Lengal: I want the title in the Octagon! I appreciate the recognition from Novotny. What does he say about the rematches with Rysavy and Sivak?

Vladimír Lengál was one of the biggest stars of the domestic scene last year. Promoter Ondřej Novotný even named him as the fighter of the year. Now the native of Moravia wants to go for the title in the Octagon and in Munich he will take the first step. In an interview with Ruik, he talked not only about the fight with Deiga Scheck, but also about the rematches with Karol Rysavy and Vaclav Sivak.

How are you looking forward to the fight in Munich? It will be your first time in Oktagon outside of Czechoslovakia. Do you have anything special prepared for the German audience?

I’m looking forward to the fight. We’re going out with the team to rob it. And I’ve got what I always have for the German crowd. Determination to win and fight until the last second!

Your opponent will be Deiga Scheck. So far, he’s looking good. He beat Radek Roushal in a stand-up battle. Have you talked to him, what could help you in the fight?

Radek Roušal is my sparring partner. With our trainer Karel Kaiser from Muay Thai Brno and Ruchy, we are fine-tuning the opponent and I believe they read the opponent well in the previous fight.

What tactics will you go into the fight with? Will you want to keep the fight standing or do you plan to try some of your other improvements on the ground?

Classic answer. My arsenal of weapons is ready for all aspects of the fight.

According to the odds, you’re a slight favorite. Do you feel that way? What kind of shape are you in? How’s your weight or health? Has the last year been tough on you?

I’m facing an experienced opponent who has more MMA belts, but I’m confident in my victory. I’m in great shape and ready. Weight is never easy, but I don’t worry about it. I’m a pro, that’s part of it.

Health-wise, I’m in such a state that there’s always a sore spot in my preparation, but Dominik from Frost Heals takes care of it perfectly and always puts me together. Thank you very much. I always take it as part of my preparation. It’s just a little injury.

Last year was tough, but because it was so successful, not so much. I always take the lessons and experience for the next time.

You’ve decided that you’re going to try to win the 66 kg title. Don’t you have ambitions to dominate the lightweight division and try to take advantage of the valuable scalp in the form of a win over Karol Rysavy?

I’m normally around 75 kg and I really eat everything I can get my hands on. So a weight under 66 is ideal for me. If I follow a “healthy” diet, I’m 71 kg and that’s not an easy weight for MMA.

After your win over Rysavy, you also challenged Losene Keita. He’s the lightweight champion, but now he’s going to fight in the same tournament at 66 kg. Was it in the cards for you to test him? Or was that out of the question?

I’ll have to keep the behind-the-scenes info to myself. And if I want the title, I need to beat all the opponents above me. And I want it!

Of course, there’s also the question, what weight would you prefer to fight Keita at?

Under 66 kg, of course.

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Speaking of the win over Rysavy… Karol said that he had it set in his head that the fight didn’t have a winner because no one finished or choked anyone out and that it was actually decided by one punch. How do you see it?

And that’s what combat sports are all about. I won the fight by submitting my opponent, thanks to a broken jaw. Since it wasn’t fought at my weight, which is 66, and it was short notice, I had a big weight disadvantage.

The elbow “from hell” was a punch that affected the fight because it broke my jaw and I wanted to put it in. I still wanted to finish Karol, and I was charging him as he was on the ground because he threw me and I rolled him over and charged from the winning position and when he got up.

And as I pinned him with my head, I knew his jaw was in trouble. I asked him if he was quitting. He shook his head and grabbed the guillotine, I twisted my head and was about to attack again, and in the process Karol gave up. I celebrated the victory.

I have 2 offers for Karol. I heard him say he dominated me in the standup. So in a fight at their Fight Night Challenge in boxing, I would give him a 1st chance. I offer a 2nd chance on my terms, I stepped up unprepared to his weight of 70 kg, now let him make 66 and face me in MMA if he can’t admit defeat.

You were very active last year. However, you didn’t have that many fights in MMA. Will it be different this year? Which of the disciplines do you actually have in your sights?

MMA is first and I would like to go up the division for the title. It’s not up to me, but I see 2, 3 fights at most with good preparation and recovery.

Promoter Ondrej Novotny even named you fighter of the year. What did you say? Did it make you happy? Did it give you motivation? Or do you not attach so much importance to it?

It made me very happy, I really appreciate the recognition from Ondrej. He’s been in the business for about 25 years and I didn’t ask for it, my actions speak for me. So for me and my coaches, it’s a reward for our work over the years.

By the way, your only loss last year was to Vasek Sivak, and it was on points and you took the fight on short-notice. Don’t you fancy a rematch? Maybe even under MMA rules one day in the Octagon?

I took the fight 24 hours in advance and it’s a shame I was unregenerated in preparation for a 10-round title fight. That’s what my performance looked like. But I saved the Heroes Gate gala with the biggest stand-up star of the Czechoslovak scene and I finished the fight completely unprepared.

It’s a shame, but it didn’t take anything away from me. K1 hasn’t been my priority for a long time. If anyone would like to see a rematch, I’m not opposed. As in boxing, K1, muay thai or MMA, but I have to have time to prepare for the fight and then I promise it will be a completely different spectacle.

So the MMA debut of Sivak vs. Lengal in the Octagon? No problem, let’s do it!

How do you see the situation in the featherweight division? The competition is more than decent, names like Sanikidze, Buchinger, even Tichota is making an impression… Plus the division is packed with more than decent grounders. Who is the most tempting name for you? And how do you actually work on your land?

You won’t find a weak opponent there anymore. The most tempting for me now is Deiga Scheck and then we’ll see. On the ground and in general MMA I work mostly with my coach Rudo Kriz.

Now after Munich I want a much longer time to prepare for the fights, to go around a couple of foreign camps so that we can fully maximize all aspects of the fight with the team.

How do you rate your time in the Octagon and in MMA in general? Would you have thought, say, five years ago that you would be doing MMA and that you would want to go for a title with an organization that was also going to make a name for itself in Germany or the UK?

Fighting the best has always been a dream of mine. I enjoy it, but I want to show a lot more. I know we are just at the beginning of something really big. I’m not a legend yet, as my son said recently, so I’ll show him. (smile)

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