Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic — If any fighter has taken advantage of joining Oktagon MMA following a UFC run, it’s Mallory Martin.
Martin went 1-3 in her UFC stint, but the former Invicta FC fighter then landed in Oktagon, losing her debut only to win her next four, including a rematch against Katharina Dalisda that earned the American the Oktagon MMA strawweight championship.
At Oktagon 70 over the weekend, Martin (11-6) defended her title for the first time in a one-sided scrap with Eva Dourthe.
“It just feels so good. You know you’re not a champion until you defend the belt, so I felt like I really did the job, and I feel like I am a champion now,” Martin told Cageside Press following the fight. “I’m just really proud of myself.”
Dalisda was supposed to have competed at Oktagon 70, and a win for the ex-champ would have built hype for a rubber match between her and Martin, given the pair’s career series sits at 1-1. Mallory Martin, for one, wasn’t worried that Dalisda pulled out of the event.
“I heard she got sick, and things happen. But going into this fight, even in the locker room, I kept telling myself I can do it, I can do it. But I also was saying, if Dalisda can do it, I can do it,” stated Martin. “Dalisda beat this girl twice. Why not me? Why not Mallory Martin? And so I just held that in my heart. I went out there last fight and I had a dominant performance against Dalisda, and Dalisda put away this girl twice. Why can’t I do what Dalisda did?”
Martin happens to be one of the few Americans competing for Oktagon MMA, which has become a key player in European MMA with sold out shows in Germany and the Czech Republic now a regular occurrence.
“Amazing. Amazing. I have no words for that, it’s really cool just to be able to travel the world and come out here and fight for the European fans,” Martin said of repping the U.S. in Oktagon. “And I feel like the European fans are ten times better than the American fans. So it’s just really cool to come out here and travel the world.”
Watch our full interview with Oktagon 70’s Mallory Martin, the promotion’s reigning strawweight champion, above.
