Ayari Steps In to Face Gogoladze for Oktagon Welterweight Title

Oktagon 96 will go ahead in Munich on Halloween, but the main event has changed. Jessin Ayari now fights Amiran Gogoladze for the vacant Oktagon MMA welterweight championship. The card airs on DAZN from SAP Garden.

Felix Klinkhammer was the original opponent. The undefeated Klinkhammer (11-0 MMA, 2-0 Oktagon), the No. 5 contender, is out of the fight with an injury.

Oktagon's English-language commentator Bryan Lacey broke the news on social media on Tuesday. "At 9:00 this morning, we got the call, the unfortunate news that Felix Klinkhammer is officially out of his main event fight," he said. Klinkhammer will not fight for the vacant title and will not be in Munich.

A late replacement

Lacey said Gogoladze will still fight for the belt. He added that Germany could still crown its first male champion, because Ayari is stepping in.

Ayari (19-6 MMA, 2-0 Oktagon) is the No. 7 contender at 170 pounds. He was already on the card in a non-title fight against No. 3 contender Ion Surdu (17-8 MMA, 5-4 Oktagon). Surdu was forced off the show with an injury, which left Ayari free for the main event.

Gogoladze (18-3 MMA, 4-0 Oktagon) is the No. 1 contender. He gets his new opponent on four days' notice.

Third opponent for Gogoladze

Ayari is the third man booked against Gogoladze for this belt. The first plan was a title fight on Sept. 12 against then-champion Kaik Brito (20-6 MMA, 6-2 Oktagon).

On July 3 it emerged that Brito would return to Dana White's Contender Series for an Aug. 19 bout against Namo Fazil. He secured a UFC contract that night. Brito's exit left the title vacant.

Oktagon then announced Gogoladze against Klinkhammer. That fight is now off. The Ayari bout is scheduled for five rounds of five minutes.

Source: MMA Sucka