Patrik Kincl is still the king at 185 pounds after battering Karlos Vemola over five rounds to take the unanimous decision victory and get his long-awaited revenge at Oktagon 43.
The highly anticipated rematch was fueled with bad blood, with no love lost between the two. Vemola has his hand raised when the two met back in 2018 but there was more to play for than just bragging rights, with Kincl also holding the Oktagon middleweight title.
The bout started with Vemola flying forward and pushing the champ up against the fence, showing his power early in the contest. Kincl did a fantastic job of defending the challenger’s takedown attempts, spending the majority of the opening round with his back against the fence. Although neither man unloaded with the emphatic strikes, Kincl chipped away with short sharp elbows while Vemola continued his relentless pursuit for the takedown against the cage for the duration of the round.
Kincl showed just how comfortable he was against the fence, opting to not meet Vemola in the middle but wait against the fence as urged his rival to try and take him down again. It appeared to be an odd decision with Kincl the slicker striker of the two but whilst backed against the fence, he once again went to work with elbows raining down on the side of Vemola’s head. With 90 seconds left in the clock, Vemola eventually secured the takedown but Kincl bounced straight back up to his feet. There had been numerous times throughout the round where it appeared Vemola caught Kincl with low blows, with the referee stepping in to have a word towards the end of the round.
The third round started identically to the other two with Vémola immediately pushing Kincl against the fence but where he hadn’t been able to over the first 10 minutes, Vemola found his first bit of success from a takedown and looked to take the back before Kincl once again found a way to his feet. Whilst in a clinch, the champion threw two big knees up the center line which both landed clean and blooded the nose of Vemola’s already damaged face.
The fourth was much of the same, Vemola bundling forward but unlike the previous rounds, there didn’t appear to be any offense from him. Kincl continued to work away with his little shots, managing to find more success than previous as he was not looking needed to defend the takedown attempts as much. As Vemola raised his head at the conclusion of the round, the damage around his right eye was monumental.
The battered and bloody challenger continued his work against the cage in the fifth and final round with Kincl working away with the shots he’d found success with previously. As the fight went to the scorecards, many in the arena were wondering how the contest would have been scored. If the relentless pressure from Vémola was enough to take or the sweet shots Kincl managed to land were enough to take it.
The champion retained his title taking the fight on all three judges’ scorecards, 49-46, 50-45, 50-45.
David Pink Panther Kozma and Louis Glismann both advanced to the semi-final of the Tipsport Gamechanger Tournament with victories over Alex Lahore and Melvin van Suijdam, respectively. ‘Pink Panther’ put on a dominant showing against the well-rounded ‘Da Killa King’ over the 15-minute contest. Glismann claimed one of the finishes of the night. After dismantling Melvin van Suijdam for the full round, he tied up a slick inverted omoplata with just three seconds left in the first round.
Elsewhere on the card, Robert Bryczek became the first man to finish Lee Chadwick since 2016 with a stunning left hook in the first round of their contest. There were also big wins for Marek Mazuch, Mateusz Legierski and Marc Doussis.
Oktagon 43: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Patrik Kincl def. Karlos Vemola via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) – for middleweight title
- David Kozma def. Alex Lohore via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final bout
- Louis Glismann def. Melvin van Suijdam via submission (inverted omoplata) – Round 1, 4:57 – Tipsport Gamechanger quarter-final bout
- Robert Bryczek def. Lee Chadwick via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 2:41
- Mateusz Legierski def. Matej Kuznik via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Miroslav Broz def. Robert Pukac via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Marek Mazuch def. Gianni Melillo via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:53
- Amiran Gogoladze def. Liam Etebar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Marc Doussis def. Daniel Toledo via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:59
- Ahmed Vila def. Kim Tinghaugen via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:55
- Matej Danek def. Endrit Brajshori via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:26
Report by Jake Smith