Vemola’s rivalry with Vegh stood at one win apiece heading into their final meeting in Saturday night’s main event, and the two 39-year-old veterans brought the curtain down on their respective careers with one epic final battle that tested their mettle to the limit, all the way to the final bell.
Vemola dominated the opening two rounds with his trademark forward pressure and clinchwork against the cage as he looked to grind down Vegh in the opening 10 minutes. But, despite losing both rounds, Vegh defended well and had some success with his striking on the rare occasion they were in the open.
That striking success looked close to sealing a comeback stoppage in Round 3. But, with Vemola seemingly badly hurt and not far away from being finished, Vegh inexplicably opted to switch from striking to wrestling as he took Vemola to the mat. It proved to be a decision that allowed Vemola the chance to recover as the Czech star survived the round, and remained ahead on the scorecards, heading into the championship rounds.
The action swung back and forth in Round 4, with Vemola looking to finish the fight with a guillotine choke, while Vegh had Vemola in trouble again with a flurry of strikes, including a late knee that busted up the former two-division champion.
It meant that their storied rivalry would go down to the final round, with two of the three scorecards having the fight level heading into the final five minutes.
And in the final round, it was Vemola who managed to dredge up five minutes of relentless energy to secure the round, the fight, and ultimately the trilogy, with the judges scoring the fight 48-47, 48-47, 49-46.
Dominant Muradov survives late score to land interim middleweight title
The co-main event saw Uzbekistan’s former UFC athlete Makhud Muradov capture the interim OKTAGON middleweight title with a one-sided victory over former undisputed champion Patrik Kincl.
Muradov looked comfortable and smooth early as he battered Kincl’s lead leg with nasty low kicks, while pot-shotting the former champion with punches using his reach advantage. Kincl, meanwhile, looked demoralised and defeated pretty early in the bout, with the Czech fighter’s body language looking particularly negative.
But, after four rounds with barely a success to his name, Kincl opened up the final frame with a big right hand that put Muradov on wobbly legs. Another big right hand landed for Kincl, but he was unable to stop Muradov from taking him to the mat to buy priceless recovery time.
Kincl needed something big, and after moving to top position, he had two minutes to work to secure an improbable win. But, despite having time to work against a tiring Muradov, the former champ ran out of time.
It meant the win, and the interim title, went to Muradov, and left Kincl feeling totally crestfallen.
Buchinger claims 45th career win with second-round submission
Former two-division OKTAGON champion Ivan Buchinger showed that he’s still a force to be reckoned with as he broke down the stubborn resistance of Czech striker Vladimir Lengal in the second round of their lightweight matchup.
Lengal proved a tough nut to crack as he defended superbly against Buchinger’s relentless pressure. But, despite Lengal hanging tough, Buchinger eventually broke him down in the second and, after a succession of submission attempts that Lengal managed to defend, Buchinger finally managed to lock up a rear-naked choke to force the tap in the final 30 seconds of the second round.
After claiming the 45th win of his 55-fight career, he said he was targeting his next fight at OKTAGON’s upcoming event in Bratislava later this year.
Paradeiser claims first-round TKO of retiring Velickovic
The main card kicked off with a big win for former lightweight champion Ronald Paradeiser, who finished Velickovic via injury TKO in the first round of his welterweight debut.
Paradeiser looked outstanding in the early exchanges as he hammered Velickovic with strikes and bloodied up the inaugural Tipsport Gamechanger winner. But the end of the fight came in anticlimactic fashion as he appeared to sustain a nasty hip injury while attempting to stop a Paradeiser takedown against the fence. The pain was just too much for Velickovic, who was forced to tap the canvas to end the fight.
Paradeiser was intially frustrated and upset, but after he chatted with Velickovic to learn the extent of his opponent’s injury, he accepted the result and celebrated his win. Velickovic, meanwhile, announced that the bout would likely be his last fight in MMA, as he thanked the Prague fans and the promotion before laying down his gloves and departing the cage.
Preliminary card recap
On the preliminary card, Czech light heavyweight contender Daniel Skvor stepped in on short notice and produced a crowd-pleasing performance to defeat Lucas Alsina.
Alsina was due to face German grappler Frederic Vosgröne, but after “The Neanderthal” was ruled out on health grounds, Skvor stepped in on one week’s notice and stopped Alsina with strikes late in the second round to underscore his status as one of the most dangerous men in OKTAGON MMA at 205 pounds.
Earlier in the night, there were standout wins for rising stars Jakub Batfalsky and Alina Dalaslan, while Jaime Cordero claimed a second-round TKO victory after slicing open David Hosek to such an extent that the cageside doctor decided Hosek could no longer continue.
OKTAGON 72: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Karlos Vemola def. Attila Vegh via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) – for infinity belt
- Makhmud Muradov def. Patrik Kincl via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 49-46) – for interim middleweight title
- Ivan Buchinger def. Vladimir Lengal via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:31
- Ronald Paradeiser def. Bojan Velickovic via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 1:31
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Daniel Skvor def. Lucas Alsina via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:38
- Jaime Cordero def. David Hosek via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 2, 4:42
- Jakub Batfalsky def. Karol Rysavy via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Alina Dalaslan def. Roza Gumienna via TKO (punches) – round 3, 3:19
- Ayton De Paepe def. Roman Paulus via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Jan Stanovsky def. Danijel Solaja via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 4:33
