INJURY OKTAGON 96: Pastran replaces Surdu vs. Ayari; Haqparast out, da Silva bout off

Jessin Ayari keeps his date in Munich but loses his opponent. With Ion Surdu out injured, OKTAGON turned to Kevin Pastran, a Venezuelan who has never fought for the promotion and will have far less preparation time than the German.

Pastran is 32 and carries the FFC interim welterweight title. He walks straight into a ranked opponent: Ayari is seventh in OKTAGON's welterweight division. For Pastran this is a promotional debut, not a first appearance in MMA, and a win over a UFC veteran would announce him quickly to a European audience.

Ayari is 34, fights out of Original Fighting Nürnberg, and counts Darren Till among his past opponents. According to MMA Fanatik, he has won both of his OKTAGON fights so far, a TKO of Christian Stahl and a rear-naked choke of Niklas Stolze. He fights in front of a home crowd, and nothing announced makes this a title eliminator, so what the winner gets next is open.

The card lost a second fight the same week. Haqparast, a German flyweight from Munich Allstars Gym, has pulled out with an injury, and OKTAGON cancelled his bout with da Silva instead of finding a replacement. Da Silva is ranked sixth at flyweight. Haqparast was preparing to fight in the city of his home gym with his professional record intact, which makes the loss sharper for local fans.

Neither injury has been described, and the promotion has given no recovery timelines. It has not said whether either pairing will be rebooked.

The card is still anchored by Amiran Gogoladze, listed as the number-one contender, against unbeaten Felix Klinkhammer for the vacant welterweight belt. Brian Manning (6-1) faces Marek Barti (17-16) at middleweight and told My MMA News he expects "absolute domination."

Watch for any word on Surdu's and Haqparast's conditions, and for whether da Silva gets a new opponent before fight week ends.