OKTAGON Challenge enters its final fight of the first round, the rivalry finally reaches a head as Denis Frimpong takes on Hascen Gelezi.
The first round of fights enters its conclusion in episode 4. Currently, team England is up 2-1 in the fights, with George Staines picking up the victory in episode 3 and Beau Gavin in Episode 1. Representing team Ireland in the semi’s currently, is Armand Herzceg who picked up the submission victory in Episode 2.
Team England currently leads the challenges’ standings with a clean sweep of 3-0 in tyre changing, graffiti & castle building/defence. Can Team Ireland even up the odds in the fight and restore pride in the challenge? We recap the whole episode here.
In the last episode, George Staines won his fight by unanimous decision. However, his victory came at a price, George was taken to hospital where it was found that he had a small bleed on the brain. Which could result in him losing his semi-final spot for medical reasons.
OKTAGON Challenge #4: Bratislava Rapids
For Team Ireland to restore pride in their performance and avoid a first-round clean sweep in challenges they had to overcome the rapids. The teams would be challenged with navigating a rafting rapids course, and the team with the quickest time would be the winner, simple right?
Voice and face of the show Bryan Lacey flipped a coin to determine who could pick their order. Team England picked up the win here and opted to go first, Bryan then filled us in on the size of the challenge ahead:
“I looked at the water, the rapids these guys would be going down. I looked across at the crew and I said ‘are you guys okay with this? This fast water, these big rocks?”
Team England went up first, the run went smoothly and the team navigated the course without any real issues. There looked to be a lack of direction and the team mainly followed a straight line. By the end of the course, all members survived. Team Ireland on the other hand took the term “rapids” seriously and rocketed down the straight, about halfway, however, the team hit some rocks. Would that cost them the challenge?
No, Team Ireland secured the victory by 3 seconds ahead of Team England! This meant England would be responsible for cleaning the house and Ireland would be second to weigh in for the fight.
Denis the Menace
Back in the house, the mind games from Denis Frimpong and Team Ireland continued. The theme of the series so far has been Denis and his in-house antics towards Team England. With his opponent set Denis set his sights on Hascen once again.
Firstly, the Irish decided to create a fireworks display in the house. Unfortunately, this game didn’t quite go to plan and it sounded more like popcorn than fireworks. Despite the misfire, Team England still bailed out of their windows, which led them into the next trap: water balloons.
‘The Menace’ didn’t stop there, during the weight cut Denis paid a visit to his opponent. With him, he brought a pack of Jelly Beans which upset team England coach Brad Pickett:
“Frimpong’s antics throughout the journey of this has been grating me to be honest. I’m just not a fan of those antics, they don’t sit well with me”
Heart at the Centre of War
Both fighters gave us an insight into their upbringing and the struggles that each have been through to get to this point:
Hascen has genuinely been through things that would be in most people’s nightmares. He’s witnessed family members be killed and murdered, he’s lived in war zones and been a part of political upheaval:
“I’m the son of a Politician, I can’t have a good life. After a certain extent when things change, it started when I was very young, maybe six, seven eight. I lost a couple of my friends, a couple of people in my family. My dad passing away was big. It’s fine I was prepared. I know he’s going to die. I was never sad (because )he spent time with me and said to me that he knows he’s going to die.”
Denis is of mixed heritage, Slovakian and Ghanaian, as such growing up in Ireland was tough for him. He opened up about his father and how he gave him the tools to be tough and survive in the environment. Denis spoke about dropping out of university and stepping onto the mats and how that’s what saved him from a life of crime and drugs:
“People in Ireland didn’t understand that black people and white people can have kids together. My dad raised me as a tough individual because he knew the struggles I would go through. I just had this mentality that look if someone says something I’ll have to bang them out.”
The pair would put the rivalry to the test and face off in the cage
The Peoples Main Event
Hascan was the favourite going into this fight, the experience was on his side, with Bryan quoting him as “the most dangerous man here”. Let’s see how it unfolded:
Round 1
This fight immediately lived up to the hype, both fighters flew out of the blocks. Denis showed some excellent stance switching while Hascen looked to control the distance. After a brief spell against the cage, Hascen unleashed some fast hands and landed some big shots.
The words from the corners were “Patience” and “Feints” for the Irishman. Hascen secured a takedown and held top position for 2 minutes. Once the fight was back on the feet Denis started with the showboating, putting his hands behind his back and taunting Hascen. On the feet, both continued to land big shots, with Denis being especially effective with the left kick to the body.
Denis undoubtedly picked up confidence towards the end of the round and looked to enter his flow state with his movement and shot placement. However, the round was tight so it could have gone either way.
Round 2
Round 2 started where 1 left off. Subsequently, Denis looked much more active with his feints and setting traps for Hascen. The fight went to a clinch against the fence, initiated by Hascen, in a back and forth both fighters landed damage and moved each other around.
On the break Hascen looked visibly damaged, despite this, he was still able to land shots on Denis and try to keep him at distance. Denis continued with his feints and landed nasty body kicks. Halfway through the round Hascen again went to the clinch against the fence. Denis reversed the position and pummeled Hascen with body shots, then out of nowhere Denis threw a phenomenal head kick which ended the fight. A stunning knockout.
On conclusion of the fight the pair buried the hatched and embraced each other.
We move onto the semi-final next Tuesday, who will make it into the final in Manchester in November?
You can stream the full episode here:
Featured Image Credits to Channel 4 Sport YouTube Channel
