A Late Withdrawal, Four Days Out
Felix Klinkhammer is out of the OKTAGON 96 main event. An injury keeps him from challenging Amiran Gogoladze for the vacant welterweight title. The Czech-German promotion announced the change on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, four days before the event.
OKTAGON 96 takes place Saturday, October 31, 2026, at SAP Garden in Munich, Germany. Klinkhammer had been chasing the first OKTAGON title won by a German fighter. The promotion did not disclose the nature of the injury or a return timeline.
Jessin Ayari Gets The Call
Jessin Ayari steps in. The 34 year old German, listed at 6 feet (183 cm), is a former UFC fighter who carries a 19 and 6 professional record and sits at number seven in OKTAGON’s welterweight rankings. Five of his wins have come by knockout and nine by submission.
Ayari had originally been booked against Ion Surdu, the division’s former champion, who himself withdrew with an injury and was replaced by Kevin Pastran on October 26. OKTAGON then scrapped that pairing entirely and moved Ayari straight into the title fight, just one day after first linking him with Pastran.
Ayari, who trains out of Original Fighting Nuremberg, has fought for seventeen years as a professional, facing opponents including Kerim Engizek, Abus Magomedov and Darren Till. Since joining OKTAGON last year he has won by stoppage over Andreas Stahl and by submission over Niklas Stolze.
Gogoladze And A Title Vacant Since Summer
Amiran Gogoladze enters the fight at 18 wins and 3 losses, riding a four fight winning streak inside OKTAGON. Nicknamed The Sniper, the Georgian has beaten former UFC fighter Leandro Silva and finished Ion Surdu in the first round back in April, in Poland.
Reacting to the opponent change, Gogoladze said: “I do not care who stands in front of me. I have one goal, bring the belt to Georgia.”
The welterweight title has sat vacant since July 2026. Brazilian champion Kaik Brito gave it up to chase a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, with OKTAGON announcing the vacancy on July 3. Brito had been booked to defend the belt against Gogoladze that September, but the promotion scrapped the fight once Brito left for the UFC path. Gogoladze has waited since that summer for his shot at the vacant championship.
The Rest Of The Card And OKTAGON’s Reach
The rest of the Munich card includes a welterweight bout between Ronald Paradeiser and Tyron Pfeifer, plus a heavyweight matchup between Lazar Todev and Simon Biyong. Todev, a Bulgarian at 13 wins and 7 losses, has twice challenged for OKTAGON’s heavyweight title, losing a decision to champion Will Fleury, then bouncing back with wins over former UFC fighters Luis Henrique Barbosa and Josh Parisian.
OKTAGON was founded in June 2016 by Pavol Neruda and Ondrej Novotny and has grown into the largest Czech-Slovak MMA promotion. The company runs roughly fifteen numbered galas a year, alongside its Tipsport Cage and Underground cards, and has staged events in Germany and England in addition to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Its content drew more than 46 million views in 2024, with a social media and YouTube following above 450,000.
Broadcast Plans And Lingering Uncertainty
OKTAGON 96 streams internationally on DAZN, along with OKTAGON.TV, RTL+ and TVP Sport. Fans in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein get the full card on RTL+, with select fights also airing on free-to-air RTL. The German broadcaster extended its partnership with the promotion through the end of 2031, a deal RTL announced on October 22 and OKTAGON confirmed the following day. The two sides are also developing new TV and digital formats centered on the fighters, though no titles or release dates have been set. Tickets for SAP Garden remain on sale, with admission restricted to adults under German regulations.
The late switch underscores how fragile championship cards can be in the days before an event. OKTAGON had already dealt with Surdu’s withdrawal earlier in the week before losing its announced challenger for the main event. The promotion is now leaning on Ayari’s experience against an opponent who remains unbeaten inside the league.
Gogoladze is chasing the same goal despite the new opponent, becoming the first Georgian champion in OKTAGON’s welterweight division, after months of waiting since Brito walked away from the belt. For Ayari, at 34 and seventeen years into his career, the fight offers a shot at the first major title of his career.
