Max Holzer's last victory almost resulted in the Oktagon MMA version of Khabib Nurmagomedov against Conor McGregor.
The German featherweight prospect won a great victory in the main event of the Oktagon 69 on Saturday, marking a naked strangulation submission to the fourth round of Deniz Ilbay. To celebrate, Holzer, 23, crowned the 11th consecutive victory of his undefeated career with a kiss at the back of Ilbay's head, followed by a hip thrust. Ilbay immediately launched himself on his feet to rush and attack Holzer, the action overflowing from the cage in a chaotic scene which quickly became viral.
Advertisement
Holzer explained Tuesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show” by Non-Couronne “ That his reaction was in a way a “joke” but also that the frustrations led the time after six months to try to fight.
“The problem was that in the fourth round, his corner was trying me and shouted things in my direction,” said Holzer. “Even before, they said,” Let him go. “Crazy things.
“It made me very angry because it was also a personal fight. We did not like each other. So I did that, and I must say that it is one thing to make an disrespectful movement like that, but it is another thing to try to hit the other guy after the fight. I think it cannot be done.
“What I did was not good too, but they did not know the background,” added Holzer. “When you understand German, you can hear that they were proud of me. What is the reason for this?”
Holzer said he is the opponent with whom he had the most personal beef so far in his MMA career, and said that the origin of Bad Blood was ultimately summed up in Ilbay's evil claims and and buffoonery.
Advertisement
“He was always like,” you are too young. You are a guy who forces attention. You lie, what you do, you don't really do seriously. “I was angry about it,” said Holzer. “He was even lying about the things I said. He said to me:” You attack my family “, and I would never attack the family of a man. His father wrote under each photo of me. Even I launched my hand and he continued to do something like that.”
Holzer declared that he apologized to Ilbay at the press conference after the fight of the event, but that had been refused. The dust was still settled at that time, he said, and things were degenerated at a level where there were security problems in the middle of post-confirmte chaos in Dortmund, Germany, with security trying to go out everything as quickly as possible.
“The crazy thing was even that they had to get me out of the arena with many security guards,” said Holzer. “They said to me:” You have to leave your outfit. You have to leave town. They will try to attack you. “I don't know if it's the truth, but security told me.
“I don't really know what the problem is with these guys. His father was in his corner and eliminated a fan, so I know that what I did was very disrespectful, but I could not think of my team eliminating a fan. A guy who makes us capable of doing our job. Fans must always be safe, in my opinion. This behavior cannot be accepted.”
Advertisement
The incident could have been worse by considering that the wild hunters withdrew from the cage door and at the bottom of a small flight of steps. Holzer said he was finally believing that he is fine, although he had back pain, which could have come from the fight rather than after.
In the end, it may have been good that security acted quickly because Holzer also received threats from Ilbay fans.
“They said they wanted to fight with a lot, a lot of people,” said Holzer. “They came and said,” They are waiting for you. You can't go out. You cannot go to the check (of the doctor). “I had to wait with my cuts, bleeding inside the cage.
“Even (in the contribution of) the fight, (Ilbay) said that he was twice on the way to my city to beat me. This guy always said that he was a just athlete, and I'm not because I do jokes, and my (debraying) and something like that. But I think he really showed his true face and that he is not a just sportsman.
Advertisement
Holzer's life has largely remained the same in the days that followed his victory. Or at least, he has an explosion of social media; The incident has more than doubled the subscribers of the Holzer Instagram account overnight.
Ilbay was the fifth consecutive victory of Holzer in the Oktagon Cage, and he is satisfied with the way in which the promotion treated him at the start of his career. If Holzer can help develop MMA in Germany while adding experience to its curriculum vitae, it is absolutely for that. Ideally, “Stifler” hopes to come back for two other fights this year.
After that, Holzer thinks he will be ready to fight in the UFC.
“I think the goal of each fighter at the end is to go (at the UFC), but I will see what Oktagon then brings me,” said Holzer. “This year, I am signed with Oktagon. Next year, we will see what will happen then.
“I was repeatedly in America, and I think that when this year is over, I will be ready to compete. I trained in American Top Team and Xtreme Couture several times. I really like to train. It is always one thing to stay longer in America. I really want to stay longer this year.”
