OKTAGON 54: Full card and where to watch as the €1 million Gamechanger tournament begins

This weekend, the European MMA Champions League is back.Fourteen of the best lightweights from the continent representing eleven countries will compete in the opening round of the bracket with life changing prize money on the line.

All of the action goes down at OKTAGON 54 this Saturday night, March 2, from Ostrava, Czech Republic on an absolutely loaded card.

In the main event, the longest reigning champion in the promotion, Patrik Kincl (27-10, 1NC), wants to unify the middleweight division when he collides with interim belt holder, Piotr Wawrzyniak (12-5).

Kincl first won the title in February 2022 and went on to defend it against Alex Lohoré and arch nemesis, Karlos Vémola.

In contrast, Wawrzyniak only made his OKTAGON MMA debut this past December, stepping up on short notice to stop Vlasto Čepo in impressive fashion while Kincl was injured to claim interim gold.

OKTAGON MMA lightweight champion, Ronald Paradeiser (18-8), enters the tournament bracket in the co-main event against Bellator veteran, Attila Korkmaz (14-7).

‘Rony’ is currently riding a five-fight winning streak, having finished four of those opponents including Andrew Fisher and Ivan Buchinger.

Korkmaz is known as ‘The Fearless’, which perfectly encapsulates his style inside the cage, and has only been stopped once in his career. The winner of this Slovakia vs Turkey battle will advance to the quarter finals in a few months.

UFC veteran, Makwan Amirkhani (17-9), will return to competition for the first time in a year to take on surging Austrian talent, Mochamed Machaev (13-1, 1NC), in the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger opening round.

‘Mr Finland’ is arguably the biggest name in the whole field and wants to prove that his best days are still ahead of him.

Many have been talking about Machaev for some time and now the top prospect gets the chance to announce himself to the international audience on Saturday night.

Also in the tournament, Czech striking phenom, Vladimír Lengál (6-2), welcomes former KSW champion, Daniel Torres (14-5, 2NC), to OKTAGON MMA and Polish standout, Mateusz Legierski (10-1), rematches Muay Thai specialist, Matouš Kohout (9-6).

Dropping down to his natural weight class, Marcel Grabinski (23-9), returns to the European MMA Champions League for a second time to face Spanish BJJ black belt, Acoidan Duque (19-4, 1NC), and Akonne Wanliss (7-2, 1NC) unleashes the force to represent the UK against knockout artist, Sahil Siraj (9-2).

Elsewhere on the card, at just 20-years-old, the youngest participant in the bracket, Hafeni Nafuka (8-0), meets Serbian champion, Predrag Bogdanović (15-1), and at featherweight, Radek Roušal (2-0) continues his transition to MMA opposite debuting Englishman, Luke Neale (3-1).

OKTAGON 54 will be broadcast live on OKTAGON.TV internationally as well as worldwide on the global platform, DAZN, in all markets except from CZ/SK.

Fans in the UK/Ireland can tune in on Channel 4 and RMC Sport will broadcast the event for viewers in France. COSMOTE.tv will stream the show in Greece. The action begins at 5pm GMT/6pm CET/12pm ET/9am CT.

 

OKTAGON 54 Main Card

Main Event - OKTAGON MMA Undisputed Middleweight Title
(c) Patrik Kincl (27-10, 1NC) vs. (ic) Piotr Wawrzyniak (12-5)

Co-Main Event - Tipsport Gamechanger
Ronald Paradeiser (18-8) vs. Atilla Korkmaz (14-7)

Tipsport Gamechanger
Makwan Amirkhani (17-9) vs. Mochamed Machaev (13-1, 1NC)

Tipsport Gamechanger
Vladimír Lengál (6-2) vs. Daniel Torres (14-5, 2NC)

Tipsport Gamechanger
Mateusz Legierski (10-1) vs. Matouš Kohout (9-6)

Tipsport Gamechanger
Marcel Grabinski (23-9) vs. Acoidan Duque (19-4, 1NC)

Tipsport Gamechanger
Akonne Wanliss (7-2, 1NC) vs. Sahil Siraj (9-2)

Tipsport Gamechanger
Hafeni Nafuka (8-0) vs. Predrag Bogdanović (15-1)

Preliminary Card

Featherweight Bout
Radek Roušal (2-0) vs. Luke Neale (3-1)

Tipsport Gamechanger Reserve Bout
Jason Ponet (24-16-1, 1NC) vs. Łukasz Rajewski (12-9, 1NC)

Tipsport Gamechanger Reserve Bout
Miloš Janičić (16-3) vs. Ebrahim Hosseinpour (8-7)