We have another tournament behind us that indelibly entered history. On Saturday, April 25th, the Home Credit Arena in Liberec experienced a gala evening full of hard finishes, emotions, and one huge sports milestone. Eight fights ended before the limit, and the packed stands saw the birth of the first double champion of OKTAGON. Let's take a look together at the best of what the loaded OKTAGON 87 offered.

SZABOVÁ TOOK TWO THRONES

The main event of the evening delivered exactly what is expected from a title fight at this level. Lucia Szabová had an absolutely clear goal ahead of her – to win a second belt and dominate two weight categories. Against the dangerous Brazilian Leidiane Fernandes, however, it was not an easy job at all from the beginning. Both fighters jumped into the match at a huge pace. The opening round, full of sharp exchanges, was eventually taken by Fernandes.

But the Slovak fighter showed again why she belongs among the biggest stars of the organization. From the second round, she began to clearly dominate. She hit accurately in the stand-up and took the reins of the whole fight. The definitive turning point came in the third round. Szabová sent her opponent to the ground, where she unleashed hard ground and pound and forced the referee to step in. She thus celebrates a historic success and becomes the very first female fighter to sit on two OKTAGON thrones. This triumph will undoubtedly be written in gold letters in the chronicles of the best European MMA organization.

"CAPTAIN CZECHIA" DEFENDED HOME TURF

The Liberec crowd pushed their captain forward from the first second. Dominik Humburger faced a huge challenge in the form of the highly experienced Zebaztian Kadestam. The former champion of the prestigious Asian organization ONE threatened with every strike, but the Czech representative entered the cage fantastically prepared and left nothing to chance.

In the second round, the whole hall was on its feet when Humburger sent his Swedish opponent to the ground and showered him with a series of hard punches. Although the experienced Kadestam managed to survive this critical situation, he found no recipe against the complex local fighter. The final five minutes were fully under Humburger's control. With a cool head, he controlled the course of the fight and safely secured a dominant points victory. Dominik thus confirmed to his home fans that he belongs to the absolute top of the middleweight division and his journey to the top is far from over.

A SHOCKING KO AND A BRUTAL PREMIERE

Radek Roušal provided one of the biggest shocks of the evening. He entered the cage against the Swedish favorite Bark, who was ranked more than 250 places above the Czech fighter in the world rankings. In addition, there was very bad blood between the two fighters, and the fight was preceded by sharp verbal exchanges and tense staredowns. The fight itself started at an absolutely crazy pace. The confident Bark immediately rushed forward and started attacking hard. However, the Brno "bad boy" landed a hard right hook perfectly at the ideal moment and sent his Swedish opponent to the ground, thus ending the whole battle in a flash. This brutal KO in just 75 seconds earned him an incredible leap in the featherweight rankings – from 446th place he shot steeply upwards and now holds a fantastic 188th position in the world. Radek clearly showed that he is growing into a world-class star.

The fan-favorite Josef Hála delivered a premiere in grand style. The reigning bare-knuckle boxing champion (BKFC) confirmed his reputation as an elite striker to the letter. In a brutal shootout with the talented Tomáš Mudroch, he unleashed a real war. From the opening seconds, terrifying blows flew through the air, but Hála was ultimately more accurate. He fully unpacked his mastery at the start of the second round. He sent Mudroch to the ground twice in quick succession and hit another devastating combination after about a minute. The third knockdown meant the definitive end of the fight and a KO finish. Hála thus introduced himself to OKTAGON fans in the best possible light, and it is already absolutely clear that we have a lot more to look forward to from this elite heavy hitter in the future.

RNC HATTRICK AND AN INCREDIBLE COMEBACK

The Liberec tournament was characterized by finishes and attractive performances that didn't let fans catch their breath. A total of eight battles found their winner before the limit. Moreover, the very beginning of the card provided a unique record, when the first three duels of the evening ended absolutely identically. Alex Hutyra, Liam Pitts, and Mileide Simplicio showed their extra class and all finished their fights via rear-naked choke (RNC).

In the case of the Brazilian fighter, it was a thrilling turnaround. Everything indicated that the dangerous Josefine Knutsson was confidently striding towards a clear victory and had the duel fully under control. But in a critical moment, Simplicio got to her opponent's back in a flash and turned the fight to her side within a few seconds.

Already on May 16th, we are moving across the borders to German soil. The OKTAGON 88 tournament in Hannover will light up the local ZAG Arena and offer another packed card full of stars and thrilling battles that will definitely get you out of your seat. Be there with us and experience the true atmosphere firsthand! You can buy tickets at the link below.

THE ULTIMATE 2024 RECAP: OKTAGON’S MOST MEMORABLE YEAR YET

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