'As the fight goes along' - MMA star makes bold prediction ahead return to cage at OKTAGON 61

Former Cage Warriors bantamweight Champion Jack Cartwright has predicted that he will choke or knock out Mate Sanikidze when he returns to the cage on 21 September in Brno, Czech Republic at OKTAGON 61.

The Bolton-based MMA star won on his OKTAGON MMA debut in November 2023 via first-round submission, earning himself a main event slot in Newcastle at OKTAGON 52, where he faced bitter rival Jonas Magard, ultimately suffering a unanimous decision defeat.

But he'll be hoping to move one step closer to becoming OKTAGON MMA World Champion when he takes on Sanikidze next month. Cartwright made the move to bantamweight earlier this year, with a victory in Brno sure to put his name firmly in the running to compete for the vacant bantamweight crown.

Confidence appears aplenty for the 30-year-old, who evidently holds high hopes for himself. "It's going to be a high-pace and energetic fight, with lot of frantic exchanges and the more exchanges there are, the more chance there is of me catching him," Cartwright explained. "If I do that, I will put him over.

"It's not going to be a real slow, technical fight. I am going to push the pace and make stuff happen. If the fight goes long, I will either choke him or punch him on the button.

"I just want to win, that is the only goal now. I don't care about belts, rematches, money or goals, I just want to get in a fight and win.

"After I've won a fight, I want to go back in the cage for another fight and then go and beat that guy as well. I want to walk around knowing that I have beaten every guy walking around in my weight class, or I at least can beat you."

While beating Sanikidze is at the forefront of Cartwright's mind, there is no escaping the fact that a rematch with Magard and righting the wrongs of Newcastle is something he is immensely keen on, even offering to do so for free.

He added: "I would fight Jonas for free, I would never get bored of fighting him. He fought well on the night and I just didn't turn up and deliver to my capabilities. That is just part of the sport; people can spin it and say what they want, but we both turned up and he just fought better than I did.

"If I ever got the chance to run it back, I would take it with both hands and you would see a completely different performance.

"I'm going to fight all of the best bantamweights, hopefully I get the chance to fight Jonas again and right the wrongs. I have just got to deal with this guy and then hopefully I get a title shot and it is against Jonas.

"If it's not him, I will fight anyone else in the division. I don't know too many names in terms of opponents in this division and I've always said that. But there are a few people I fancy having a tear up with, so I will win in Brno and I'll be ready to go for whoever is next and fancies a dust-up.

"I've always said yes to a fight, I've never said no to a fight. I'm not here to pick my fights, I just want to fight."

"However, I have got Sanikidze firmly in my sights first, so I am going to deal with him first and then whatever will come after that will come."

OKTAGON MMA has proven itself on the European MMA scene, with high-level production value combined with competitive and engaging match-making helping them become one of the leading MMA promotions in the world.

They recently made the 5-promotion shortlist for MMA promotion of the year, with the Czech and Slovakian promotion selling out shows across Europe, breaking attendance records in Germany and Czech Republic.