On this week’s show, Bryan and Josh recap the huge OKTAGON 38 event from December 30 that saw a new champion crowned in front of almost 20,000 fans at the O2 Arena, Prague – the largest attendance for an MMA event in Europe last year. They also look ahead to some exciting projects to come from OKTAGON MMA including the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger welterweight tournament as well as ‘Stage to the Cage’ which will kickstart the organisation’s expansion to the UK & Ireland.
Paul Smith joins the show after being announced as one competitor in the “Stage to the Cage” project, where two U.K. celebrities will train for 10 months before fighting each other at the first OKTAGON MMA event in England later this year. The top stand-up comedian describes his experience at OKTAGON 38, explains his motivations for stepping into the sport and highlights the charity he will be donating his purse to – “Weapons Down, Gloves Up.”
Significant quotes from the interview and the full episode can be seen below.
Smith: “(MMA) is the best form of anti-depressant I’ve ever found in my life. I’ve been saying this over the last couple of months, above everything, it’s really sorted my head out, this. It’s really helped me mentally. I’m not saying I was in a terrible place before I started it, but I was making some bad choices, and now it’s really got me focused on something. I feel great. I wake up feeling sore and great at the same time every single day.”
Current OKTAGON MMA bantamweight champion Jonas Magard (14-5) also gives an exclusive interview detailing his recent injury that prevented him from defending his belt at OKTAGON 38 as well as giving his views on newly crowned interim belt holder, Gustavo Lopez, who he has trained with in the past. “Shark” stated, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I must say after this injury happened, I did feel sorry for myself for like one day. I went to the toilet, looked at myself in the mirror, and I spat on it because I should never feel sorry for myself. Everything happens for a reason.’
OKTAGON HYPE is a magazine show for international audiences featuring the latest news, exclusive interviews, event recaps, card previews and much more. It also allows MMA fans from all around the world to learn about the backstories of the promotion’s biggest stars (many of which are mainstream, household names in different regions) through different insight segments. Every two weeks, a new episode is released on the OKTAGON MMA UK & Ireland YouTube channel.
