OKTAGON will round off an impressive 2023 with their Tipsport Gamechanger Final and an interim title fight on December 29th when the promotion descends on to the 02 Arena in Prauge, Czech Republic.
The Tipsport Gamechanger tournament pitted 8 of the best Welterweights against each other at the start of the year in a knockout style tournament with the two finalists meeting on the final card of the year.
Bojan Velickovic & Andreas Michailidis find themselves as the last two athletes standing in the Tipsport Challenger finale and will compete in a bout in which the winner will not only walk away with all the glory but a life changing €300,000.
The tournament has kept both athletes extremely active, having already competed three times this year to earn their place in the final. It has been a dream start to Michailidis’ OKTAGON tenure, with the Greek’s debut coming in the opening round of the tournament. In a tough contest, against Leonardo Silva, ‘The Spartan’ made sure he did not leave any other bouts in the hands of the judges, with a second round arm triangle against Mohamed Grabinski and a 1st round stoppage in the semi-final against Louis Glismann.
Velickovic has arguably had the superior run to the final having ended two of his three tournament bouts in the first round, with an Anaconda choke over Ion Surdu and a TKO stoppage over David Kozma in the semi-finals.
With Patrik Kincl’s injury keeping the champion sidelined for an extended period of time, the no. 2 ranked Vlasto Cepo has the chance to become the interim Middleweight king when he battles it out with promotional newcomer, Piotr Wawrzynia, in the co-main event of the evening.
Cepo will be keen to end the year on a high, following a frustrating 12 months, having only made the walk to the cage once in 2023, with a TKO finish over Ion Taburceanu in April. The fan favourite has fell foul of several pull outs over the last year, having had four opponents withdraw from contests against him.
Wawrzyniak will step up and look to make the most of the biggest opportunity of his career so far. Riding a cool four fight win streak, in which he collected the Babylon MMA Middleweight strap, Wawrzyniak is widely regarded as one of the best talents at 185lbs in Poland.
In an extremely intriguing match up, Samuel ’Pirat’ Krištofic and Karlos Vémola eventually have the opportunity to settle their rivalry.
Having been chasing the bout from the second his pen met the OKTAGON contract, Krištofic seized the opportunity to put himself in an undeniable position to face Vemola, stepping up on short notice to replace the veteran and claim the interim title back in 2021.
The two were scheduled to fight at OKTAGON 30 and unify the division but Vemola was forced to withdraw due to an injury. Ever since, there has been a bitter taste in the mouth of 'Pirat' and following his record breaking victory at OKTAGON 47, Vemola wants to end the 6 year rivalry in his last bout at the 02.
The athletes and fans alike, will be delighted when the cage door locks on December 29th and the fight that has been years in the making, will eventually come to fruition.
Other notable names on the card include Stefano Paterno, Daniel Škvor and Chiara Penco.
