Oktagon 96 Preview: Gogoladze v Ayari, Manning Returns

Saturday is the only day of the year where you can get away with watching top European MMA in fancy dress. Halloween should add to the usual colour we see at Oktagon shows, and Munich will host this spooky spectacle. The SAP Garden Arena will host Oktagon 96, with eleven bouts on deck, including one for a title.

A new OKMMA Welterweight champion will be crowned in the main event of the evening. Amiran Gogoladze (18-3) has won all four promotional bouts since joining after getting injured on the Contender Series. The Georgian has strapped gold around his waist in GFC in his homeland. The 28-year-old is a fantastic striker with a massive right hand and a beautiful kicking game. The “Sniper” is brave, durable and always ready for a battle, and has scored nine knockouts to date. Jessin Ayari (19-6) has had quite the week, with his scheduled fight against Ion Surdu falling through, accepting Kevin Pastran on short notice, only to jump into the main event when Felix Klinkhammer also withdrew. The four-fight UFC veteran has been a champion in Superior FC and Inferno in Germany and Austria. Since coming into Oktagon, he has won two bouts via finish, the first a third round knockout and the last was a rear naked choke submission in the second round. The 34-year-old can do a bit of everything, however on balance he’s had more joy with his submissions and ground and pound. The German has used the rear naked choke and guillotine for several tap outs, with nine submissions on his record.

Ronald Paradeiser (23-11) has had mixed results since moving up to welterweight, winning his first two before being defeated in his last two. The 29-year-old is a former OKMMA Lightweight champion and will make his twenty-ninth promotional walk, first appearing in the company’s third event. The Slovakian is a mean striker who punishes opponents up and down the body with his fists and his legs. The Bratislava man has fourteen knockout wins, remaining a threat throughout the fifteen minutes. Tyrone Pfeifer (8-1) won his first two promotional bouts in devastating fashion and will be looking to complete a hat trick of victories in 2026. The 28-year-old was a champion in The Cage, a title he won via kneebar. The German also offers a knockout threat, finishing five opponents across pro and amateur via strikes. We have seen him bludgeon opponents with elbows and ground and pound so far in Oktagon.

There’s a lot on the line for Lazar Todev (14-7) this Saturday, with a win likely to secure a title at Will Fleury’s OKMMA Heavyweight title and a chance to avenge a March 2025 loss. The Bulgarian has won three-on-the bounce, all against ex-UFC fighters. The 30-year-old has only lost to Oktagon champion level fighters since 2018, and he possesses a devastating kickboxing game that has earned him nine knockout wins. On the mat, he likes to play around with leg locks. Simon Biyong (12-6) is a PFL, Bellator and Rizin veteran and is well known on the European scene for his exciting style. Born in Cameroon before moving to Italy, “Hemlé” has been wowing fans since 2017 with the highlight being his EFC title win. The 35-year-old is a violent fighter, brutalising opponents with his canon of a left hand and elbows as sharp as tacks. If it hits the deck, he smashes the ground and pound. Nine wins have been via knockout.

Gökhan Aksu (14-7-1) had won six fights in-a-row before losing a title shot against Mateusz Legierski in June, so is now looking to rebuild. The Turk is all about finishing fights, particularly with his striking. The 34-year-old has the touch of death in his fists, and it’s very rare an opponent survives getting hit early by him. He’s picked up a few regional titles along the way, and he’s attack heavy in the first two rounds. Rene Runge (14-8-1) is a newcomer and a former two-time WE LOVE MMA champion on the regional scene. The German accepted this fight on a couple of day’s notice following Niko Samsonidse’s injury pull-out. The Gorilla Fighthouse man is a good operator in the grappling arts, combining vicious ground and pound with a decent submission pedigree. In the striking exchanges, he has some powerful hands, scoring six knockout wins.

Michael Deiga-Scheck (11-8) is a BRAVE CF veteran making his eight Oktagon appearance. The 40-year-old has dabbled in boxing and Muay Thai bouts, proving his striking prowess which he’s worked very hard on. The German is a fast starter who hits extremely hard with both hands, getting five first-round knockouts across combat sports. He started out as a grappler, scoring tap outs with triangle, Americana and anaconda chokes along the way. Lukáš Chotěnovský (8-3) is a FEN veteran who picked up his first Oktagon win via rear naked choke in April. The Czech has been fighting a while but hasn’t managed to have a very active career, debuting in 2018 and just eleven contents completed. The quality is there though, showing good knockout ability in his two XFN bouts and his rear naked choke is always a threat. The 32-year-old will be keen to start putting a run together now while he’s healthy.

Marek Bartl (17-16) is making his twenty-fourth promotional walk and he’s a man who will fight in whatever ruleset you put in front of him. The Czech will fight anyone, anytime, anywhere, and he won via knockout last time we saw him in June, his ninth in his MMA career. The 33-year-old carries an arm lock threat in the submission game, and he’ll be willing to take one to give one. Brian Manning (6-1) has the potential to make waves in Oktagon, combining a great skillset with a fantastic personality. The Irishman lost to Robert Pukać last June and he was a Cage Legacy amateur champion and won the Cage Conflict belt as a pro. The MMA Cork man is a wicked striker with five knockout wins, all within the first round. The 31-year-old is always looking to put on a show.

Endrit Brajshori (6-2) has looked impressive in his last two outings, smashing Jan Malach with a big right hook and tapping out Petr Bartoněk in February. Born in Germany with Albanian and Kosovan roots, he has a nice guillotine in his back pocket. “AK 47” likes to strike and his hands are extremely dangerous in this first round. Christian Mach (10-5) makes his debut and comes in from BRAVE CF, winning four of his last five. The German has solid fundamentals in the grappling game, with a notable triangle choke threat. The 28-year-old likes to use ground and pound, and he’s also decent in the striking game, getting more dangerous the longer the fight goes on. Eight wins have come before the final bell.

Henrique Madureira (10-7) has a hat trick of wins under the Oktagon banner and this will be his fifth promotional appearance. The Brazilian has an exciting fighting style, combining a powerful right hand with flying and spinning attacks. In the submission department, he likes to use the guillotine and triangle chokes. Daniel Schordje (10-1-1) has been a hard one for the judges to call so far in Oktagon, winning a split decision and going to a draw last time out. The Austrian was a champion in Vendetta, and he’s undefeated in his last four. The 35-year-old likes to take things to the mat and weaken his foes with massive ground and pound. The IMMAF veteran has also had success early in fights with his punches, with a trio of first round knockouts on the feet.

This next fight was only added during the week as a result of other pull-outs on the card. Hafeni Nafuka (12-5) makes his third appearance of 2026 and he’s one of the promotion’s most active fighters. The 23-year-old is a fantastic wrestler with a lot of potential, and he’s masterful at taking the back and sinking in a rear naked choke. Eight of his wins have been tap outs. Ivan Klevets (5-3) has won his last five fights and is another who lurks to stay active, although this will be only his second appearance this year. The Ukrainian trains in Ankos MMA in Poznań, Poland and they focus a lot on the wrestling game. The 23-year-old comes from a striking background, and he’s scored two highlight reel knockouts, the first coming with a big punch and a nice heel kick last August.

Kevin Hangs (15-9) makes his first Oktagon appearance in three years and is looking for his first promotional victory on Saturday. The German is a veteran of the regional scene and he’s known for his BJJ acumen. The 39-year-old has a choke for every occasion, and his favoured technique is the rear naked. He also likes to use leg locks. He’s tapped out eight opponents. Burak Kizilirmak (12-3) makes his first promotional walk and his last five wins have been via knockout. The Turk began his career with a lot of grappling success, especially with the guillotine choke. The 28-year-old has a win over Rony Paradeiser and all his victories have been by stoppage.

Marat Nessar (1-0) was an amateur on the regional scene with WE LOVE MMA where he showed ground ability with ground and pound, and submission wins via triangle and anaconda choke. The German turned pro in August and got an early knockout win with his elbows doing the damage. Abdulmalik Aliev (1-0) went perfect in his amateur career and he proved to be a quick starter. The 21-year-old then turned pro and got a first round rear naked choke victory, his fourth victory via that technique. The Austrian was last seen in 2024 in BRAVE CF, so it’ll be interesting to see how much he’s improved in the two years since.

Oktagon 96 is live from Munich on Saturday night from 17:00 Irish time on Oktagon.tv.