Oktagon 55 recap: Hometown hero Christian Jungwirth wins five-round war in Stuttgart

JUNGWIRTH WINS ON HOME SOIL!

Stuttgart’s own Christian Jungwirth played the role of hometown hero to a tee as he delivered an all-action performance in the main event of Oktagon 55 to defeat old rival Robert Pukac in the main event of Oktagon 55.

Jungwirth and Pukac engaged in a bloody back and forth war in the final fight of the night, with the German running out the unanimous decision winner.

Jungwirth looked the better man through much of the encounter as he fought smartly, mixing up his striking and wrestling to great effect, especially in the later rounds. Pukac, meanwhile, was busted up and bleeding, but still carried a knockout threat with his punches and appeared to briefly stun “The Kelt” a on a couple of occasions in the opening couple of rounds.

Despite that, Jungwirth had big leads on all three scorecards heading into the final round of the night.

That didn’t stop him pushing the pace in Round 5, as he continued to press forward looking for a show-stopping finish. It wasn’t to be, however, as the bout went all the way to the final horn. As soon as it sounded, Jungwirth climbed the cage and saluted the packed crowd who had roared him on. That crowd had one more roar left, and they delivered it when Jungwirth’s hand was raised in victory after five rounds of all-out action from one of Germany’s most popular fighters.

RESULT: Christian Jungwirth def. Robert Pukac via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45)

HUGE STADIUM SHOW ANNOUNCED

Between fights, Oktagon have announced that they will be hosting a huge event on October 12 in Frankfurt, Germany, at the 55,000-seat Deutsche Bank Park stadium.

The venue, which has hosted World Cup matches, and will host five matches during the UEFA European Championships later this summer, will now host a huge Oktagon MMA event.

POPPECK DEMOLISHES KIMBALL TO STAKE TITLE CLAIMS

German former title challenger Alexander Poppeck staked his claim for a second shot at the Oktagon light heavyweight title with a performance Oktagon fight analyst Luke Barnatt labelled “flawless” as he blasted past former heavyweight Jeremy Kimball.

Poppeck bided his time in the stand-up exchanges before perfectly timing a takedown and quickly moving to mount. Kimball rolled to his front, and Poppeck blasted him from his back with relentless ground strikes until the referee waved off the bout at the 3:30 mark of the opening round.

The win exorcised Poppeck’s demons from his uncharacteristically timid performance against Pavol Langer in their title fight, and puts him right back in the frame for another shot at the gold.

RESULT: Alexander Poppeck def. Jeremy Kimball via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:30

KERTESZ TAPS STOLZE TO CLAIM 15TH CAREER WIN

Hungarian welterweight contender Mate Kertesz fought out the final bout on his Oktagon MMA contract with a submission finish of former UFC veteran Niklas Stolze, then said he hoped to continue his journey with the European promotion.

Kertesz avoided Stolze’s strikes early on and eventually started to impose his wrestling and grappling game on the German.

By the mid-way point, Kertesz was in the zone and, after some scrambles on the mat, the Hungarian eventually worked his way into a rear-naked choke to force the tap.

It gave Kertesz his first career submission as a pro, and gave him a great base from which to negotiate a fresh deal with the promotion.

RESULT: Mate Kertesz def. Niklas Stolze via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:42

CORDERO LABOURS TO THREE-ROUND DECISION

Fans were told not to blink when Germany’s Jaime Cordero took on Austria’s Dominic Schrober. But, rather than a wild scrap that led to a knockout, we saw a slower-paced, plodding battle of attrition that saw Cordero run out a comfortable winner on the scorecards.

It wasn’t the most thrilling matchup of the night, but it proved to be a successful one for Cordero, who claimed his fifth career win and rebounced from his third-round stoppage loss to Marek Mazuch in his previous outing at Oktagon 47.

RESULT: Jaime Cordero def. Dominic Schrober via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

KNEE INJURY HALTS WOLF AS HERZBERG CLAIMS DEBUT WIN

German heavyweight contender Ruben Wolf’s dreams of a win on home soil came to an abrupt end as injury forced him out of the action after the opening round.

Wolf took on compatriot Sebastian Herzberg and won the first round on all three of the judges’ scorecards, but a knee injury sustained during that opening frame rendered him unable to continue, with the bout waved off between rounds for the second time this evening.

It meant Herzberg picked up a win on his debut and, through somewhat bizarre circumstances, claimed his third straight first-round victory.

RESULT: Sebastian Herzberg def. Ruben Wolf via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 5:00

‘THE ALBANIAN EAGLE' SOARS WITH FIRST-ROUND FINISH

The main card just got off to a spectacular start, as Arijan Topallaj produced a stellar display to knock out Karol Rysavy in the first round of their featherweight bout.

The German, who is known to his legion of fans as “The Albanian Eagle” put the pressure on from the very start of the matchup as he backed Rysavy onto the cage, then starched him with a perfectly-placed left hook to score his fifth career knockout victory and extend his perfect professional record to 7-0-1.

RESULT: Arijan Topallaj def Karol Rysavy via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:36

NAJAND CLAIMS DEBUT WIN

Afghanistan’s Wahid Najand had to battle every second of the way, but the Oktagon debutant did just enough to claim a split-decision victory over Oktagon veteran Jakub Bahnik.

Bahnik was looking to bounce back into the win column after an unfortunate no contest against England’s Akonne Wanliss in Stvanice last year, but Najand proved every bit his equal as the pair went back and forth through three super-competitive rounds in their lightweight matchup.

In the end, the judges were split on the identity of the winner, with Najand claiming a razor-close split-decision victory.

RESULT: Wahid Najand def. Jakub Bahnik via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

MONTAGNAC WANTS BIG FIGHT AFTER DECISION WIN

French light heavyweight contender Jorick Montagnac called for a bout against the winner of tonight’s co-main event between Alexander Poppeck and Jeremy Kimball after his unanimous decision win over Sebastian Heil.

Montagnac had Heil in big trouble early as he threatened to score a first-round finish. But, after the initial blitz had died down, Heil was able to survive and take the fight into Round 2.

After taking a battering early in the opening round, Heil closed the distance and forced the action against the cage as he looked to sap the Frenchman’s gas tank against the fence with some smothering, grinding work in the clinch.

Heil managed to drag the action all the way to the scorecards, but he was unable to do enough to win any of the rounds on any of the judges’ scorecards, with Montagnac claiming the sixth win of his pro career with scores of 30-27, 30-26, 30-26.

RESULT: Jorick Montagnac def. Sebastian Heil via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

Here’s Oktagon MMA co-founder Ondrej Novotny’s reaction after witnessing Michael Deiga-Scheck’s stunning 53-second KO. Mine was pretty similar…

DEIGA-SCHECK FLATTENS 'SPIDERMAN'

Germany’s Michael Deiga-Scheck arrived in the arena with a palpable air of intensity about him, and he channeled that overt aggression into a huge punch that knocked out compatriot Nikolaos Serbezis for a huge first-round finish.

Deiga-Sheck threw 12 punches in the 53-second matchup, with 11 of them rated as significant strikes. But it was all about the final strike, a perfectly-timed left hook that caught Serbezis clean as he looked to pull away from the exchange.

RESULT: Michael Deiga-Scheck def. Nikolaos Serbezis via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:53

'SILENT KILLER’ RETURNS WITH ANOTHER ARMBAR

The prelims are certainly delivering some action in Stuttgart, and the women’s bantamweight bout between Lucia Szabova and Roza Guimienna delivered the best matchup of the night so far.

Both women had their successes during the matchup, but it was Szabova, who returned to the cage after a three-year hiatus, who claimed the third-round armbar finish to take her career to 7-0.

Four of those victories have come via submission, and all four were achieved via armbar. The 26-year-old, known as “Silent Killer,” looks every bit a championship contender as she showed her grit and determination as she bossed the fight and relentlessly chased the finish. Eventually, with 22 seconds remaining in the fight, she got it.

RESULT: Lucia Szabova def. Roza Gumienna via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 4:38

TABURCEANU STOPS AVRAMOVIC

Ion Taburceanu picked up a second-round stoppage win after his opponent, Nenad Avramovic, appeared to quit in his corner before the start of the third round of their 192-pound catchweight contest.

After a back-and-forth first round, Taburceanu ended up on the receiving end in Round 2, and looked a broken man as he went back to his corner at the end of the round.

Despite his coach, former UFC star Peter Sobotta, trying to encourage him, the Serbian fighter was clearly not happy to continue, and the bout was waved off before the third round.

RESULT: Ion Taburceanu def. Nenad Avramovic via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00

AUSTIN SLICES HER WAY TO VICTORY

The first fight of the night is in the books, and it’s a win for Australia’s Jacinta Austin, who outpointed Karolina Wojcik after a bloody war in their strawweight contest.

Austin took the win on all three scorecards, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 as she bounced back from her title-fight defeat to Katharina Dalisda at Oktagon 46 last September.

After her win, Austin said she had to wait too long for her bounceback bout following that defeat, and stated her intention to get back into the cage as soon as possible.

RESULT: Jacinta Austin def. Karolina Wojcik via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)