Fight Night Oktagon The European MMA promotion putting fighters’ stories center stage

A dancing monkey mascot stops to take a selfie with some children, while yellow and white spotlights illuminate about 3,000 fans singing karaoke inside the Utilita Arena in Newcastle.

It is party time between bouts at Oktagon second show in Britain, but things are about to get serious.

The crowd noise quietens as the lights dim, and a video comes on the big screens promoting the next fight.

In one corner is American flyweight Christopher Daniel.

The 33-year-old, who is competing abroad for the first time, tells BBC Sport that although the show represents the biggest payday of his career he is fighting for a far bigger cause.

After coming home one evening from his shift as a mechanic in 2015, Daniel found his five-year-old son Jayden had fallen into the swimming pool in his backyard and drowned.

Daniel’s mother, who was babysitting, had fallen asleep, allowing Jayden to wander off unsupervised.

“My mum always used to watch my kids when I went to work, but she worked a full-time job being a nurse, and being a nurse is stressful,” said Daniel.

“My fear sank when I came home and saw the back door was open. I ran to the backyard and just saw him floating there. I jumped in and pulled him out but unfortunately at that time I didn’t know CPR.”

Daniel was overcome by depression while resenting himself and his mother, but a promise he made to Jayden shortly before his death inspired forgiveness and a new purpose.

While watching UFC with Jayden one night, Daniel had promised his son he would one day see him fight on television.

Now Daniel fights to preserve that promise.

“I have a way bigger reason to fight. More than money, more than fame. I made a promise and that promise keeps me alive each and every single day,” said Daniel.

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In the opposite corner is Welshman Aaron Aby, whose team hold a banner up behind him reading “Cystic fibrosis – fighting to breathe”.

Aby, 33, was born with the disorder which affects the lungs and digestive system, while in 2019 he also overcame stage three testicular cancer.

The bout between Aby and Daniel is an illustration of why Oktagon, whose shows have attracted attendances of about 20,000 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, believe they can succeed in the British MMA market.

Their vision is grounded in promoting fighters who have distinctive back stories which an audience can invest in.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Slovak, German, Czech or English – we are all human and we like stories since we are small kids,” Oktagon co-founder Pavol Neruda.

“We want to bring stories, the human side of the sport, not promote blood and strong punches when someone is knocked out.

“We want to promote [that] it’s good to achieve your goals and be healthy and work towards something.”

Familiar faces sprinkle stardust on the show in Newcastle, such as British UFC stars Paddy Pimblett and Lerone Murphy, who are there in support of team-mates, experienced referee Mark Goddard, and reality TV personalities from British series Geordie Shore.

Oktagon is also innovative, implementing open scoring between rounds, which is rarely seen in MMA.

The judges’ scores appear on the big screens, letting the audience, fighters and coaches know who is winning and losing each fight.

It provides transparency, but has split fighters’ opinion as some feel it may take away from the excitement and anticipation in tight contests.

Neruda co-founded Oktagon alongside Ondrej Novotny in 2016, launching the promotion as a reality television show, akin to the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter as a soft introduction to the sport for the general public in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The promotion gained popularity, and began hosting tournaments worth 1m euros (£854,000), before expanding to Germany last year, where 19,000 fans attended a show in Cologne.

The January show in Newcastle represents Oktagon’s ambition to attract fans in Britain, with the promotion holding its debut UK show in Manchester two months earlier.

But there were large pockets of empty seats at the Utilita Arena as Aby beat Daniel by unanimous decision, proving Oktagon still has work to do to attract UK fans.

It is a challenge the promotion’s owners are relishing, however.

“Our dream is to be the European MMA Champions League, but we knew before we came here it would be like this. We are prepared to bleed here until we win,” said Novotny.

“This is our passion and I believe that one day we will fill this arena. We are looking to do crazy stuff here, we will try and try and try, and maybe it will come, or we will die.”