OKTAGON MMA’s ambitious expansion into Germany began last year with two incredible, sold-out shows at the iconic Festhalle Frankfurt. For the top European promotion’s first event of 2023, we are continuing our German story and heading to the city of Munich for the very first time.
Oktagon 39 goes down on Saturday, February 11 and kicks off undoubtably the most historic year yet for the organization. Audi Dome will host the biggest MMA event that Munich has ever seen which features a plethora of the best talent from the scene. In the main event, German fan-favorite Christian Jungwirth takes on experienced Brazilian Denilson Neves de Oliveira, in a welterweight contest.
Jungwirth (12-6) has established himself as one of the most popular fighters on the roster due to his aggressive and all-action style whenever he steps inside the cage. “The Kelt” constantly pushes the pace and is the only athlete participating in the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger welterweight tournament who has taken a bout before the opening round. He will look to please the partisan crowd in his first headliner for the promotion before taking that momentum with him to Ostrava on March 4.
De Oliveira (17-9) is very familiar to the German fans after his recent rivalry with domestic superstar Christian Eckerlin. The 27-year-old will not be intimidated by traveling into his adversary’s backyard and is intent on causing an upset. “Trator” has never been finished due to strikes so could embrace a straight shootout with Jungwirth – a prospect that guarantees fireworks.
A highly intriguing light-heavyweight clash between rising contender Alexander Poppeck and German MMA pioneer Martin Zawada takes place in the evening’s co-headliner.
Poppeck (15-4) is one of the scariest men in OKTAGON MMA and on the hunt for the biggest win of his career so far. The German giant successfully returned to the promotion in October when he finished Nermin Hajdarpasic by TKO in less than two minutes and proceeded to call out Zawada in his post-fight interview. “Ironside” got his wish when the bout was booked for his hometown of Munich, and now he wants to ruthlessly take out a legend as he continues his climb in the division.
Zawada (29-17-1) made his MMA debut back in 2003 but is still as hungry as ever to entertain spectators by putting on exciting fights. The man known as “King Kong” joined OKTAGON MMA last June when he competed against Stephan Puetz in “The Battle for Germany” following a stint as coach on OKTAGON Challenge Germany. After that bout, he toyed with the idea of retirement but decided not to when Poppeck mentioned his name. Will the German legend prove he can still compete with the upper tier of the division? This is a fight that cannot be missed.
Undefeated OKTAGON MMA lightweight champion Losene Keita (9-0) drops down to featherweight for the first time on February 11 as he looks to begin his charge for a second championship belt. The Belgian sensation will be welcomed to the division by talented striker Samuel Bark (8-1) who is riding a five-fight winning streak. Bark was tearing through the Cage Warriors 145-pound weight class before making the switch to his new home. The winner of this contest will definitely have featherweight king Mate Sanikidze firmly in their sights.
In other feature bouts, heavyweight powerhouse Hatef Moeil (13-4) looks to secure a crack at the vacant title when he faces dangerous finisher Wallyson Carvalho (13-7) and No. 2-ranked light heavyweight Rafael Xavier (11-6) also has gold on his mind when he meets the Slovakian Pavol Langer (10-9).
Elsewhere on the card, Ronald Paradeiser (15-8) returns after a 21-second knockout victory in December to challenge promotional newcomer Vlado Sikic (12-1-1) in a lightweight matchup, and UFC veteran Niklas Stolze (12-6) squares off with the U.K.’s James Lewis (8-4) at welterweight.
The complete Oktagon 39 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD
- Christian Jungwirth vs. Denilson Neves de Oliveira
- Alexander Poppeck vs. Martin Zawada
- Losene Keita vs. Samuel Bark
- Rafael Xavier vs. Pavol Langer
- Ronald Paradeiser vs. Vlado Sikic
- Hatef Moeil vs. Wallyson Carvalho
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Niklas Stolze vs. James Lewis
- Vladimír Lengal vs. Michael Deiga-Scheck
- Marek Bartl vs. Kevin Hangs
- Francesco Bocca vs. Tayo Odunjo
