OKTAGON 97 preview: Hannover’s own Max Holzer gets his chance to become Germany’s first male OKTAGON champion against bantamweight titleholder Igor Severino

Holzer has been building to this for years. The 24-year-old from Fightschool Hannover is 12-0 as a professional, with 10 of those wins coming inside the distance, seven by submission, and he has become one of the faces of OKTAGON’s expansion into Germany, headlining cards in his home city along the way. He is currently ranked No. 2 at featherweight, which makes this a meaningful gamble: he is dropping to bantamweight to challenge for a title in the lighter division rather than waiting in line at 145 pounds.

The man in front of him has made the bantamweight belt his own. Severino, a 23-year-old Brazilian who trains at Chute Boxe João Emilio, won the vacant title earlier this year against 2023 PFL Europe tournament winner Khurshed Kakhorov and is 10-1 overall, having turned away every challenger OKTAGON has put in front of him since. Defending in Hannover, in front of a crowd that will be firmly against him, is the toughest assignment of his reign so far. The question is whether Holzer’s grappling and his record of finishing fights translate after the cut to 135, or whether the champion’s experience at the weight proves the difference.

The rest of the main card carries its own heat. Ozan Aslaner and Ireland’s Denis Frimpong meet at a 72-kilogram catchweight in a grudge match that has been building through months of verbal sparring. Aslaner, 11-6-1, arrives on back-to-back wins, while Frimpong, 8-4, will look to use his pace and output to spoil the night for the German fighter. The card also has a family subplot, with the champion’s brother, Matheus Severino, competing on the same night, and Hannover native Islam Djabrailov making his OKTAGON debut in front of his home crowd.

For OKTAGON, the night is another test of how far its German growth has come. Last week in Munich, Amiran Gogoladze denied Ayari, and the wait for a German male champion went on. On Saturday, a 12-0 fighter from the host city gets the next chance to end it.