Ayari vs. Surdu is booked for Oktagon 96 in Munich on Saturday 31 October, a week from now. Jessin Ayari, a former UFC fighter based in Germany, meets Ion Surdu, the former Oktagon welterweight champion, on a card headlined by Amiran Gogoladze against Felix Klinkhammer for the vacant welterweight title. According to Combat Press, the event starts at 5 p.m. local time and is shown on Oktagon's live pay-per-view platform.
Why this welterweight bout matters in Munich
Both men sit in the top five of the Pugna MMA Oktagon welterweight rankings. Surdu is ranked third and Ayari fifth, while Gogoladze, who beat Surdu in April, is ranked first. Ayari vs. Surdu is not the title fight, but it pits two ranked names against each other on the same night the division gets a new champion.
For Surdu it is a chance to answer his last result. For Ayari it is a return in front of a home crowd, on a card in Germany.
Ayari: the UFC veteran who has won in Oktagon
Ayari, nicknamed "Abacus", is 19-6 according to our database. His wins split into five by knockout or TKO, nine by submission and five by decision, which makes him the more varied finisher of the two. Combat Press describes him as a former UFC competitor who "brings a measured, tactical approach".
His UFC losses came at lightweight: a decision against Stevie Ray in October 2018 and a first-round TKO against Luigi Vendramini in October 2020. In Oktagon he has fought at welterweight and won both of his latest bouts in our records. He stopped Andreas Ståhl by TKO in round three at Oktagon 68 in March 2025, then submitted Niklas Stolze in round two at Oktagon 73 in June 2025. Our data shows no bout since then, so Munich is his first appearance in more than a year.
Surdu: the former champion after the Gogoladze loss
Surdu, from Moldova and nicknamed "Dracula", is 17-8. Thirteen of his 17 wins came by knockout or TKO, one by submission and three by decision. He won the Oktagon welterweight title with a first-round knockout of Kaik Brito at Oktagon 64 in December 2024, and he won a title fight again by first-round TKO against Andrej Kalašnik at Oktagon 79 in November 2025.
In between, he lost a decision to Krzysztof Jotko at middleweight at Oktagon 70 in April 2025. His most recent fight was the loss to Gogoladze by first-round knockout at Oktagon 86 in April 2026. Combat Press says he "will attempt to rebound" from that defeat, and Gogoladze's win is the reason the Georgian is now fighting for the vacant belt.
How the styles meet
The records point to a clear contrast. Surdu's résumé is built on early finishes: both of his title wins in our data ended in round one. Ayari's wins are spread across all three routes, and his two latest Oktagon wins ended in the second and third rounds, not the first.
That does not say how the fight will go. It shows what each man brings: Surdu has power and a record of ending fights quickly, and Ayari has submissions, a tactical approach and experience of longer fights.
What the winner can ask for
Oktagon has not said what comes next for either fighter. What is clear from the rankings is that the winner will stay close to the top of the welterweight division. The title is decided by Gogoladze and Klinkhammer on the same card, so the winner of Ayari vs. Surdu will be watching to see who becomes champion. For Surdu, a win would be his first since the Kalašnik fight in November 2025.
Oktagon 96 takes place in Munich on 31 October. The full card includes Kevin Hangs against Burak Kizilirmak, Shawn Marcos da Silva against Fayaz Haqparast and Henrique Madureira against Daniel Schordje.
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This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.