MMA fighter with pure dominance
Jungwirth switches to tank mode for the home game
By Michael Bauer, Stuttgart
March 24, 2024, 12:30 a.m
15,000 spectators celebrate their local hero. Christian Jungwirth lives up to his reputation as a fitness monster and dominates in the main fight of the MMA event Oktagon 55. However, another Swabian leaves the strongest impression.
Local hero Christian Jungwirth has left his mark on the Oktagon 55 MMA event in Stuttgart. The 37-year-old won the main fight against Robert Pukač confidently after five rounds by points decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45). The German showed all his skills in front of 15,000 spectators in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Hall.
Cheered on by chants of “Jungwirth, Jungwirth,” he rolled towards the Slovakian like a tank over five laps, benefiting from his outstanding fitness. He repeatedly used one-two combinations and pressed his opponent against the cage. There the welterweight controlled the action for the entire 25 minutes. The Slovakian had little to counter. “A lot of respect to Robert Pukač. He’s a tough guy.” He only found out the day before the fight that he would fight over five rounds. “Someone should imitate me first.”
After a defeat against Pavol Langer, he wanted Alexander Poppeck to get back on the road to success. The Munich native faced the American Jeremy Kimball, who is actually at home in the heavyweight division, but competed against Poppeck in a weight class lower. Both fighters felt each other out for two minutes, the German landed two leg kicks and then went for a takedown. He wrestled Kimball to the ground, improving his position there before he was in full mount. There he was able to deliver a series of blows, the American was only able to keep his guard up and no longer actively defend himself. “Ironside” Poppeck won by technical knockout.
Stolze is defeated by strong Hungary
Kertész starts to choke.
(Photo: Octagon MMA)
After a successful debut in Cologne, Niklas Stolze wanted to follow up. The welterweight from Magdeburg faced the Hungarian Máté Kertész. In the first round, Stolze scored with the jab and leg kicks. The Hungarian wanted to shift the fight to the ground early on, his first attempt failed, and on the second attempt he wrestled the German to the ground. There he remained in control and finished the round dominantly. In the second round he went for a takedown again and once again got Stolze to the ground. The Magdeburger tried to apply a Kimura lock and a triangle choke from the back – without success. A mistake by Stolz allowed Kertész to apply a submission hold – and it came through. Stoltze tapped out and lost the fight by submission.
The two middleweight fighters Jamie Cordeiro and Dominic Schober wanted to set off fireworks, but no one could really get started. Cordeiro from Bremen was powerful in the first round, worked a lot with jabs and attacked the Austrian on his octagon debut. Schober was able to deliver a lot of leg kicks, but overall he couldn’t keep up with Cordeiro in terms of hit frequency, who stuck to his game plan in round two. He drove Schober in front of him, landed one-two combinations and repeatedly tried knee strikes. The Austrian’s guard lasted for a long time; one minute before the end of the round, Cordeiro hit with an uppercut and his opponent slowly collapsed. However, the German was unable to make a decisive impact on the ground. Schober was also unable to initiate the turnaround in the third lap. The fighter from Kong’s Gym near Stuttgart landed more hits, but repeatedly received clean hands from Cordeiro, who in the end secured an easy points victory.
In the heavyweight category, Ruben Wolf and Sebastian Herzberg fought a German-German duel. Especially Herzberg, who was still undefeated with a fight record of four victories, was supposed to be the next step in his career. Wolf moved the fight to the ground after about a minute – unusual for heavyweights. The 37-year-old dominated there and delivered good shots. However, he injured his knee during his takedown attempt. During the break in the lap, the Hamburger signaled: It can’t go any further. Herzberg won after his opponent gave up.
Topallaj makes short work of it
Seven wins, all early in the first round: 25-year-old Arijan Topallaj lived up to his reputation as a short-time cage worker. The lightweight fighter from Balingen in Baden-Württemberg immediately went on the offensive against the Slovakian Karol Ryšavý. With a left swing he swept his opponent off his feet. Ryšavý stood up, but found himself exposed to a hail of blows. And one of Topallaj’s wild hooks found its target and knocked the Slovakian out.
Jorick Montagnac proved to be too big for Sebastian Heil. After a short scanning phase, the Frenchman, ranked number seven in the light heavyweight division, landed a cracking left that sent the German to the ground. Heil was able to free himself from the ensuing hail of blows, but Montagnac controlled the action at will while standing.
Michael Deiga-Scheck was also able to celebrate.
(Photo: Octagon MMA)
However, the Karlsruher changed his approach in the second round, relied on his clinch game and tried to exploit the cage. He slowed down the brilliant Frenchman for around two minutes, but he was always able to deliver effective punch combinations whenever he was able to free himself. The same picture emerged in round three. Apart from minor body hits in the clinch, there wasn’t enough from Heil, so in the end Montagnac won comfortably on points.
The German-Brazilian Michael Dega-Scheck faced Nikolaos “Spider-Man” Zerbesis. The two featherweights had announced a battle, but the duel didn’t last long. After just 53 seconds, Zerbesis ran into a crashing left hook from Dega-Scheck and immediately went down. The referee stopped the fight immediately, even though the fighter from Bremen was conscious again immediately afterwards.