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Oktagon 57: Christian Eckerlin sets up all-German superfight with vicious KO of Miroslav Broz

Frankfurt welterweight scores career-best win to set up huge stadium clash with Christian Jungwirth in October.
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Frankfurt’s favourite fighter Christian Eckerlin produced his best performance inside the Oktagon MMA cage to finish Miroslav Broz and book a blockbuster main event matchup with Christian Jungwirth at Oktagon 61 at the promotion’s biggest-ever show on October 12.

The Czech Republic’s Broz made no secret of his desire to silence the Frankfurt crowd inside the Festhalle, and he opened up in typically aggressive style.

But Eckerlin fought smartly off the back foot, countering with jabs and straight right hands while using his footwork to stay out of trouble when Broz launched his blitz attacks.

By the mid-way point of Round 2, Eckerlin had turned Broz’s face into a crimson mask with the simple combination of crisp boxing, good timing and smart footwork.

Then, as the round came to a close, Eckerlin took Broz to the mat and unleashed a barrage of elbows to force the finish in the final seconds of the round.

It meant that Eckerlin snapped Broz’s four-year win unbeaten streak, and bounced back into the win column after his unanimous decision loss to Leandro “Apollo” Silva at Oktagon 49 last November.

It also set up a mouthwatering clash with his compatriot Christian Jungwirth, with the pair looking set to feature at the sharp end of Oktagon’s return to Frankfurt as they host an event inside the 55,000-seat Deutsche Bank Park stadium on October 12 in a bout that will crown the promotion’s “King of Germany.”

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Keita survives late scare to defeat Sardari

In the co-main event, former Cage Warriors lightweight champion Agy Sardari mounted a dramatic final-round fightback against featherweight Losene Keita, but it wasn’t quite enough as “Black Panther” edged a unanimous decision to progress to the quarter-finals of the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight tournament.

Keita dominated the action through the first two rounds as he stalked Sardari around the cage, connecting with big single shots. Sardari enjoyed some success with his leg kicks, and managed to take Keita down to the mat on a number of occasions. But each time he took the action to the canvas, Keita impressively fought his way back to his feet before resuming his striking attack.

With the open scoring showing Keita 20-18 up on all three scorecards heading into the final round, Sardari went all out for victory in the final round, and put Keita in big trouble on two separate occasions with rapid-fire multi-punch combinations. But, despite putting the Belgian on skates, he was unable to take full advantage by securing a submission, or following up with more strikes for a TKO.

It meant that the bout went all the way to the scorecards, with the three cageside judges all scoring the final round 10-9 to the Dutchman, but ensuring Keita took home the victory in one of the toughest tests of his MMA career to date.

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Langer claims come-from-behind KO

Also on the main card, light heavyweight veteran Pavol Langer came back from the brink to score a dramatic come-from-behind knockout of Germany’s Marc Doussis.

Doussis started fast and had Langer in big trouble early. But whenever he appeared to hurt the Slovakian with his punches, Doussis made the mistake of stepping too close and smothering his own work, allowing Langer to tie him up against the cage and spare himself from more punishment.

The pattern repeated itself on multiple occasions during the first round before Langer found a game-changing answer to the onrushing German. A perfectly-timed knee landed flush on Doussis’ chin, and follow-up punches eventually sent him to the canvas.

A badly busted-up Langer saw his chance, followed Doussis to the mat, and finished the job with some heavy ground strikes to knock out his man for a stunning comeback win.

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Holzer wows the fans with submission finish

Earlier in the night, there were unanimous decision wins for Farbod Nezhad, Louis Glisman and Matous Kobout.

And on the preliminary card, rising German star and fan-favourite Max Holzer extended his undefeated record to 8-0 with an impressive second-round finish of Finland’s former amateur standout Eemil Kurhela.

Holzer entered the arena dressed as Batman, and produced a performance worthy of a superhero to submit Kurhela with a rear-naked choke before celebrating with Oktagon’s gorilla mascot Gogi to add even more supporters to his growing fanbase.

Oktagon 57: Official results

MAIN CARD

  • Christian Eckerlin def. Miroslav Broz by knockout (elbows) Round 2, 4:49
  • Losene Keita def. Agy Sardari via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – Tipsport Gamechanger
  • Pavol Langer def. Marc Doussis via knockout (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:06
  • Farbod Nezhad def. Mate Sanikidze via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Louis Glisman def. Lukasz Siwiec via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
  • Matous Kohout def. Islam Khapilaev via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Max Holzer def. Eemil Kurhela via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:53
  • Beno Adamia def. Stipe Brcic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Mallory Martin def. Anita Bekus via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Endrit Brajshori def. Tayo Odunjo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Laura Kirtzel def. Sandra Peterhoff via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:09 – Projekt Y
  • Haifa Reso def. Erika Tomm via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 3, 1:58– Projekt Y

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A sports editor and MMA reporter with 25 years' experience in sports media, Simon has covered mixed martial arts since 2009 for a host of national and international outlets, including UFC, BBC Sport, MMA Junkie/USA Today, BT Sport and the Daily Mirror.

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