One of OKTAGON's biggest names to reside on British and Irish shores, Shem Rock, will be back in action at OKTAGON 56 when he will face Stefano Catacoli.
The 68kg catchweight bout will go down on April 20th at the Resorts World Arena, Birmingham on a card which was already shaping up with some of the best UK and Irish talent the promotion currently have signed.
One of a plethora of talent coming out of Next Generation MMA in Liverpool, Rock has the in cage ability and out of cage charisma to see him slowly develop into a huge start for the promotion.
As fight night rolls around, it will have been 10 months since fight fans have saw Rock in the cage. He was scheduled to fight on the promotions first ever UK show, OKTAGON 48, against Jaroslav Porkorny but the bout was pulled at the 11th hour after things got heated between the two at the weigh ins.
After going head to head and some jostling between them, security came in to separate the pair but as they done so, Rock clipped Porkorny with a kick to the mid-section and on the doctors advice, the morning of the fight, Porkorny withdrew from the contest.
The bout would have been the third of 2023 for Rock, who after signing with OKTAGON, had an extremely busy year. The 30-year-old first faced short notice replacement Arthur Lima at OKTAGON 42 and after a close fought 15 minutes, the bout was scored as a majority draw.
He picked up his first win OKTAGON 45 against Jan Malach, in impressive style. Rock came out quickly and after firing numerous kicks to the body and head of Malach before one of the shots landed flush to the body of Malach and send him scrambling back towards the fence. Rock then demonstrated his solid ground game and tied up a rear naked choke just over 2 minutes into the first round.
Although having only competed once so far under the OKTAGON banner, Stefano Catacoli looked like a serious talent in his promotional debut. Taking on the vastly more experienced Jan Siroky at OKTAGON 50, Catacoli showed an exceptional ground game and cruised to a unanimous decision win.
Prior to signing with OKTAGON, the 25-year-old had amassed a solid 5-1 record on the domestic scene, most notably with a win over former BAMMA and Bellator athlete Nathan Rose at the beginning of 2023.
Rock and Catacoli both find themselves in the Lightweight rankings, sitting sixth and seventh respectively. Although at 68kg catchweight, both men will be well aware that a statement win will send a message to not only the Lightweights, but the Featherweight division too.
Fighting out of what are widely regarded as two of the best gyms in the UK, fans inside the Resorts World Arena could be in for a fantastic match up.
