James Hendin has become the latest prospect to sign with OKTAGON, with his promotional debut set for OKTAGON 56 on April 20 in Birmingham.
The Featherweight is set to face Jakub 'Hezoun' Dohnal
After joining the professional ranks in 2018, a first round KO/TKO in his debut immediately caught the attention of Cage Warriors, who signed him up shortly thereafter.
Hendin would call Cage Warriors home for the next four years and build a solid 7-2 promotional record, with his only losses coming to two former champions in the shape of Jordan Vucenic and Paul Hughes.
After a round two stoppage against Joshua Onwordi at Cage Warriors 102 followed by back to back unanimous decision wins against Kingsley Crawford, Jordan Barton and Kris Edwards, Hendin found himself in a bout which was largely considered to be a number one contender bout against Paul Hughes.
Hughes started and ended the bout as the stronger of the two with Hendin having some success in the second stanza of their contest but it wasn't enough to take the fight as he dropped a unanimous position.
The 26-year-old bounced back to winning ways against Paull McBain before a last minute change to proceedings led to Hendin fighting for the Featherweight strap exactly one year after his loss to Hughes.
At Cage Warriors 134, Hendin was originally scheduled to face Tobias Harila as champion Vucenic and interim champion Hughes were set to fight to unify the division's title. However, a last minute injury to Hughes ruled him out of the bout just days prior to the event. Hendin stepped in to save the main event and after an impressive first round, he was caught in a rear naked choke in the second.
Since the Vucenic defeat, the TFT MMA prospect has beaten Araik Margarian and Tobias Harila.
Standing opposite Hendin in the Resorts World Arena will be Jakub Dohnal. The number 10 ranked OKTAGON Featherweight has struggled to find consistent form in his second run with the promotion.
Reopening his OKTAGON account with decision wins against Iamik Furtado and David Moon, 'Hezoun' then suffered his a unanimous decision loss at Ahmed Vila. The Czech Republic native then picked up a big win against the surging Callum Mullen at OKTAGON 42, handing the Brit his first professional loss.
Unfortunately for Dohnal, he found himself back in the losing column after coming up short against the 48 fight veteran, Ivan Buchinger.
The Featherweight bout is added to another stellar card OKTAGON have built ahead of their return to the UK. OKTAGON 56 is set to feature the ever charismatic Shem Rock, the promotional debut of Will Fleury and the eventual show down between Akonne Wanliss and Sahil Siraj, amongst many more exciting bouts.
