George Staines cruised to victory at OKTAGON 71 in Munich through a convincing unanimous decision victory.
Staines, 24, defeated German Hafeni Nafuka in his own back yard to go six wins undefeated in professional MMA, with two judges scoring the contest 30-27 in his favour and the third 29–28.
Nafuka put Staines on the back foot early, but it was the Hull man who got the better of his opponent in the opening round.
Staines caught Nafuka in a guillotine at the midway point, but the latter escaped, and the crowd, unsurprisingly, got behind their home fighter who would’ve been thankful to see the end of the first five minutes.
Judges scored the opener 10-9 in Staines’ favour as per OKTAGON’s unique open scoring rules.
Staines took Nafuka’s back early in the second, but it seemed the German gradually gained confidence, and you could’ve argued the fight was one a piece heading into the third.
Both men were stood up early in the third for a lack of activity, but with two minutes to go it was the Hull man who made sure he had convinced the judges to secure the win.
Nafuka must’ve knew he needed a mircale in the final minute, but has now suffered his third defeat in the sport.
Staines landed 52 significant punches by the end of the fight compared to Nafuka’s 12.
After the fight, he admitted his performance was not up to scratch, but called for OKTAGON bosses to take the promotion back to England for his next fight.
Staines remains undefeated and is now one step closer to his dream of becoming a UFC champion after his victory tonight at Munich’s BMW Park in Germany.
Speaking to talkSPORT.com before his win over Nafuka, ‘The Saint’ said that ending up at the UFC has always been his sole objective.
“It’s always been [my ultimate goal],” he explained. “I’ve never not once said it will be.
“UFC will always be the be all and end all for me personally… It’s like, what footballer doesn’t want to play in the Premier League?
“Everybody wants to play in the Premier League or play for Barcelona or Real Madrid or in the Spanish league.
“[But], the ultimate goal is not to just be in the UFC – it’s to win the world title.
“That is the ultimate goal, because I think a lot of people have this goal of being in the UFC. That’s it.
“I want to be in the UFC, but the ultimate goal is to be the UFC world champion. I won’t settle for anything else.”
OKTAGON MMAStaines’ one goal is to end up in the UFC in the future[/caption]
Staines is now 6-0 as a MMA fighter having made his professional debut in October 2023.
He has relished training at Next Generation gym in Liverpool, alongside the likes of Paddy Pimblett and Shem Rock, who also fought at OKTAGON 71.
Don’t be surprised to see the Hull man contesting in the UFC soon, with reports suggesting Staines could make the switch through Dana White’s Contender Series.
