EXCLUSIVE
‘We want to create heroes’ – OKTAGON aims to become ‘Champions League of MMA’ after launching Gamechanger €1million European tournament
OKTAGON is hoping to become the Champions League of MMA.
Starting last weekend at OKTAGON 40 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, 16 welterweight fighters from 15 different countries will battle it out for their share of £886,623 (€1million) in the tournament - the biggest prize ever awarded in European MMA.
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Pavol Neruda and Ondrej Novotny founded OKTAGON seven years ago with the aim of popularising MMA in Europe via the medium of reality TV.
Neruda told talkSPORT: “We are both TV guys, storytellers and we take a different approach. We took this amazing sport, starting with a reality TV show during a time when MMA was a very unpopular sport.
“We delivered the stories of fighters, and we start selling the sport to the general public – not just for combat sports fans. We showed how these fighters are not just bloody monsters fighting in a cage, they are just nice guys like you and me with their own struggles and problems.
“This was our goal from the beginning, not building just a sports promotion but also a media company. Here we are now, big storytelling promotion bringing amazing shows.”
Now, they’ve launched a lucrative tournament that has attracted some of Europe’s best fighters and they are hoping OKTAGON will ultimately become the go-to promotion for fighters in the region.
Novotny explained: “Our goals are mostly about our dreams. We are not competing with other organizations because we don’t believe that we are in the same market.
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"In the end, it’s the same market but we want to make good sports TV and create heroes for the fans. That’s what we are not seeing in other organizations.
“We want to bring it for the Europeans. Nobody is successful in Europe. Nobody is going to different countries and selling tickets.
"There’s not like a Champions League that everybody is watching in Spain, Portugal, Holland, and England. We believe that we’ve found the key to maybe open the European market and bring viewers to an organization concentrated on European fighters.
“Hopefully, we’ll make the European league that everybody wants to be involved in more than the American way because they force you to go the stadium at 4am because more people in Las Vegas will pay for the pay-per-view.
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“In our eyes, this is not something that should be done. We believe European fighters belong to European organizations and can become heroes in their countries.
“Many fighters in the UFC, Bellator, or any organization, nobody knows them in their countries. Nobody cheers for them, nobody has sponsors. They just get paid good money once or twice a year for a fight. We want to change this narrative.”
As well as, providing a home for Europe’s elite MMA talent, OKTAGON will also give celebrities the chance to learn about the sport and compete on their shows.
Comedian Paul Smith and X Factor star Jake Quickenden will be followed by OKTAGON cameras for a show that will document them preparing to fight against each other in Manchester later this year
Smith will donate his earnings from the fight to ‘Weapons Down Gloves Up’, a Liverpool-based charity supported by UFC star Molly McCann that aims to steer young and vulnerable people away from crime.