OKTAGON MMA have announced an exciting opening round of fights ahead of their upcoming Lightweight Tipsport Gamechanger tournament.
The first round of the Lightweight tournament will go down on March 2nd at the Ostravar Arena, Czech Republic and will feature promotional newcomers & familiar OKTAGON faces, alike.
Makwan Amirkhani will face Mochamed Machae, Mohamed Grabinski takes on Acoidan Duque, upcoming prospect Akonne Wanliss has his toughest challenge to date against Sahil Siraj and Vladimír Lengál will battle Daniel Torres for a place in the semi-finals.
The bout will mark the first time Amirkahni will enter the cage after parting ways with the UFC. ‘Mr Finland’ is a veteran of the sport, with 2024 marking his 14th year as a professional. Throughout his illustrious career, the 35-year-old has fought the who's who at 145lbs with names such as Arnold Allen, Edson Barboza and Jack Shore all featuring on his record.
Although 11 years his amateur, Mochamed Machae has enjoyed a lot of success in his short time as a professional. Joining the pro ranks in 2017, the Austrian has made light work of many of those put in front of him. For the majority of his victories if "THE BEAST" hasn’t blasted his opponent out in the first round, he’s cruised to unanimous decision victories. Amirkhani will pose a different threat to anything
Mohamed Grabinski will look to turn the tide of his current Oktagon form in his quest to become Tipsport Gamechanger Champion. The German fighter is no stranger to the Gamechanger format, having competed in the Welterweight tournament last year, coming up short against Andreas Michailidis in the quarter-finals.
In a professional career spanning 15 years, Acoidan Duque has competed on several major promotions including Bellator, PFL and BRAVE CF. He will enter the tournament on the back of two very impressive wins against Donovan Desmae and Aleksandr Chizov.
Akonne Wanless vs Shail Siraj has the potential to produce absolute fireworks. Wanliss enters the bout with 10 bouts under his belt. Having only joined the OKTAGON ranks last year, ‘J3DI’ has all the potential to become a huge star for the promotion with his elite striking and enigmatic style perfectly intertwining with his outgoing character. Yet to go the distance in any of his victories, Wanliss rarely finds himself entering the second round.
Siraj is another lethal striker, who will be looking to make an impact in his promotional debut. Of his 9 victories, 7 have come via strikes in the very first round. Having already competed on the likes of Cage Warriors & KSW, Siraj is no stranger to the big stage. After only making the walk once in 2022, the Swedish man had a very active 2023, competing three times and winning two of the three bouts.
Vladimir Lengal will be the most familiar face to OKTAGON fans. ‘Vlado’ has competed under their promotional banner 6 times, building a 3-3 record. The multifaceted athlete competes across numerous disciplines which led to him 11 times, across MMA, boxing and Muay Thai and Kickboxing, in just one calendar year! With all 6 of his MMA victories coming by way of KO/TKO, Torres will need to be wary of the power Lengal possesses.
Daniel Torres is the highest world ranked fighter of the eight. Much like his opponent, the former KSW World Champion has competed in numerous combat sports and has even been crowned a K1 world champion. After a difficult start to professional life, holding a 0-2-0-1 record after three fights, something switched and he now finds himself with a 14-5-0-2 record heading into the tournament.
The tournament is anyone’s to win and with such compelling contests in the opening round, fans will no doubt be treated to an extremely enthralling tournament as the fights roll on throughout the year.
