German fan-favourite Christian Eckerlin left no room for controversy in his rematch with Denilson Neves de Oliveira.

The pair faced off in the main event of Oktagon 36 at Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany, with the German former professional soccer player securing a fourth-round rear-naked choke submission after dominating most of the matchup.

The bout was a rematch of their controversial first meeting at Oktagon 33 – a bout that was initially won by Eckerlin but subsequently changed to a no contest. That bout also saw de Oliveira fight on just one week’s notice.

In the rematch, Eckerlin faced a fully-prepared de Oliveira, but was on top of his game as he mixed his striking with his wrestling to keep de Oliveira on the back foot throughout. Eckerlin’s explosive takedowns were perfectly timed to shut down the Brazilian as soon as he started to open up and throw heavy shots, and one of those takedowns eventually led to the finish.

With both men starting to fatigue after a gruelling battle, Eckerlin scored another big takedown mid-way through the fourth round. He swiftly moved to his opponent’s mount, then his back, before locking in the rear-naked choke for the victory.

It put their two-fight rivalry to bed in emphatic, definitive fashion, as Eckerlin’s star rose to a new level under the Oktagon MMA banner.

Moeil monsters Kimball to earn heavyweight title shot

The co-main event featured a heavyweight title eliminator, as Germany’s Hatef Moeil scored a second-round TKO finish of Jeremy Kimball to book himself a shot at the vacant heavyweight championship.

After a back-and-forth opening round that was arguably edged by Kimball, Moeil came out of his corner in Round 2 looking much more purposeful as he threw heavy punches to blast his way into range for a takedown attempt.

Kimball fought hard to prevent it, but was ultimately unable to stop the big takedown as Moeil took the action to the canvas. Once there, he punished Kimball with ground strikes and opened up the American badly, forcing him to cover up as he took a barrage of shots that forced the referee to step in and end the bout.

Puetz gets the win, then pops the question!

It was a double celebration for Stephan Puetz, who picked up a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Milos Petrasek, then proposed to his longtime girlfriend.

Puetz was left cut and bleeding after a gruelling war with Petrasek, but that didn’t stop him from dropping to one knee to propose to his girlfriend as the crowd roared their support to the happy couple.

His successful proposal also came after he declared his aim to fight for the light heavyweight title in his next bout – a matchup that could potentially pit “T-800” against “The Terminator” Karlos Vemola.

Kertesz edges wild war in Jungwirth rematch

The main card opened with an all-out war between Mate Kertesz and Christian Jungwirth, as Kertesz claimed his second victory over his German adversary after earning a unanimous decision win.

The bout was a rematch of their first meeting from Oktagon 21 in January 2021, where Hungary’s Kertesz shaded a split-decision verdict. And the judges were called upon again in the return bout as he claimed the win once again.

Kertesz shaded the opening two rounds, with a second-round knockdown putting the exclamation mark on the middle stanza of the bout. But Jungwirth poured on the pressure in a breathless final frame to leave observers wondering if he had done enough to snatch the victory on home soil.

In the end, Jungwirth – and the crowd – were left disappointed as Kertesz took the win with scores of 29-28 across the board.

Hathaway makes victorious return

The main card also saw a remarkable return to action for England’s John Hathaway. The former UFC welterweight, who was forced out of the sport for eight years as he battled ulcerative colitis, made his MMA comeback in Frankfurt and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat as he dominated Andre Ricardo over three rounds to earn a unanimous decision. Find out more about Hathaway’s win here.

Oktagon 36: Official Results

MAIN CARD

  • Christian Eckerlin def. Denilson Neves de Oliveira via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 4, 4:37
  • Hatef Moeil def. Jeremy Kimball via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 2, 1:03
  • Stephan Puetz vs. Milos Petrasek via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 29-27)
  • Leandro Silva def. Bojan Velickovic via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
  • Samuel Kristofic def. Zdenek Polivka via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
  • Mate Kertesz def. Christian Jungwirth via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • John Hathaway def. Andre Ricardo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-24, 30-26)
  • Alexander Poppeck def. Nermin Hajdarpasic via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 1:53
  • Hojat Khajevand def. Vaclav Mikulasek via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2
  • Ebrahim Hosseinpour def. Marek Bartl via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Katharina Dalisda def. Mallory Martin via unanimous decision
  • Jakub Bahnik def. Jamie Cordero via disqualification (illegal soccer kick) – Round 2, 0:20

Photo credit: @OktagonOfficial (Twitter)