On Saturday, May 17th, Oktagon MMA heads to Munich, Germany. Featured on the card is the polarizing Lightweight, Shem Rock. After almost a year out, due to opponents pulling out, and an injury, Rock finally returns to face the #6 ranked Lightweight, Atilla Korkmaz, however, that was not who he was supposed to face.
Who was Shem Rock supposed to face?
Do you want the long story or the short story? Rock was originally slated to face #3 ranked Lom-Ali Eskiev, but a car accident caused Eskiev to pull out of the fight. Rock was then matched up with Abdullo Khodzaev, about 9 weeks out. The Tajikistan-based fighter would have been making his promotional debut. The pair of fighters engaged in Trash talk online; however, it wasn’t meant to be. On Friday night, it was leaked that Abdullo Khodzaev was out of the fight due to Visa issues. In steps the #6 ranked Atilla Korkmaz. Shem Rock has stated since then that this was the fight that should have been matched up all along.
Atilla Korkmaz- Always ready?
The former Bellator fighter returns for the first time since his September defeat to Agy Sardari. Korkmaz has stated on a number of occasions that he was ready to fight and wanted to fight on this card, so he is getting what he wanted. Shem Rock has stated in interviews that he felt like Korkmaz was inevitably going to step in or be an opponent for him in the future.
The winner of this fight could see themselves get a fight inside the top 5 of the division. This fight will take place at a Catchweight of 73kg (161lbs).
