INJURY OKTAGON 96: Klinkhammer, Samsonidse out; Ayari gets Gogoladze title fight

OKTAGON 96 has lost its top two fights in fight week and is patching the card with days to spare. The main event, the vacant welterweight title fight, now has a different challenger than the one fans were sold, and the Oct. 31 show in Munich is being rebuilt around him.

Felix Klinkhammer, 33 and unbeaten, said he was hurt in one of his last training sessions before travelling to Munich. He described it as an ordinary session, not a reckless one, and said a specialist confirmed what he feared. He apologised to his opponent, the promotion, his team, sponsors and ticket buyers, did not name the injury and did not say whether the fight could be rebooked. Gogoladze had posted that opponents "keep running" from him, even in fight week. According to Cageside Press, OKTAGON officials say Jessin Ayari now fights Gogoladze for the belt. MMAmag.cz had noticed the official event page already showed Ayari's name, while both fighters' profiles still listed the Klinkhammer fight.

For Gogoladze, the number-one contender, it is another disrupted title chance. The promotion's own preview said he had twice lost a title fight without entering the cage. Ayari is 34, a UFC veteran who has fought Darren Till, and sits seventh in the division. He has won both OKTAGON fights, a TKO of Christian Stahl and a rear-naked choke of Niklas Stolze. He gets the upgrade after being booked first against Ion Surdu, who withdrew injured, then against Kevin Pastran, the FFC interim champion making his OKTAGON debut.

The lightweight co-feature has also been hit. Samsonidse, ranked fourth in the promotion and coming off a knockout of Denis Frimpong, is out against Gokhan Aksu, who has won all 14 of his professional victories before the limit. With a lightweight title fight between Mateusz Legierski and Ivan Buchinger set for next month, Samsonidse was close to a title shot of his own. Separately, Fayaz Haqparast, a German with a 3-0 record from Munich Allstars Gym, withdrew from his home-city flyweight bout with Shawn da Silva, which is cancelled.

Brian Manning vs. Marek Bartl and Lazar Todev vs. Simon Biyong remain booked. Watch for Aksu's new opponent, whether Pastran keeps a fight on the card, and whether da Silva gets a replacement.