- 23 hours ago
Persistent pressure meets relentless determination as Ayton De Paepe takes on Marco Novák in FREE FIGHT 89. Watch every intense exchange, tactical battle, and hard-hitting moment as two elite MMA featherweights clash in an action-packed showdown. Experience the full fight and see who comes out on top.
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00:02Watch the tournament live at octagon.tv
00:26First assignment of the night for Gerd Richter, this featherweight contest.
00:31Marco Novak in the white shorts, blue corner taking on, right on the Pape.
00:36Black shorts, red corner, me, Brian Lacy alongside Luke Barnett live from Bratislava.
00:41We heard the crowd in good voice there for Marco Novak, and off we go.
00:49Novak taking control of the center, a bit nice and early.
00:52And that's what I mean by Arnold for that style from Pape, he'll come flying at you.
00:56But Novak debating everything quite well so far, switching stance,
00:59trying to dominate the space.
01:02They're trying to impose himself.
01:04And again, that could be a tactic when you watch at the Pape,
01:06he brings the fight, he can dictate the momentum.
01:10Oh, nice stepping left there.
01:12But I agree with you what you said on the walkout with Novak,
01:15there has been a different energy about him.
01:17Oh, stiff jab.
01:19Whether that's confidence, whether that's because he's fighting in Slovakia,
01:22whether that's the new contract, but a whole different vibe
01:25and a good opening moment here for Novak.
01:28Yeah, great opening moment, but response does the Pape.
01:31You don't see him get rocked so easily normally.
01:35But yeah, I feel like Novak just seems to be on fire right now.
01:38I don't know what it is.
01:39It's maybe hard to see.
01:40Oh, wow.
01:41There you go.
01:42Beautiful time, single, really grasped where he died.
01:45Nice underhook here though, across the midsection from Novak,
01:48and he's on that hand.
01:49See if he can get himself back to that fence,
01:51doing a fantastic job of scrambling here.
01:53Really good work there from Novak.
01:55Very aware of where he is,
01:56he's gonna maybe attack the neck as well as it stands.
02:00But see, Leicester Pape dived on that leg.
02:03Fully committed to that, got it to the mat.
02:05Now we're gonna try and take him off that fence.
02:08Maybe circle off to his left-hand side and bring Novak down
02:11and stack him over that hand.
02:13That's his enemy right now, is that hand.
02:15But Novak getting on the knee now.
02:17Gonna be harder to deal with.
02:19He needs a better head position, does the Pape.
02:22He's a little bit broken down here.
02:25Novak's slowly gonna rise himself back up.
02:27Let's see if the Pape can...
02:28That's better from the Pape.
02:29Look at now, he's got a solid grip and base.
02:33Great work from Novak.
02:34He gets that hook, turns him round with a little bit of ease.
02:38Physically, very, very powerful is Novak.
02:41Again, head position from both men.
02:44Novak changes that nice little judo toss attempt.
02:48And Novak, only one of two men to beat Radek Rochelle.
02:51In on that single again,
02:53it's also to be an issue with the balance for Novak,
02:55but stuffs the head well.
03:01Very long limbs is Novak.
03:04Yeah.
03:04So he uses them well in defending these takedowns,
03:06or slowing them down at least.
03:08In on this single now, building himself back up.
03:12Novak doing a great job of hustling back up the fence again.
03:16See if he can dig that underhook.
03:18Does so.
03:18See if he can turn him.
03:19Now I'd like to see him try and break away.
03:21Because that's been taken down a couple times.
03:23Better now for Novak to try and increase some space.
03:25And maybe elbow on the way out with that right side elbow,
03:28but the Pape hanging on now.
03:30If you look at the left eye of the Pape as well,
03:32it's starting to swell.
03:33I'm sure that was from that first jab,
03:35the jab that kind of stumbled him.
03:36That was a big shot.
03:38Yeah.
03:38Caused a lot of, a lot of damage.
03:40And you could, if there's any real damage there,
03:42say a broken orbital or something that's causing,
03:44bothering him.
03:45I mean, to see like that,
03:46that that sort of damage from such a little shot,
03:49going for that judo toss again.
03:51Good whizz up.
03:52It's going to stop that.
03:53What a scramble between these two.
03:5550-50 in every position.
03:57And I do feel like that eye has been affected.
03:59Maybe that's an old injury from,
04:00from fight camp that's come out.
04:02I'd like to see an elbow here.
04:03Yeah, yeah.
04:04There you go.
04:05There you go.
04:07There you go.
04:10Mouthpiece is out.
04:11Mouthpiece is out.
04:13Got Richter on top of that.
04:14He's aware of it,
04:15but look how the swelling is going.
04:16I'm sure that he's damaged it.
04:17This might be the reason he's going for these takedowns, Luke.
04:20Because De Pape is usually happy to stand in the pocket.
04:23His hands are so good.
04:25Mouthpiece of De Pape goes back in.
04:27But both fighters lost their mouthpiece somehow.
04:29I don't know about that.
04:30Hopefully they've got the right ones.
04:34And in here.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Maybe you're right.
04:38Maybe that,
04:38that old ball is bobbing him.
04:39And now he's looking for the takedowns.
04:40Because like you said,
04:41he's normally very scrappy on the feet.
04:43And enjoys it.
04:44But I feel like Novak.
04:45Oh, nice knee.
04:46Nice knees.
04:47Novak is known as a stand-up fighter.
04:49Although he does have some sneaky jiu-jitsu.
04:52He's got two submissions on his record.
04:54At the moment,
04:54the in-between game from both men is very good.
04:56The cage wrestling.
04:58The waist back.
04:58The get-ups.
04:59Exactly.
05:00To get back to their feet.
05:02Nice elbow here.
05:03And even the fundamentals in certain positions.
05:05Whether it's the head position, the base.
05:07Yeah, I feel like the one thing Novak looked weak on
05:09is that single leg defense.
05:10Yeah.
05:11Which DiPappe has taken advantage of a couple times.
05:14But apart from that,
05:14he's looking very, very strong.
05:16Final 25 seconds of what has been a fast-paced round one.
05:20I feel like we've seen Novak develop.
05:21Because he came in here just really like a stand-up fighter.
05:24With that old classic style.
05:25And now he's mixing things together very well.
05:28I think one of the big factors we saw,
05:31and maybe a turning point,
05:32was that Rochelle fight.
05:33Because Rochelle looked to take him down a number of times.
05:36And he was able to stuff the takedowns
05:37and eventually get the victory there.
05:39I mean, this is a close round.
05:41I feel like Novak probably has got the best of it.
05:43But it was a very close round.
05:44The definitive jab.
05:45The damage.
05:46And the damage is probably gonna get it for him.
05:49Very interesting.
05:49Yeah, indeed.
05:50Close first round.
05:51I definitely thought that.
05:53So this one's all to play for in a second.
05:56Off we go.
05:57Second round underway.
05:59See what DiPappe decides to do if he wants to keep it on the feet.
06:02Or if he keeps trying to get that takedown.
06:05I feel like, well, you could see how easily he got it.
06:08Oh, another straight jab.
06:10It's so laser-like.
06:12But in open water, DiPappe got that takedown easy.
06:15Against the cage, it's a scramble.
06:17And it's gonna be a battle of cardio in those positions as well.
06:20Yeah, a lot of effort and a lot of outputs trying to get the takedowns on the fence.
06:23Novak very good at getting up there and creating awkward angles
06:27and finding positions to try and stand back up.
06:30But in the middle of the cage, definitely better.
06:33Oh, a beautiful right hand at the end of that combination.
06:37Oh, a little mistake.
06:39Just slip.
06:39A little bit overcommits to him against it again.
06:41I do feel like that's a weakness in Novak's game.
06:44And whoever has seen that in the training camp...
06:47That's genius.
06:47They've definitely looked at that because Novak is quite stiff on the feet.
06:52The way he moves is stiff.
06:53Everything about him on the stand-up is quite stiff.
06:56So whoever noticed that in that training camp, bravo.
06:58Because you can see he's searching for that and he's converted it multiple times.
07:02And, yeah, the technique is great.
07:04Turns that corner and just takes the base away from Novak.
07:08Attack in the neck now as well.
07:09This is a better position for DiPappe early in this round.
07:14Able to place his weight, the upper torso over the back, the neck, the nape of Novak.
07:20It can almost take a little bit of a rest here while he just puts some pressure on.
07:25Novak does way to get the legs out.
07:27He needs to be careful, though.
07:28As he stands, he doesn't want to lift that jaw because that power guillotine will be there.
07:33And even with DiPappe, those long limbs, he could fire that underfoot.
07:38Doing well here now, Novak, though. Two and one on the wrists.
07:41He's giving up one hand at the moment.
07:43Seems like he has enough space.
07:51Tries to pull him back down.
07:54See if he pulls him up now as well because now with the new rule set.
08:01Even if that finger tip's on the hand, if the knee's not there...
08:04Oh, he's going for the dance. He's going for the dance.
08:08Modified as well here, nice and short on the inside.
08:11A lot of pressure.
08:12Needs to push that up and through to get a real grip on that bicep right now.
08:17Novak is safe.
08:18We can't quite see, but Novak is two and one.
08:19I find that left arm gives up on it.
08:21Trying to soften him up a little bit, but he's definitely going to go back for that.
08:24Novak away now, defending two and one on that wrist.
08:28You can see how...
08:29But just keeping him down is De Pape, and then tries to slide through.
08:33Could almost go for that murder chunk as well.
08:35Oh, that murder, yeah.
08:36Gives up and it goes to the back.
08:38Great resilience, this, though, from Novak.
08:40He's defending very, very well.
08:42Just needs to explode up in this position.
08:44De Pape wrapping himself around.
08:46This has been a much more dominant round from De Pape.
08:49Positionally threatening with the submission as well.
08:52But being able to hold Novak in one position, which he was unable to do in the first round.
08:57And Novak managed to get that right elbow in.
09:00Could spin, needs to turn the hips and get off the fence with the left arm.
09:03Wrapping around.
09:05He's controlling that.
09:07Stopping him, hindering him from switching.
09:10De Pape doing a lot of micro things that are very, very important to control these positions.
09:20Great weight.
09:22Nice knee to the head.
09:24Completely legal.
09:27Manages to turn himself around, though, there's Novak.
09:30And then the crowd respond.
09:31Obviously, a crowd, a friendly crowd for Novak here.
09:35120 to make something happen.
09:37And again, looking after the double this time.
09:40Yeah, defended well, goes straight back up to his feet.
09:42And he's now on an arming defense.
09:46Has that cross face.
09:49It's going to be very hard to take him down from this position with that beautifully placed underhook.
09:54Gets double underhook.
09:54Going to be able to turn him around now.
09:57You can look on the back of Novak.
09:59I've read the welts.
10:02Yeah, the welts.
10:02Yeah.
10:03The welts from the cage from being pushed in and grinded out so much.
10:1045 seconds.
10:11Now Novak threatening with that drop and take down.
10:15I'd like to see some damage now.
10:16Some striking.
10:17Because at the moment, although De Pape has controlled four minutes of this fight, he hasn't caused that much damage.
10:23He went for some submissions.
10:24That's about it.
10:25A big shot here.
10:26Could sway the judges.
10:29Little short uppercut, sturdy boxing there from Aiton De Pape.
10:33Well, that all scores.
10:35If you want an example of the cardio De Pape brings in, that Hendon fight is a great one.
10:39Back in Frankfurt, three rounds of scrambles and wrestling and cage.
10:45This is an exhausting fight style between these two.
10:49Both are giving out a lot.
10:51That judo toss.
10:53Oh, there you go.
10:54And a smile from Novak.
10:55Did you see it when he hit the ground?
10:56And he smiled.
10:57I think he laughed because he knew he was going to try it.
11:00He tried it twice in the first round.
11:02It didn't work.
11:02And elbows from those cage positions like you called earlier on.
11:05They're the weapons that made him famous in Muay Thai.
11:09Yeah, he needs to stay away from these takedowns.
11:11He's come out urgent.
11:12Definitely understands what he's got to do.
11:14De Pape happy to scrap.
11:16They're always on the feet.
11:16Let's see how long it is for De Pape to shoot for that single, that lead single again.
11:22He met that.
11:24Nice dig of the left hand.
11:25The Pape in on the neck.
11:27Right in front of us in the commentary box here.
11:29It's across the chin, not under it, but he's definitely threatening Novak with this.
11:33Yeah, just doing that to break the posture and probably stop his takedown.
11:36Nice knee.
11:36But I'd like to see Novak needs to get to some striking positions, maybe break away with the elbow here.
11:43Because the grappling is just, he only has a round to get this finish.
11:47Again, four finishes on his record out of his six wins.
11:50Two of them are by submission.
11:58Great work from De Pape.
11:59Yeah, really.
12:00They're now turning it around.
12:02Right in front of us again.
12:03And goes to the outside ring.
12:05Oh, that was almost perfectly timed.
12:10Well, it was perfectly timed, just not perfectly yet.
12:12Watch for the spin.
12:19Watch this takedown, Ryan.
12:21In on him now.
12:22Deep.
12:23Going for that.
12:27Trying to stop the head.
12:30Novak trying to set up a guillotine.
12:32Going to switch out.
12:33Oh, elbows and knees.
12:34Oh, elbows and knees from Novak.
12:36There's that knee.
12:40Brutal pace this fight.
12:48Now, Novak again in this position.
12:50But De Pape has had more success up against the cage.
12:53And they're going for that trip one more time.
12:55Again, the wizard work.
12:56But now, look at that.
12:57De Pape has used it to chain that attack together.
12:59Yeah, it just changes the dynamics of the fight.
13:01And he was going on the inside leg.
13:03Switches it to both across the doubles.
13:06That time and then gets that takedown.
13:08And it's just a relentless pace of De Pape.
13:10Constantly trying to push the pace.
13:12Constantly trying to affect the balance.
13:14Constantly doing something.
13:15Great work from Novak to get to the knees.
13:17If you can get that leg back now.
13:18Great idea there to give up on that wizard
13:20because it was hindering him.
13:21But he needs to stand.
13:22He needs to stand faster.
13:23He needs to get his head higher than De Pape's.
13:26Yeah, whatever De Pape does for his conditioning.
13:28My goodness, it works.
13:30Never an adult fight.
13:32Always there to meet pressure with pressure.
13:34I mean, if he's been training with Jonas from the guard,
13:37Cardio will become threatening to listen to Jonas.
13:40I'll let you deal with that afterwards when he chases you down.
13:43No problem.
13:45Great work there.
13:46Beautiful hustle from Novak.
13:51And it is 50-50 in so many spots in this fight, right?
13:54It's been a fantastic fight at such a high pace.
13:57Both have come in incredible cardio.
13:58We talk about De Pape.
13:59Yeah, yeah, totally.
14:00Looking fresh.
14:00Doing very, very well.
14:02And the first round was very close in my opinion.
14:05So it would be interesting to see where this goes.
14:07But I'd like to see a little bit more damage and try to finish the fight
14:10rather than all this grappling.
14:12The grappling is great and the transitions are great and the pressure is great.
14:14But more of their elbows like the Papes got there.
14:22They're matching each other very, very well.
14:23There's a lot of fantastic matchmaking on this car tonight.
14:25Very, very close fights.
14:26So many even fights, right?
14:28So many close fights to call.
14:32And nine Slovakian fighters on this car.
14:35Will it be a big night for Bratislava for Slovakia?
14:39And this is the first of their warriors looking to claim victory right now.
14:43He needs a finish.
14:45There he is.
14:46Right on the temple as well, Luke.
14:48Now he needs to go to work.
14:49Straight shots down the center.
14:52And remember that single leg's probably going to come.
14:54There you go.
14:54There it is.
14:55There you go.
14:55Turns the corner and again.
14:57Again.
14:59It's about the fourth time tonight where I've said something
15:01and it's happened instantly.
15:02It felt magical tonight.
15:03Only the second fight tonight.
15:04I know.
15:05Imagine the rest of the car.
15:06Oh.
15:08But he just...
15:09We should increase the price of the pay-per-view
15:10just because you're getting better every fight, right?
15:13That's it.
15:13If you want some ideas of where to make your bets,
15:16just message me on Instagram.
15:19Great work.
15:20Good head position.
15:23And the Papi, again, just relentless in output
15:27and really earning this victory tonight.
15:29You know, he's been impressive.
15:29Novak came in here a different version of himself.
15:32Ah.
15:32Looked phenomenal.
15:33And he's just been deflated step by step
15:35by the Papi's resilience.
15:37You said there's been small holes that have been exposed.
15:40The single leg for sure.
15:41And even in the takedown,
15:43the Papi has got more options, it seems,
15:45against the cage to try and get it down,
15:47whether it's the trips or the throws.
15:49But Novak is so good still.
15:51And this has been so close.
15:52The judo tosses is used to change the dimension of the fight.
15:56Along with, like you said, that single leg entry.
15:59That has been the keys to victory tonight for the Papi.
16:02What a performance.
16:04What a fight.
16:05Three rounds in the books.
16:07Ladies and gentlemen, let's see how judges score these fights.
16:11After three rounds, judges score these fights.
16:1430-27, 29, 28 and 30-27.
16:18All for the winner.
16:20By unanimous decision,
16:21Eitan De Papi!
16:26Watch the tournament live at octagon.tv.
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