighters agreed on a catchweight of 76 kg.
In the fight itself, Topallaj immediately put a lot of pressure on Paulus, who had not yet lost a fight prematurely. The fighter from Balingen initially worked his opponent over with leg kicks, while Paulus shifted the fight into the clinch and to the edge of the cage. Topallaj then brought the Slovakian to the ground with a hip throw and applied a submission hold (anaconda choke) - Paulus had to tap out. For Topallaj, it was the sixth win of his career, the last five all decided in the first round.
Source: www.ntv.de
