Saturday in the livestream

HEUreka! Krone+ invites you to a wrestling match

This Saturday, boxing will take place among bales of straw.

(Bild: SpartaCF, stock.adobe.com (KI))

Why is there straw here? Simply because "Sparta Royale" is breaking new ground in martial arts, with tough fighters fighting in a ring made of hay for the first time! Krone+ subscribers(see our offers here) can watch the exclusive livestream this Saturday from 6pm.

"Mago" knows them all. After all, he boxed his way through every cage in the world as an MMA fighter for many years. They were spick and span, polished to a high gloss, dusty and worn here and there, soaked in sweat and blood anyway.

For "Sparta Royale", however, Magomed Ozniev - as "Mago" is actually called - wanted to create a new, unique fighting arena: made of straw. "A sign of our deep connection to strength and nature," he explains in the promo video.

The next exclamation mark of the top organization Sparta CF, which Ozniev launched with a team after Corona. "My contract in a Ukrainian league had been terminated at the time, so I went to watch local events. When it comes to martial arts, we often still live in the Stone Age here - I wanted to do better!"

Spartans want to continue to grow
Which was well received by the fans. The very first Sparta event in the founding year of 2022 attracted 1,300 visitors. The next one attracted 4500, and last October they put on a huge show in the Wiener Stadthalle with almost 8000 spectators! Impressive - but not enough. This year, further larger and smaller fight events are to be organized and the DACH region is to be further conquered.

When it comes to martial arts, we're often still living in the Stone Age here - I wanted to do better!

Sparta-Gründer Magomed Ozniev

As part of this, the multi-part "Sparta Royale" series will now open on Saturday in Vienna's Ariana-Halle with the first event in a smaller (max. 1000 visitors) but equally fine setting. Kicks, holds and chokeholds familiar from mixed martial arts are not permitted here. Fighting takes place according to boxing rules over three two-minute rounds with an optional bonus round. However, thin MMA gloves are worn instead of thick boxing mittens.

Brutal and rustic
It will be brutal, rustic. "That's why we don't let any amateurs or street fighters take part," emphasizes the Sparta captain. "All of our participants have sufficient wrestling or professional experience!" Ozniev lived in Thailand for two years and draws on a broad international network. Renato Eni Kepi acts as matchmaker. The result is an illustrious fight card featuring Daniel Matusic, Khalid Ott, Tamirlan Dadaev and Austria's heavyweight "bull" Aleksandar Mraovic.

(Bild: SpartaCF)

According to Ozniev, the fact that things already got heated at the official press event, with the athletes exchanging "niceties", some of which were below the belt, and not just verbally clashing (see below), is part of the program: "Since day 1, we haven't missed out on the entertainment factor. People want entertainment in and out of the ring, and we provide it."

"It has to be sporty and fair!"
The social media community is provided with informative video snippets on TikTok, Insta and co. as well as trash talk and intervening security guards - in other words, pure action. And that's a draw. "But - and this has always been important to us at Sparta: Everything has to be sporting, everything has to be fair!" In the boxing ring, in the octagon, but also between bales of straw ...