KSW promoter Lewandowski speaks about OKTAGON

You said that you don't see Oktagon as a rival and you don't even want to compete with them. On the contrary, do you take them and their new successes as an inspiration? "No. Honestly no. To be honest, I don't follow what they do. There are people in our organization who monitor them. I'm not interested in them, which I don't mean I'm overlooking them. We know what we want to do. We were successful in England, Croatia and before covid in Ireland. Now we are doing very well in France. In December, we hold the biggest event there after those at the National Stadium (in Warsaw for 57,000 spectators). We are facing some problems on the Czech market, but they are temporary. I'm not inspired by the Oktagon. In fact, they are copying everything that KSW or other world organizations have done before. I don't see them doing anything new or anything that makes me think: WOW! They follow someone else's path. If you think back to when we started, which was twenty years ago, MMA was completely unknown to the public. We had to explain it to everyone for ten years. Now, in the modern world, when you hold an MMA tournament, it's much easier. You don't have to explain anything to anyone. You don't have to run into all kinds of barriers and face problems like we did before." You previously based KSW's position as the European number one on, among other things, organizing events at football stadiums. Oktagon is now doing this very successfully. And they are planning more. So will you be returning to Warsaw's National Stadium to keep up the momentum and challenge for records? "In Poland, yes. We've already held two events at the National Stadium, and as you mentioned, they're doing what someone else has done before. I don't feel in the position of their opponent. Our experience and everything we've done is far greater than what the Oktagon will achieve. I really wish them the best, I don't want to say we're here to compete with them. We didn't move here (Czechia) because of the Oktagon, but because we couldn't help but notice that our neighbors, the Czechs and Slovaks, were really excited about MMA. I already mentioned it during my presentation. We booked a date in Ostrava even before covid in 2019 and I was also here in the O2 arena. However, Covid has changed everything and we are now going through a rebirth. We choose new markets and have a different approach. I don't want to fight with anyone because we have enough in our market (Poland). They are the ones who want to compete, they are the ones who want to fight. I wish them the best. In the Czech Republic, there is room for more than two organizations, at least three or four." When you watch their success with Oktagon 62 in Frankfurt where they are building the MMA journey. Does this motivate you to enter the German market as well? Do you see an opportunity given how big the market is there? "Definitely. We want to go to Germany. We will also return to England one day. We also have Sweden marked on our travel map, so we are thinking about these countries. Germany was one of the countries we wanted to enter before France. Unfortunately, the contract fell through between us and Roberto Soldič, who was supposed to be our key player on German soil. Oktagon is actually using a fighter with whom we canceled the contract. I see nothing new, nothing unpredictable. We have been talking about Germany for years. We're just waiting for the right moment.” Lewandowski stated in an interview for iSport.cz after speaking at the Sport Alive 2024 conference. submitted by /u/textorix [link] [comments]