Deniz Ilbay dances provocatively and aggressively through the cage. His fighting style makes the ex-boxer interesting for many viewers in mixed martial arts as well. In an interview with ntv.de, he talks about his career, promises a “spectacular career” and explains his curious nickname.
In November 2023, Deniz Ilbay will walk into Cologne’s Lanxess Arena in front of 20,000 spectators, with “Viva Colonia” blaring over the loudspeakers. Ilbay wears a Mexican death mask and a sombrero. Hard-hitting martial arts and carnival music don’t seem to fit right away for outsiders, but that’s no problem for the 29-year-old mixed martial arts fighter – after all, he’s a real “Cologne boy”. As a former professional boxer, he’s had a textbook career since moving into the cage. But “El Pistolero” from the Rhine still has big plans and wants to make another statement at the stadium event in Prague in front of 28,000 spectators – and of course let his fists do the talking.
In MMA Germany, Ilbay is one of the audience favorites.
(Photo: Oktagon MMA)
In an interview with ntv.de, Ilbay explains how he got the nickname. “It originated at the 2014 World Cup. When Luis Suárez scored a goal for Uruguay, he made this pistol movement and the commentator said: The Pistolero has struck again. My father liked that so much and said that my punches from hip height come as quickly as someone pulling out a revolver.” A few months later, he got a corresponding tattoo on his chest. “We stuck with the nickname,” says the Cologne native, who adds: “The mask and the sombrero fit Cologne and carnival, but I also really like Mexican culture. My boxing style is also more Mexican, just very aggressive.”
Anyone who follows an MMA fight by the 29-year-old will quickly discover elements of his boxing style. Ilbay drives his opponents ahead of him, works with quick punch combinations and tries to shorten the distance. To do this, he repeatedly throws in explosive advances that allow his opponent to land hits, but Ilbay himself says he has “ability to take a beating.”
“A family man through and through”
He got into martial arts through his father, who has been Ilbay’s trainer and mentor for years. “There is no man in the world who wants you to be better than him, except your father. In my case, he is a training partner, coach, mentor and friend all in one. In my sporting career, that is the best thing that could have happened to me.” Family is very important to the Ilbays anyway. “I am a family man through and through. Many people say that having two children is exhausting, but it gives me energy. When I hear the two rascals in the morning, it gives me a boost – now there is a girl on the way,” says the expectant father of three.
The fact that he has been making a living for his family with MMA since 2021 (5 wins, 1 loss) is hardly surprising, because Ilbay was also successful in other martial arts. “Kickboxing was my start in martial arts. I became German champion and European champion. But then I had to switch to boxing due to an injury. I was also very successful there with 22 wins in 25 professional fights, until Corona came along. Suddenly there were no more boxing events. However, MMA events were held on a small scale by the UFD Gym in Düsseldorf – and I wanted to fight.” He finally coordinated the switch to MMA with his father. “I said to him: If we expand and refine our arsenal, then we can gain a foothold there too.”
In order to expand this arsenal, months of wrestling and grappling were initially on the agenda. “My greatest weapon remains striking,” Ilbay sums up. “I have a damn good eye for this and sometimes I feel like I see things faster – like a fly – and can react to them.” Anyone who stays in the stand with him will therefore not survive the first round in MMA either.
After the stadium is before the stadium
Ilbay’s previous opponent, Briton Corey Fry, had initially tried standing up in Cologne in November before taking a few hard hits from the German. Fry quickly decided to take the action to the ground. He was able to inflict Ilbay’s first early defeat in professional sport with an armbar. “That was my mistake,” the Cologne native admits today. “I now want to show that it was just a slip-up.”
He will have the opportunity on June 8th at Oktagon 58 in Prague. In front of around 28,000 spectators, he will compete in the Eden Stadium against Slovakian Denis Tripšanský in the featherweight division (up to 66 kilograms). “He likes to stay standing,” says Ilbay, analyzing his opponent, who has five wins and three losses in his career so far. “That plays into my hands. I will knock him out early – or he will slip into a submission hold. In any case, there will be fireworks.”
What happens after that is still open, “I would love to be in the stadium in Frankfurt in October,” says Ilbay. On October 12, the Waldstadion will be the big stage for the sport, which is still young in Germany, when 55,000 spectators are expected. The event could be a stepping stone to even larger MMA organizations. Ilbay therefore does not think much of a German-German duel. “In the long term, that would be a shame. It could bring many young German fighters into other organizations. If you let them compete against each other, one of them will end up losing – and the opportunity will be lost.”
The 29-year-old is not done with kickboxing and boxing either. “I still have one foot in the door,” he says. He is particularly pleased with the performances of European boxing champion Agit Kabayel. He is taking the sport in Germany to a whole new level. “We train together and he keeps encouraging me to come back to boxing. But for now I’m concentrating on MMA. It will be a breathtaking and spectacular career.”