After 47 fights, 38 wins, and 17 years in the sport, Karlos Vemola’s MMA career is over.
Vemola defeated fellow MMA veteran Attila Vegh on Saturday night in Prague in what was a trilogy bout during the main event of OKTAGON 72 that marked his send off from a sport he has dedicated his life to.
Vemola met Vegh for the third time on Saturday night in an epic five-rounderOKTAGON MMA The fight headlined OKTAGON 72 in Slavia Prague’s Fortuna ArenaOKTAGON MMAVemola utilised his superior grappling skills to outpoint his Slovakian opponent after five rounds.
Vegh had the Czech star stunned multiple times throughout the fight, but couldn’t find the finish as he too is expected to bow out of MMA following the conclusion of the historical trilogy.
At the age of 39, Vemola walked away from MMA as the man who sold fighting to a nation in front of over 25,000 fans.
‘The Terminator’ is a huge star in his native Czechia, having first entered the sport professionally at the age of 23 in 2008.
“Unfortunately, there’s nowhere else to go,’ Vemola told talkSPORT.com and media at OKTAGON 72’s post-fight press conference.
OKTAGON is the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in Europe, having smashed the record for the highest-attended MMA event of all time last year.
“This is the end of a beautiful chapter in my life,” Vemola continued.
“It’s a huge win for me. It’s been six years in the making, we’ve been going back and forth.
“He’s been provoking me to give my best possible performance, but the last win is always the biggest one you can get, and there will never, ever be another one in my MMA career.”
Vemola first met Vegh in November 2019, when he tapped to the Slovakian legend after three rounds to lose his first bout in four years.
Vemola was awarded the ‘infinity belt’ after defeating Vegh at OKTAGON 72OKTAGON MMA OKTAGON MMAHe utilised his grappling to stock Vegh having any success on the feet[/caption]But last June, Vemola exacted revenge by submitting Vegh after two rounds at OKTAGON 58 to defend his light heavyweight title.
“I don’t know what I’ll do next,” Vemola added.
“Maybe I’ll get a couple of new kids, new animals, and just sit in the garden.
“I never have a plan B. This was my plan A: finish this, and what’s next I honestly don’t know.
“There are plenty of options for me but I got a huge win today, and I’m so happy we’re both healthy after this fight.
“Attila’s fine, I’m relatively fine. We’ll see tomorrow when I wake up, but that’s it.
‘The Terminator’ leaves the sport at the age of 39 with a 38-9 recordOKTAGON MMA Both men embraced after an epic-five round warOKTAGON MMA“The last win is the thing moving you forward. Whatever you do, wherever you do it.
“When it comes to fighting, that’s the end for me, but I’m sure there will be something else.”
It was Vemola who got the loudest cheers inside Prague’s Fortuna Arena as fans settled into their seats for the headline act at OKTAGON 72.
The night had already witnessed nine fights and a spectacular halftime show that lasted almost one hour.
But when UFC light heavyweight star Jiri Prochazka brought the ‘infinity belt’ to the cage, the magnitude of Vemola’s trilogy bout with Vegh was clear.
The majority of a deafening round one was spent against the cage as Vemola attempted to get Vegh to the ground early, and didn’t seemingly want any part of the Slovakian on the feet.
Vegh had Vemola hurt several times during the fightOKTAGON MMAOKTAGON 72 Main Card Results
Fortuna Arena, Prague
Karlos Vemola def. Attila Vegh via unanimous decision (won infinity belt) Makhmud Muradov vs Patrik Kincl via unanimous decision (won interim middleweight title) Ivan Buchinger def. Vladimir Lengal via second-round submission Ronald Paradeiser def. Bojan Velickovic via first-round TKOThe biggest moment, however, came with both men stood up when Vegh landed a vicious head kick and had Vemola stunned.
Vegh kept landing but the experienced Czech recovered and would’ve been glad to hear the bell for round two.
When Vegh whacked Vemola with a nasty knee after one minute in round two, the fight had already gone further than both men’s previous two encounters.
But round two painted a similar picture to the first, and it was clear to see what Vemola’s game plan was.
However, when ‘The Terminator’ was able to get a hold of Vegh in the clinch, he couldn’t bring him down, as Vegh displayed excellent takedown defence on the back foot and knew he needed just a slight opening to knock his opponent out.
But Vemola came out swinging in the third stanza, and, yet again, found himself leaning into the cage against Vegh, who couldn’t seem to prevent the Czech star’s initial clinch.
Vemola knew he needed to prevent Vegh landing in the final round to win the fightOKTAGON MMAThe pair were split up for what was the third time, until Vegh smelt blood and went on the offence.
A series of knees, kicks, and punches had Vemola almost out for good, until Vegh made the decision to shoot for the takedown, and both men ended up on the canvas as we entered the championship rounds.
As per OKTAGON’s open scoring rules, Vemola led 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards in the fourth round.
The Prague crowd roared as Vemola attempted an early rare naked choke, until Vegh managed to shake it off.
Vegh was circling Vemola on the outside, with the latter clearly exhausted and the former needing just to find room for that one shot to end the fight for good.
The Slovakian fighter had managed to convince two judges to have it even in the fifth and final round, but with the other scoring it 39-37, Vemola knew if he played it safe he would be victorious in his final ever fight.
Jan Stanovsky defeated Danijel Solaja in the first fight of the nightOKTAGON MMA German bantamweight Alina Dalaslan also picked up a win over Roza GumiennaOKTAGON MMAAfter a wholesome hug at the beginning of the round, Vemola was desperate to take his opponent down and pin him to the canvas.
He was successful early on, and with Vegh exhausted, knew it was a matter of minutes until he was victorious.
Vegh became desperate and went for at the end, but Vemola saw the fight out and secured a unanimous decision win.
He also earned the Tipsport Gamechanger Performance of the Night bonus but insisted he would split the €5,000 (£4,300) with his opponent.
Elsewhere on the card in Prague, former UFC fighter Makhmud Muradov became OKTAGON’s interim middleweight champion by defeating Czech star Patrik Kincl via decision.
Meanwhile, Ivan Buchinger, who was knocked out by Conor McGregor under the Cage Warriors banner in 2012, submitted Vladimir Lengal, and Ronald Paradeiser stopped Bojan Velickovic.
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