Stuart Austin has the chance to become England’s first OKTAGON champion when he faces Hatef Moeil at OKTAGON 57 on May 4th 2023.
The 35-year-old has had a career resurgence since signing with Czech Republic based promotion. After amassing a 1-2 record under the PFL banner, Austin made the switch to OKTAGON and is yet to taste defeat having done so.
Making his debut at OKTAGON 42, Austin faced John Winter. The Brit cruised to a unanimous decision win against 'Winter Is Coming' and made a statement to the rest of the division, proving his excellent cardio and top tier wrestling could be a challenge for all in the division and instantly landing himself in the upper echelons of the heavyweight rankings.
The rest of 2023 proved to be a frustrating time for the 'He-Man' having had three contests, two against Michal Andryszak and one against Przemyslaw Mysiala, pulled before he could make the walk.
His biggest bout to date for the promotion, came at OKTAGON 52 when he faced the then-number one ranked Adam Palasz. Although he dropped the first round, Austin admitted post-fight that he didn’t mind as he could feel Palasz was starting to tire after the opening stanza and after landing clean and dropping the Polishman, Austin showed his grappling prowess and tied up a tight arm triangle to secure his second successive victory with the promotion.
That all but secured his spot as the next in line to face Moeil and the promotion confirmed as much earlier this week(February 20th). Speaking to Fighters Only, Austin revealed just what it would mean for him to be the first Brit to claim OKTAGON gold, he said:
"It's exciting to be fighting for the top dog position in the fastest growing promotion in Europe, right now. I am happy to be leading the way of all the British fighters, I really want to be the guy leading the way moving forward as OKTAGON grows.
"The shows I’ve been to, the shows I have fought on have been amazing and I think the Arena Festhalle in Germany is going to be even better so, I am really excited just to see the event, to see my opponent across from me, win the belt and be the top dog in the biggest division!"
Moeil has looked seriously impressive throughout his time with OKTAGON.
Since his last loss back in 2018, the German has hit the best form of his career. Moeil took some time to get going as a professional, having held a 4-4 record after his first eight fights. However, something switched in ‘Boss’ following his loss to Marcin Wojcik at KSW 42 and he is currently riding an eleven fight win streak!
After competing for numerous different promotions, Moeil signed with OKTAGON 2022 and made his first walk at OKTAGON 33, where he defeated Kerisson Leal.
He was straight back at it four months later at OKTAGON 36, where he pulled out another emphatic performance and stopped Jeremy Kimball when after getting the bout to the ground, Moeil unleashed a barrage of heavy strikes to the head and knees to the body, forcing the referee to wave the contest off a little over a minute into the second round.
2023 proved to be Moeil's crowning year. A unanimous decision win over Wallyson Carvalho at OKTAGON 39 led to a main event showdown against Lazar Todev at OKTAGON 49. in a thrilling five round contest, Moeil had to call upon all of his experience to make sure he made it to the final bell after a cut above his eye led to some horrendous swelling that could have seen the contest stopped.
He took the bout, 48-47, 49-46,49-46 and with that, was crowned the new OKTAGON Heavyweight champion
