Fighters Only : Former KSW champ Scott Askham joins Oktagon on loan, set for Oktagon 48 in Manchester

Simon Head

Oct 13, 2023

Former KSW middleweight champion Scott Askham is the latest name to be added to the fight card for Oktagon 48 as the Czech-Slovak promotion continues its preparations for its first UK event.

Askham will take on former KSW light heavyweight Marc Doussis in a 92.5-kilo (203.9 pound) catchweight matchup in the co-main event at the AO Arena in Manchester on November 4.

Askham, who is still a contracted KSW athlete, has been given special permission to head back to UK soil to fight on the Oktagon card, with KSW officials telling Fighters Only that Askham will compete for Oktagon under a one fight deal.

"We are happy to help Oktagon with this event, and also for Scott to keep active," a KSW official told Fighters Only.

"It should be a fun fight between a KSW fighter and a former KSW fighter."

Askham, who captured the BAMMA middleweight title in the UK before heading to the global stage with the UFC, went 2-4 in the Octagon before heading back to the European scene.

He joined Polish promotion KSW in 2018 and made an instant impact with a first-round body-kick finish of former middleweight champion Michal Materla. That win put him into KSW's middleweight tournament, and another first-round body-kick finish, this time of Marcin Wojcik, propelled him into the final, and a rematch with Materla, for the vacant 185-pound title.

The rematch took a little longer, but Askham produced another eye-catching finish as he knocked out Materla with a spectacular flying knee in the third round to win the tournament and capture the vacant title.

Askham's last three bouts all came against the same man, as he engaged in a memorable trilogy with KSW legend Mamed Khalidov. First, he outpointed the former middleweight champion in a non-title fight in Gliwice at KSW 52, but a rematch for the belt at KSW 55 saw Khalidov finish the Brit in just 36 seconds with a stunning flying switch-kick.

Remarkably, Khalidov repeated the feat in their third meeting, as he used the same technique to finish Askham in the third round in Warsaw at KSW 83 in June.

Now Askham gets the opportunity to come home and compete on UK soil for the first time since October 2018 as he takes on Germany's Doussis in search of another memorable moment on home soil.

The card will be headlined by a battle for the vacant Oktagon flyweight title, as Wales' Aaron Aby takes on American contender Elias Garcia for the 125-pound championship, while former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Jack Cartwright will make his promotional debut in a title eliminator against Croatian contender Antun Racic.