German MMA hope
“Neanderthaler” has to cancel Oktagon 78 in Cologne
October 17, 2025 – 8:01 p.mReading time: 2 min.
Frederic Vosgröne has sparked a hype about mixed martial arts in Germany. On Saturday he has to miss the Octagon 18 in the Lanxess Arena.
The German mixed martial arts fighter Frederic Vosgröne has canceled his participation in the Oktagon 78 in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena. The 28-year-old was originally scheduled to face Manuel Chavarria of Honduras in one of the biggest MMA events outside the United States. Now the “Neanderthal”, as Vosgröne is called because of his birthplace in the region of the same name, has canceled the event at short notice.
Vosgröne’s plans had already been viewed as ambitious in advance. The 28-year-old wanted to compete in the octagon again just 29 days after his last fight in Frankfurt am Main. The risk of injury in MMA fights is typically very high, so such a short break between fights was considered exceptional.
The “Neanderthal” announced on his YouTube channel that he would have to forego a fight in Cologne. He tore a muscle fiber in his calf during training. A fight against Chavarria on Saturday evening is out of the question. It is currently unknown whether Vosgröne will still appear in the Lanxess Arena.
The “Neanderthal” will probably not be in the octagon in the coming months, but will instead be preparing to return to the place where his hype started. Vosgröne thrilled the crowds with a victory in Düsseldorf at the Oktagon 76 and was announced for the event in Cologne shortly afterwards. Later he put the fight in Frankfurt in between.
His victory was followed, among other things, by an appearance on Stefan Raab’s show on RTL. The private broadcaster will broadcast Oktagon 78 on television on Saturday evening and on its own streaming service RTL+ from late afternoon. The highlight is the fight between German MMA hope Christian Eckerlin and Ivica Truskac in the welterweight division.
Vosgröne now has more than 73,000 subscribers on YouTube. Some of his fans are already speculating whether he will say goodbye to the Octagon series and join the much larger UFC, the world’s largest MMA organization.
