Oktagon 62: James Hendin to face Mago Machaev on Frankfurt stadium show

Former Cage Warriors title challenger James Hendin will make his sophomore appearance for Oktagon MMA in October, and he’ll make the walk on the biggest night in the promotion’s history.

Hendin, who signed for Oktagon earlier this year and delivered a dominant performance and a second-round TKO finish of Jakub Dohnal at Oktagon 56 in Birmingham in April, will take on Austrian featherweight contender Mago Machaev at Oktagon 62, which takes place inside the 55,000-capacity Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany.

It’s an opportunity for Hendin to compete in the land of his birth, and with “The Honey Badger” having been born in Viersen, Germany in 1997, the 26-year-old will be hoping Frankfurt is a home away from his English home.

The Team Fish Tank product will look to deliver a statement performance against Machaev, who moved up to lightweight for the Tipsport Gamechanger tournament and scored a career-best win over former UFC fighter Makwan Amirkhani before eventually exiting the tournament following a decision loss to Spain’s Acoidan Duque.

Now Machaev is back in his natural weight class, and will look to halt the rise of Hendin, whose only career losses came to Cage Warriors champions Paul Hughes and Jordan Vucenic.

Machaev vs. Hendin joins a stacked fight card that also includes a light heavyweight clash between Irish contender Will Fleury and former interim champion Pavol Langer. The main event features an all-German welterweight clash between fan favourites Christian Eckerlin and Christian Jungwirth, while the co-main event sees the return of middleweight champion Patrik Kincl, who puts his title on the line against Kerim Engizek.