Oktagon 52 weigh-ins: Bantamweight rivals hit their mark in Newcastle

The stars of Oktagon 52 took to the scale as they registered their official weights ahead of fight night in Newcastle.

The early-morning weigh-in sessions saw the big names at the top of the card make weight without issue but, further down the card, three fighters initially missed weight, with two of them unable to get down to their contracted limits.

Ireland’s Armand Herczeg arrived on the scale at 146.6 pounds for his featherweight bout, but eventually returned to the scale to make weight for his rematch with England’s Jake McHugh.

It wasn’t quite as successful a session for Roman Paulus and Max Holzer, who both missed their respective marks for their matchups.

Paulus, who was bidding to become the first fighter in Oktagon history to weigh in successfully in three different weight classes arrived nearly four pounds over the limit for his bantamweight bout with the debuting Nathan Haywood. A second attempt later that morning shaved off a few pounds, but he still ended up 1.6 pounds over the bantamweight limit, meaning the bout will have to continue as a catchweight matchup.

Holzer, meanwhile, arrived on the scale at 147.9 pounds for his featherweight matchup with England’s Corey Fry. No further improvement was registered, and that matchup will also now proceed at a catchweight.

The remainder of the card made their contracted weights, and all of the fighters faced off, bar late replacement Rafael Hudson, who was still in transit to replace the injured Shoaib Yousaf against Eduard Kexel on just 24 hours’ notice.

Main event stars Jonas Magard and Jack Cartwright both registered identical weights on the scale for their bantamweight headliner, while middleweight co-main eventers Matej Penaz and Matthew Bonner both looked in great shape as they made weight with ease for their contender clash at 185 pounds.

Flyweight contender Aaron Aby also made weight without issue, as did his opponent, American debutant Christopher Daniel.

Oktagon 52: Official weigh-in results

• Jonas Magard (61.6/135.8) vs. Jack Cartwright (61.6/135.8)
• Matej Penaz (84.3/185.8) vs. Matthew Bonner (84.3/185.8)
• Aaron Aby (57/125.6) vs. Christopher Daniel (57/125.6)
• Adam Palasz (113.5/250.2) vs. Stuart Austin (119.3/263)
• Corey Fry (66.2/145.9) vs. Max Holzer (67.1/147.9*)
• Jan Siroky (70.8/156) vs. Denis Frimpong (70.8/156)
• Roman Paulus (62.4/137.6*) vs. Nathan Haywood (61.3/135.1)
• Eduard Kexel (69.9/154.1) vs. Rafael Hudson (TBC)
• Jake McHugh (66.1/145.7) vs. Armand Herczeg (66.3/146.1)
• Daniel Bainbridge (61.8/136.2) vs. Hamza Dagdeviren (61.8/136.2)

* Fighter missed weight