Due to the undisclosed doping suspensions, Wanderley Junior found himself thrust into the co-main event at Oktagon 66 on two days’ notice, against the #5 ranked lightweight Lom-Ali Eskiev. The Brazilian featherweight had lost two fights in a row coming into the bout, and you would think that for most fighters a third loss in a row could spell the end of things. Well, that was certainly not the case for Wanderley Junior. He had an impressive showing in his TKO loss to a potential title challenger, and Oktagon chief Ondrej Novotny expressed interest in resigning him.
In the post-fight press conference, when asked about the experience of fighting for Oktagon MMA, Junior commented on being overcome by emotion in the cage on Saturday.
“Thank you so much for this opportunity. You know, [that] was too much emotion inside the cage for me. First time that I lose three consecutive times now. And that’s too much emotion. But I know, I, uh, when I accept this fight, I know who I am. I know how how hard I train every time, every day, what I do to get better every time, and I say, ‘oh let’s go.’ This is a big opportunity to get a contract with a big organization, and I will be there and I will do my best. I left my best, for myself and for everybody watching, because this show is not for me, this show is for, for all [of] you. So the guys that care for the fighters who I like so much, I appreciate you a lot, how you care [about] the fighters, and thank you for this opportunity.”
Novotny the added that Oktagon was willing to break the unwritten rule that sees many promotions cut fighters after two or three consecutive losses. “I just want to add that a lot of fighters are scared to lose two or three times in a row, but also we in Oktagon MMA, we want to break this rule, you know, because in MMA there’s like somehow rule that after three fights you are f*cked up and nobody counts with you, and we count with every fighter who performs, who tries to be a good fighter, who wants to be a brand fighter, I would like to say. And after three losses in a row, I don’t care.”
“Like we saw it today. You can jump back, and I come with him in Oktagon now, so he wants to, we will sign the contract, and we will give him definitely a chance in his weight category, and then we will see something special, I believe.”
The featherweight division is one of the best that Oktagon has, so there are many fun fights that we could see Wanderley Junior matched up in.
