Gogoladze vs. Ayari is the new main event of Oktagon 96 in Munich on 31 October: Jessin Ayari replaces the injured Felix Klinkhammer and fights Amiran Gogoladze for the vacant welterweight title over five rounds. According to Middle Easy, the promotion announced the change on Tuesday 27 October. OKTAGON did not say what Klinkhammer's injury is or when he might return.
What changed: Ayari replaces Klinkhammer for the vacant title
Klinkhammer, unbeaten at 11-0 and ranked No. 6 in the OKTAGON welterweight division in our database, withdrew from the headliner. Ayari steps in against Gogoladze, the division's No. 1 contender, with the title that was left vacant on the line. The nature of the injury was not disclosed.
The title fight is scheduled for five rounds, according to Fightbook MMA. The card takes place in Munich and is available in Germany on RTL+, according to Middle Easy, which also lists OKTAGON.TV, TVP Sport and DAZN as broadcasters.
Ayari's own opponent had already changed twice. He was first booked against Ion Surdu, who withdrew injured, and OKTAGON then paired him with Kevin Pastran on Monday. Klinkhammer's withdrawal came after that, so the Ayari vs. Pastran fight is off. Middle Easy writes that it is unclear whether Pastran will get a new opponent.
Gogoladze's route to the title fight
Gogoladze, nicknamed "The Sniper", is the Georgian welterweight ranked No. 1 by OKTAGON. His most recent fight, according to our database, was a first-round knockout of Ion Surdu at Oktagon 86 on 11 April 2026. Before that he won three straight decisions, over Leandro Silva in June 2024, Łukasz Siwiec in October 2023 and Liam Etebar in May 2023. Eight of his wins are by knockout or TKO, three by submission and five by decision.
His record is reported differently. Our database lists him at 16-3-0, while Middle Easy and other reports give 18-3. After the change, Gogoladze said: "I have one goal - bring belt to Georgia."
Jessin Ayari: record, UFC years and time away since June 2025
Ayari, nicknamed "Abacus", is a 34-year-old German welterweight who trains at Original Fighting Nürnberg. OKTAGON's own fighter page gives his record as 19-6-0, which matches our database. One outlet lists 18-6, but the official figure is 19-6. Nine of his wins came by submission, five by knockout and five by decision.
He fought in the UFC earlier in his career, and his last UFC bout was a first-round TKO loss to Luigi Vendramini in October 2020. In OKTAGON he beat Andreas Ståhl by third-round TKO at Oktagon 68 in March 2025 and Niklas Stolze by second-round submission at Oktagon 73 on 28 June 2025. That was his last fight, so he has been out of the cage for about 16 months. OKTAGON lists him at No. 7 in the division.
How the matchup looks and what is left on the card
Gogoladze has finished eight fights inside 100 seconds, according to Middle Easy, and has the more recent big win, over a fellow top-three contender. Ayari is the more experienced finisher on the ground, with submissions as his most common route, and he steps in on short notice after a long layoff.
The rest of the card has also been reshuffled. Rene Runge replaces the injured Niko Samsonidse against Gökhan Aksu at a 73 kg catchweight, Hafeni Nafuka vs. Ivan Klevets has been added at 72 kg, and Fayaz Haqparast's fight with Shawn Marcos da Silva has been scrapped after Haqparast withdrew injured. Henrique Madureira vs. Daniel Schordje is still on the bill.
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This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.