Oktagon is an international

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

tournament based in Northern Italy and founded in 1996 by Carlo Di Blasi. The annual Oktagon tournaments, which draw 14,000 spectators, are also broadcast on DMAX and

Rai Sport Rai Sport is an Italian sports TV channel, launched in 1999 by the state-owned RAI television network. It broadcast Italian and international sports events in Italy on DTT channel 146 on ''Rai Mux B''. It is also available on Sky Italia. On 18 ...

television to 120 countries. Through 2015 (the 20th edition), the tournaments were held at the

Mediolanum Forum Mediolanum Forum (originally the Forum di Assago, formerly the FilaForum and DatchForum) is an indoor sports arena that is located in Assago, a small town 3 km outside Milan, Italy. The arena has a seating capacity of 12,700 and is primarily use ...

Assago Assago ( lmo, Assagh or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It contains the headquarters of Nestlé's Italian branch and the Mediolanum Forum Mediolanum Forum (originally ...

, near Milan. In 2016, it was announced that the tournament's venue would move to the

Pala Alpitour Palasport Olimpico, officially operating with the sponsored name Pala Alpitour except during events prohibiting sponsorship names when it is usually known as simply PalaOlimpico, or occasionally PalaIsozaki after its architect, is a multi-purpos ...

in Turin and be held jointly with the American MMA promotion organization Bellator. Oktagon contestants have included

Giorgio Petrosyan Gevorg "Giorgio" Petrosyan ( hy, Գևորգ Պետրոսյան; born December 10, 1985) is an Armenian-Italian kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division. Nicknamed "The Doctor" and noted for his supreme technical skills, ringsmanship ...

and his brother

Armen Petrosyan Armen Petrosyan ( hy, Արմեն Պետրոսյան, born November 6, 1986) is an Armenians in Italy, Armenian-born Italian Kickboxing, kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division. An aggressive fighter, Petrosyan began training in Muay ...

. Di Blasi, the founder and president of Oktagon, is also the founder of the Italian

organization Fight1. A member of the World MMA Association, the organization promotes

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

kick boxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

events such as Oktagon and Thai Boxe Mania, as well as martial arts training.

References

External links

Oktagon official websiteFight1 official website
Martial arts organizations Kickboxing events {{martialart-stub