Palokaj and Mohsen both make 66.2kg for OKTAGON 97 co-main with a title shot in sight

Mohsen, the man who knocked out Ireland's Richie Smullen, can earn a title shot with a win, OKTAGON said, while home fighter Palokaj is back after his first OKTAGON defeat.

Gjoni Palokaj and Zafar Mohsen both weighed 66.2kg at Friday's official OKTAGON 97 weigh-in in Hannover, making their featherweight co-main event official for Saturday at the ZAG Arena.

The fight pairs OKTAGON's No.4 featherweight, Palokaj, with No.3 Mohsen. OKTAGON's build-up video at the weigh-in said a single win would earn Mohsen a title shot, and the announcer said Palokaj is looking to work his way back to a second one.

Mohsen, 31, has won 15 pro fights and is 2-0 in OKTAGON, with wins over Samuel Bark and Ireland's Richie Smullen. He knocked Smullen out in the first round at OKTAGON 90 in June, and the weigh-in announcer said the body punch made him the first man ever to beat the Irishman by TKO.

Palokaj, 31, is 13-4 and fights out of Fight School Hannover. He was unbeaten in OKTAGON until Mago Machaev knocked him out in the first round at OKTAGON 91 in Cologne in July. Saturday takes him back to the Hannover arena where he beat Jakub Batfalský on the cards in the OKTAGON 75 main event in September 2025.

Karol Ryšavý and Samuel Bark also meet on the card, two men the co-main fighters have already beaten.

The main event is the bantamweight title fight between champion Igor Severino and unbeaten Max Holzer, who both made the 61.2kg limit. Elsewhere on the card, Denis Frimpong and Ozan Aslaner had to be held apart at the weigh-ins. The sold-out card starts at 5pm UK time on Saturday and streams on OKTAGON.TV.

READ NEXTFrimpong and Aslaner held apart at OKTAGON 97 weigh-ins: “Your skin's gonna get sliced up”Read the next story →

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