Mochamed Machaev holds the OKTAGON featherweight title at 26, and the unbeaten Max Holzer, 24, is the name that stands out behind him: 12-0 with a finish rate of 83%.
OKTAGON featherweight rankings
The champion and the ten ranked fighters, as of 25 Oct 2026:
| Rank | Fighter | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | Mochamed Machaev | 18-2-0, 1 NC |
| #1 | Gjoni Palokaj | 13-4-0 |
| #2 | Max Holzer | 12-0-0 |
| #3 | Zafar Mohsen | 15-4-1 |
| #4 | Radek Roušal | 7-3-0 |
| #5 | Khalid Taha | 16-6-0, 1 NC |
| #6 | Richie Smullen | 15-5-1 |
| #7 | Jakub Batfalský | 10-2-0 |
| #8 | James Hendin | 10-4-0 |
| #9 | Ayton De Paepe | 15-6-0 |
| #10 | Hugo Vach | 8-2-0 |
Nobody in the top ten has moved since the last ranking update. German fighters hold four of the five places directly behind the champion (#1, #2, #3 and #5), with Roušal of the Czech Republic at #4 the exception.
Machaev and the title picture
Machaev is 18-2-0 with one no contest and a finish rate of 67%. At Oktagon 91 on 11 Jul 2026 he knocked out Gjoni Palokaj with punches at 2:34 of round 1 in a title fight.
Palokaj, 31, is still ranked #1 at 13-4-0 and has a finish rate of 46%. The Austrian champion has already dealt with the man who sits directly behind him in the rankings.
Holzer, Mohsen and the finishers
Holzer is the only fighter in the rankings with no losses on his record. His most recent result in the division is a round 1 TKO of Khalid Taha at 3:14 at Oktagon 88 on 16 May 2026. Taha, 34, is 16-6-0 and has the highest finish rate in the top ten at 88%, so that was a fight between two finishers, and Holzer ended it first.
Zafar Mohsen, 31, has a finish rate of 80% and showed it at Oktagon 90 on 20 Jun 2026, knocking out Richie Smullen at 2:19 of round 1. Smullen is the oldest fighter in the rankings at 35 and is 15-5-1.
The last 12 months at featherweight
The division produced 25 bouts in the last 12 months, and 14 of them ended in a finish. The latest three results show how quickly the order can be tested:
- Marco Novák knocked out Anatolij Baal at 0:57 of round 2 at Oktagon 95 on 17 Oct 2026.
- Deniz Ilbay knocked out Hugo Vach, now #10, at 4:23 of round 1 at Oktagon 94 on 26 Sep 2026.
- Jonas Mågård submitted Radek Roušal, now #4, with a guillotine choke at 0:35 of round 3 at Oktagon 93 on 12 Sep 2026.
The older names are not fading. Taha, 34, and Smullen, 35, still hold #5 and #6, and Smullen has a finish rate of 73%. Decisions still matter. Ayton De Paepe beat Novák on points at Oktagon 89 on 6 Jun 2026, and Jakub Batfalský took a unanimous decision over Vojtěch Khol at Oktagon 92 on 1 Aug 2026.
What is booked next
The top of the rankings meets first. Palokaj, #1, fights Mohsen, #3, at Oktagon 97 on 7 Nov 2026. It is Palokaj's first booked fight since the knockout loss to Machaev in the title fight at Oktagon 91, and it pairs him with a fighter who knocked out Smullen in round 1 at Oktagon 90.
Two weeks later, at Oktagon 98 on 21 Nov 2026, Batfalský, the youngest name in the rankings at 23, faces De Paepe, who is ranked #9.
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This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.