One of the most beloved fighters in German MMA steps into the main event spotlight as Oktagon MMA returns to Germany on Saturday night.
Christian “The Kelt” Jungwirth has won himself a legion of fans with his all-action style and never-say-die fighting spirit. And the German welterweight returns to action this weekend at Oktagon 55 in Stuttgart in an eagerly-anticipated rematch with Slovakian rival Robert Pukac.
The pair first met two years ago at Oktagon Prime 5 in a bout that saw Pukac stopped between rounds after Round 2 in Samorin, Slovakia. Since then, Pukac has battled to the scorecards in each of his last three matchups, picking up a victory over Tomas Melis before being edged out by Miroslav Broz and Matous Kohout. Now Pukac is looking to right the ship by avenging his defeat to Jungwirth and moving up the crowded Oktagon welterweight division.
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That will be no easy feat, however. Jungwith is looking for redemption of his own, too, having lost out to eventual tournament winner Bojan Velickovic in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Tipsport Gamechanger, then fell to a first-round submission defeat to Greece’s John Palaiologos at Oktagon 46 last September.
Now Jungwirth is back, and he’ll have a sold-out Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle roaring him on from the stands as he walks out for his main event bout with Pukac looking to get back to winning ways.
The stakes are high in the night’s co-main event, as Germany’s Alexander Poppeck will look to earn himself a second shot at the light heavyweight title when he faces American veteran Jeremy Kimball.
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Poppeck stood just one win away from championship the last time he entered the Oktagon cage, but an agonising split-decision loss to Pavol Langer saw him miss out on the title at Oktagon 44. Now, nine months on from that defeat, “Ironside” is back, and looking to punch his ticket to another title shot by defeating Kimball, who comes into the bout with title aspirations of his own, and 14 knockout wins to his name from 19 career wins.
There’s also a key matchup in the welterweight division, as Hungary’s Mate Kertesz takes on German ace and former UFC athlete Niklas Stolze, while German middleweight Jaime Cordero faces Austrian veteran Dominic Schober at 185 pounds.
Oktagon 55: Confirmed fight card
MAIN CARD
- Christian Jungwirth vs. Robert Pukac
- Alexander Poppeck vs. Jeremy Kimball
- Mate Kertesz vs. Niklas Stolze
- Jaime Cordero vs. Dominic Schober
- Ruben Wolf vs. Sebastian Herzberg
- Zdenek Polivka vs. Ion Taburceanu
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Karol Rysavy vs. Arijan Topallaj
- Jorick Montagnac vs. Sebastian Heil
- Michael Deiga-Scheck vs. Nikolaos Serbezis
- Roza Guimienna vs. Lucia Szabova
- Jakub Bahnik vs. Wahid Najand
- Jacinta Austin vs. Karolina Wojcik
