Christian Eckerlin Talks ‘Family Relationship’ with Roberto Soldic ahead of Oktagon 36 Headliner

Christian Eckerlin is ready to put on a show for the fans at Oktagon 36. The German mixed martial arts veteran (14-5, 1 NC; 1-0, 1 NC Oktagon) is taking on Denilson Neves de Oliveira in a much-anticipated rematch that will go down on Saturday, Oct. 15. The first meeting between Eckerlin and de Oliveira ended in controversy when the referee called a low blow on Eckerlin that was much debated after the fact. While the fight was allowed to continue and Eckerlin went on to score a second-round stoppage, the German Athletic Commission overturned the result into no contest following an investigation. Eckerlin called for this rematch to settle the score once and for all. Ahead of the event, Eckerlin prepared with former KSW two-division champion and recent One Championship signee Roberto Soldic, whom Eckerlin considers to be like family.

“He is a long-time friend of mine. I know him since he started his professional MMA career, and also Ivan and Tommy [Dijakovic], the owners of the UFD Gym. It's like a family relationship, I’d say. Always, when I go in preparation for fight, I go to sparring sessions at UFD.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:54) Training with Roberto Soldic
(01:43) His sparring partners
(02:22) His first clash with de Oliveira
(03:18) Asking for a rematch
(03:51) Commenting on the atmosphere at Oktagon MMA’s first event in Germany
(05:19) His past as a professional soccer player
(06:41) Moving from soccer to combat sports
(07:19) Discovering MMA
(09:17) Putting on a show for the fans
(10:05) His professional goals
(11:20) Outro