Title Fight Preview: Krzysztof Jotko vs. Kerim Engizek 2
Krzysztof Jotko submitted Kerim Engizek in three minutes and thirty-seven seconds at Oktagon 82 in January. He walked away with €300,000 from the Tipsport Gamechanger 3 tournament. What he did not walk away with was the belt. On July 11 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Jotko gets his chance to claim both legacy and gold — with the OKTAGON Middleweight title on the line for the first time between them.
Engizek has held the championship since October 2024 when he grinded out a five-round decision over Patrik Kincl at Oktagon 62. That title was never at risk during the Tipsport Gamechanger 3 tournament — Engizek entered as a participant, not a defender. When Jotko took him down and locked in the rear-naked choke in the opening round of the final, it was a tournament loss, not a title loss. Engizek still holds the belt, and he intends to prove that January was an aberration.
The rematch is set. Cologne answers the question the first fight raised.
Tale of the Tape
| Krzysztof Jotko | Kerim Engizek | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 36 | 35 |
| Height | 6'1" (185 cm) | 6'0" (183 cm) |
| Reach | 77" (196 cm) | — |
| Stance | Southpaw | — |
| Record (W-L-D) | 29-6-0, 1 NC | 24-5-0 |
| KO Rate | 27.6% | 62.5% |
| Sub Rate | 6.9% | 12.5% |
| Team | OXYgym Stavanger | UFD Gym |
How Jotko Got Here
Krzysztof Jotko arrived at OKTAGON in December 2024 with a simple mandate: win the Tipsport Gamechanger 3 tournament. The Polish veteran had spent a decade in the UFC, going 11-6 inside the Octagon before his release following a submission loss to Brendan Allen in October 2022. He spent a brief stint with PFL before making the move to European competition.
His OKTAGON debut came at Oktagon 70 in April 2025, a decision win over Ion Surdu. He followed with a TKO of Marek Mazúch in August, then outpointed Hojat Khajevand in the tournament bracket at Oktagon 77 in October. In each fight, Jotko looked controlled, accurate, and never in serious danger. By the time he faced Engizek in the tournament final in Düsseldorf, he carried a four-fight win streak and the experience of a man who had competed at a higher level for most of his career.
The finish of Engizek was the most aggressive performance of his OKTAGON tenure. A takedown early, transition to back control, rear-naked choke in under four minutes. Jotko now enters the rematch on a five-fight win streak and holds the number-one contender ranking.
Jotko — Recent Fights
| Opponent | Result | Method | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerim Engizek | Win | Submission (RNC), R1 3:37 | Jan 2026 |
| Hojat Khajevand | Win | Decision | Oct 2025 |
| Marek Mazúch | Win | TKO, R2 4:36 | Aug 2025 |
| Ion Surdu | Win | Decision | Apr 2025 |
| Andres Ramos | Win | TKO, R2 1:40 | Nov 2024 |
How Engizek Got Here
Kerim Engizek became OKTAGON Middleweight Champion with a five-round decision over Patrik Kincl at Oktagon 62 in October 2024. That win came after back-to-back first-round finishes — a KO and a TKO — that established him as the most dangerous finisher in the European 185-pound landscape. He entered the Tipsport Gamechanger 3 as the sitting champion, moving through the tournament bracket against Kamil Oniszczuk, Mick Stanton, and Dominik Humburger before reaching the final.
His 62.5% KO rate defines him. Fifteen of his twenty-four wins have come by knockout. He is aggressive, pressure-heavy, and willing to absorb early to land his own shots. The style has worked consistently in OKTAGON; the question after January is whether it works against Jotko a second time once the champion adjusts.
Engizek is based in Düsseldorf and will be fighting in front of a crowd that knows him well. Cologne and Düsseldorf are thirty kilometres apart.
Engizek — Recent Fights
| Opponent | Result | Method | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krzysztof Jotko | Loss | Submission (RNC), R1 3:37 | Jan 2026 |
| Dominik Humburger | Win | Decision | Oct 2025 |
| Mick Stanton | Win | TKO, R1 3:03 | Aug 2025 |
| Kamil Oniszczuk | Win | Decision | Feb 2025 |
| Patrik Kincl | Win | Decision, R5 (Title) | Oct 2024 |
Stylistic Matchup
The rematch dynamic is clear on paper and complicated in practice.
Jotko is a southpaw with 77 inches of reach. He is primarily a volume striker with solid wrestling underpinnings — the majority of his wins have come by decision, but his submission of Engizek showed genuine grappling ability when the situation opened up. He does not rely on power; he relies on work rate and the angles that the southpaw stance creates.
Engizek is a different kind of fighter. His 62.5% KO rate is built on aggression and the willingness to close distance and land heavy shots in short spaces. Against Jotko in January, that approach left him vulnerable to the takedown. If Engizek presses forward the same way in the rematch, the result could look familiar.
The question is whether Engizek has adapted. His camp will have watched the tape from every angle. He will need sharper jab work to occupy Jotko's lead hand, better sprawl timing, and more discipline about when to push the pace. Jotko's southpaw stance creates cross-face angles that disrupt standard right-hand setups, and Engizek will need to account for that if he wants to land the shot that changes the fight.
Intangibles
Both men are 35-36. Neither is at a physical peak. What Jotko brings is context: eleven UFC fights give him a frame of reference that most of Engizek's previous opponents never had. Managing adversity calmly, finding the shot off a defensive exchange, staying composed in difficult rounds — these are skills built from years at the highest level.
Engizek's edge is environment. He has competed under the OKTAGON banner seven times. He knows the crowds, the production, the pace of these events. Cologne is thirty kilometres from his home base in Düsseldorf, and the arena will feel close to home territory for him in a way it will not for Jotko.
There is also the psychology of being the champion who was finished. Jotko put Engizek on his back and took his neck in the tournament final. Engizek still holds the belt — but that reality did not make the first defeat easier to process. How he responds to that loss, in a rematch with the title now on the line, may matter as much as any tactical adjustment his camp makes.
What a Win Means
If Jotko wins, he holds the OKTAGON Middleweight title and confirms that his performance in January was not circumstantial. At 36, a meaningful championship run has a defined window, and claiming this belt would cap an OKTAGON tenure that ran from signed recruit to champion in under two years. He also completes what the tournament victory began: the prize money and the belt from the same man.
If Engizek wins, he answers the only question that matters in European middleweight MMA right now. A title defense against the fighter who submitted you — in the immediate rematch — would rank as the most significant result of his career. It would also reset the narrative around his championship run after a loss that put everything temporarily in doubt.
The Bigger Picture
OKTAGON's middleweight division has been the most active storyline in European MMA for two years. The Tipsport Gamechanger 3 tournament built a following that is paying close attention. Whoever wins at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on July 11 inherits that momentum and sets the division's direction for the next twelve months.
The fighters who moved through the tournament bracket and others waiting in line will be watching. There is no more important fight in European middleweight MMA this summer.