The main fight at OKTAGON 69 causes ugly scenes after the end. Winner Max Holzer’s unsportsmanlike gesture causes the escalation.
There was a great deal of interest in the big MMA night at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund – but in the end, the 15,000 fans who were there experienced a wild escalation in the main fight at OKTAGON 69.
After there had already been scuffles between shooting star Max Holzer and ex-boxer Deniz Ilbay during the weigh-in, an exciting fight initially followed on Saturday evening. Holzer won after Ilbay gave up in the fourth round, after he was unable to free himself from a stranglehold. But then it got ugly.
Ilbay pushes Holzer out of the cage
Holzer was carried away by his victory and did a questionable thing: he kissed his opponent on the back of the head and made an obscene gesture.
Enraged, Ilbay then jumped at Holzer and pushed him through the already open cage door and out of the octagon. Ilbay’s father also lost his temper and had to be escorted out of the hall by security staff.
“I was insulted by him as well as by his father the whole time during the fight,” Holzer tried to justify his action in the octagon, which led to the escalation after the fight. In the catacombs, the scenes continued. Both had to be escorted to the medical check separately.
Holzer “basically desecrated him”
“Holzer did something ugly by ‘desecrating’ Ilbay,” criticized team doctor Dr. Panagiotis Karachalios on RTL: “It was completely out of line and unfortunately led to a brawl that spilled over into the crowd.”
At the press conference, calm finally seemed to return. Holzer apologized to Ilbay and reached out his hand, but the man from Cologne refused the handshake – a temporary end to the disputes, but the rift is unlikely to be smoothed over any time soon.
