OKTAGON MMA has shattered UFC’s highest-ever attendance record after a blockbuster event in Germany.
The Czech Republic and Slovakian-based promotion sold out the Deutsche Bank Park, usually the home of Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, for OKTAGON MMA 62.
OKTAGON have put on some of the biggest European MMA eventsOKTAGON
Saturday night witnessed three title fights, as No. 8 ranked middleweight Christian Eckerlin, 37, beat No.9 ranked Christian Jungwirth, 37, for ‘The King of Germany’ belt.
The symbolic championship belt was specifically designed for MMA’s biggest-ever event in Frankfurt.
Britain’s John Newman, who has recently transitioned to a DJ and producer from his typical singer-songwriter status, also made an appearance for the halftime show.
Speaking ahead of their big night in Germany, OKTAGON MMA promoters Ondrej Novotny and Pavol Neruda described how they put the event together.
“We love it. All the members of [the] OKTAGON team, if you have this passion about something it’s never enough,” Neruda told MMA Junkie.
“You are never satisfied. You achieve something, you want more and to make it better and entertain people more.
“We are always going to events that are musical or another type of entertainment around the world or sports event. We watch what’s going on and try to inspire and bring it to the world of MMA.”
Frankfurt’s stadium, also known as the Waldstadion, has previously hosted other iconic combat sports events.
Muhammad Ali knocked out Karl Mildenberge in front of 22,000 spectators in September 1966 and Wladimir Klitschko did the same to Samuel Peter in the pair’s second meeting in 2010.
Carlos Gamarra put David Beckham’s free-kick in his own net when England beat Paraguay 1-0 at the 2006 World Cup in the same ground too.
Pavol and Ondrej plan to make OKTAGON the place to be for European fightersOKTAGON
OKTAGON’s attendance in Frankfurt meant they surpassed the previous record gate held by the UFC.
Israel Adesanya knocked out Robert Whittaker after two rounds to claim the middleweight title for the first time in Melbourne, Australia.
The main event clash headlined UFC 243 with a total number of 57,127 fans in attendance.
Jungwirth and Eckerlin, who met in OKTAGON 62’s main event clash, both used to dream of playing in Bundesliga stadiums as former professional footballers.
Jungwirth played for Stuttgart’s youth team alongside former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, while Eckerlin represented Rot-Weiss Frankfurt and SV Darmstadts
Elsewhere on the card, England’s James Hendin faced Mochamed Machaev in the featherweight division, while Patrik Kincl defended his middleweight belt against Kerim Engizek.
Katharina Dalisda also defended her strawweight belt against America’s Mallory Martin earlier on the card.
