A turbulent week rounded out with a sense of relative normality as the weigh-ins for OKTAGON 66 concluded without any major issues in Dusseldorf, Germany.
OKTAGON matchmakers had to scramble during the week to find replacements for Anthony Salamone and Damien Lapilus after it had been discovered that both fighters were serving doping suspensions in France.
As a result, the newly-booked main event will see Tipsport Gamechanger reserve fighter Kamil Oniszczuk promoted up the card to replace Salamone against middleweight champion Kerim Engizek, and both men successfully made weight for the matchup, with Engizek tipping the scale at 84.4kg compared to Oniszczuk’s 84.3kg.
🚨 FIGHT UPDATE 🚨
Kamil Oniszczuk (10-4) 🇵🇱 is stepping up at the last minute to be a hero and challenge fan favourite, current middleweight champion, Kerim Engizek (21-4) 🇹🇷 in Tipsport Gamechanger.
It goes down at OKTAGON 66 tomorrow night!
📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaDRbZ | RTL+ pic.twitter.com/1Mh8jPMEcj
— OKTAGON MMA (@OktagonOfficial) January 31, 2025
There was also a new addition for the co-main event, with Lapilus replaced by last-minute replacement Wanderley Junior, who subsequently made weight (70.7kg) for his lightweight bout against German lightweight contender Lom-Ali Eskiev (70.8kg).
🚨 FIGHT UPDATE 🚨
Wanderley Junior (17-9) 🇧🇷 steps in to replace Lapilus to face European standout, Lom-Ali Eskiev (22-7, 1NC) 🇩🇪 in a lightweight bout on Saturday.
The Brazilian is higher ranked than Eskiev’s original opponent at OKTAGON 66!
📺 https://t.co/TVP7NaDRbZ | RTL+ pic.twitter.com/YGpr1VrD57
— OKTAGON MMA (@OktagonOfficial) January 30, 2025
Only one fighter missed weight, as Vladimir Lengal came in one kilogram over the featherweight limit for his bout with Deniz Ilbay, but his bout will remain on the card, as planned.
The only remaining question mark concerned the participation of Hojat Khajevand, who was due to face Oniszczuk in a Tipsport Gamechanger reserve bout and was left without an opponent following Oniszczuk’s promotion to the main event spot.
Khajevand did his part on the scale by weighing in under the middleweight limit, and it looks like OKTAGON may have found a replacement opponent, with the fight card on the OKTAGON website showing that 6-3 German middleweight Kennedy Rayomba is stepping in to face Khajevand and make his OKTAGON debut.
Check out the full list of official weights below.
OKTAGON 66: Official weigh-in results
MAIN CARD
- Kerim Engizek (84.4) vs. Kamil Oniszczuk (84.3) – Tipsport Gamechanger first round
- Lom-Ali Eskiev (70.8) vs. Wanderley Junior (70.7) – lightweight
- Matej Penaz (84.1) vs. David Zawada (84.1) – Tipsport Gamechanger first round
- Vladimir Lengal (67.3*) vs. Deniz Ilbay (66.3) – featherweight
- Matous Kohout (77.5) vs. Cidad Akipa (77.6) – welterweight
- Hojat Khajevand (84.3) vs. Kennedy Rayomba (TBC) – middleweight
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Daniel Solaja (66.3) vs. Raphael Federico (66.1) – featherweight
- Emir-Can Al (77.5) vs. Vikor Kovac (77.3) – welterweight
- Tamerlan Dulatov (79.9) vs. Ghith Ighzawi (79.9) – 80kg catchweight
- Zoran Solaja (77.4) vs. Lukas Elias (77.5) – welterweight
- Sara Smajic (61.0) vs. Danielle Misteli (61.7) – women’s bantamweight