Shem Rock: My firing? Keep dreaming! Pokorny was looking for a way to avoid the fight. I just fought back. I’m sorry for the fans. What does he say about the punishment?

It was to be one of the biggest draws of the first Oktagon tournament in Manchester. It was heated from the start and came to a head during the staredown when Shem Rock kicked Jaroslav Pokorný, who was subsequently unable to enter the match. In an interview with Ruik, the English fighter offered his take on the whole situation.

Shem Rock was supposed to appear in his third fight in the Oktagon on Saturday, challenged by Jaroslav Pokorny, a legend of the domestic scene, but the Liverpool native has long been challenged and insulted in all sorts of ways. This was no different in the interview before the tournament.

Given the heated relationship from both sides, fans were looking forward to a proper war. The tension should have been there at staredown, but it crossed the line and the match didn’t even happen because of the incident after the weigh-in.

The Rock hit Pokorny with a roundkick and although it didn’t look like Jubox was hurt at the time, after the adrenaline rush wore off things got bad. The Czech fighter had injured ribs and according to Patrik Kincl, one punch in the fight could have been enough and it would have been over.

The fight was officially cancelled just a few hours before the start of the OKTAGON 48 gala. However, this is still being resolved.

How does Shem Rock perceive the whole situation?

While the Czech public and Jaroslav Pokorný are clear about the culprit, Shem Rock sees the situation somewhat differently. First of all he denies that he kicked the Czech in the ribs, he says he hit a clean liver.

“Let’s be clear about this. I’ve hit the liver about 1000 times in my life and if you saw my last fight, you know I’m good at it. I didn’t hit him in the ribs. It was 100 percent liver. If it was ribs, I’d like to see an X-ray. We’d see that there’s no fracture. The meek one just injured his v*gina and was looking for a way out. If his trainer says one punch would have been enough? That fight wouldn’t have gone any differently either way. I was going to roll over him,” Shaqueme expressed to Ruik.

In his own words, he has experience, for example, with dislocated ribs, which he fought before his debut in the Oktagon: “It happened to me in camp. When it happened, I went down like a sack of h***n. I couldn’t walk. i was in bed for six weeks. The last two weeks I could move, but I could barely train. Still, I went into the Lima game. Pokorny has nothing wrong with his ribs, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to breathe and would be on the floor at the weigh-in. He saw an opportunity and took it.”

And that the blame is primarily on him? “I said loud and clear that I didn’t mind if he came close, but that I wouldn’t let him touch me. I will never let an opponent touch me without defending myself. He was obviously scared, he didn’t want to be at that staredown, but he had to be. He just wanted to pose for a picture and walk away, however Pavol Neruda made him at least goof off,” Shem Rock offers his version.

I was just defending myself, says the controversial fighter

“He pushed himself on me. I didn’t want him to touch me. If I wanted to hit him, I would have done it on his second attempt to push me. If you watch the staredown footage, you’ll see he tried to hit me lightly with his left hand. It wasn’t the hardest punch, but in the moment when you’re thinking of defending yourself, you just see the punch coming, so I countered with a kick to the liver,” Shem Rock described the incident.

😤 Tension spills over 😤

Jaroslav Pokorný – 70.7kg/156lbs ✅
Shem Rock – 70.7kg/156lbs ✅

The heated rivalry came to a head at the official weigh in before OKTAGON 48 tomorrow night in Manchester.

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— OKTAGON MMA (@OktagonOfficial) November 3, 2023

“I was calm during the staredown, Pokorny felt the pressure, he was definitely nervous. I think the whole weigh-in is a crazy concept. Fighters face dehydration. If someone hit you in the head during that, it could definitely damage your brain health. But if that’s the case, who’s to blame for the incident? It’s a fighting business, these things happen. You don’t like it? Watch the ballet. If you want me to be the bad guy, please feel free to be the bad guy.”

If I hadn’t gotten injured, there would be no talk of injury, he’s clear

That he was planning to injure his opponent before the game? Shem Rock absolutely refutes that: ‘ Why would I do that? It’s not a smart idea at all. I kicked him because he tried to hit me. It was purely instinctive self-defence. If I hadn’t put the weight on, the fight wouldn’t have happened and there would have been no talk about Pokorny’s injury.”

In fact, Shaqueme failed to make weight on his first attempt. Even though he tried to help himself by cheating. “Pokorny was counting on me not being able to lose. Then he could cancel the fight and get the money for it. But I lost quickly. I found out there would be no fight a few hours before I left for the arena,” he says.

Doctors did not recommend the Czech legend to take part in the fight. Pokorný would have to sign a rematch. But according to Rock, it was different. Patrik Kincl said that by the time of Friday afternoon’s press conference, the Liverpool native already knew the game was in jeopardy. That’s not true.

“Nobody told us that the game shouldn’t be on. How would I have known? I was in a good mood. I was 100 per cent convinced the game was going to be on,” he defends. And what about the apology? “The fans deserve an apology for not being able to watch me destroy that policeman. But I’m not going to apologize for defending myself.”

What’s next?

“Our fight was the main draw for people. Most of the fans came to the arena because of me. This fight sold most of the PPV. I definitely don’t regret all the training I did. I love training, it definitely didn’t hurt. Thepromo didn’t go to waste either,” let Shem Rock be heard.

He also spoke about why he regrets the cancelled fight, ” My only regret is that I lost 70kg for no reason. I’m also even more sorry that I couldn’t destroy Pokorny. I apologize to the fans who paid their hard-earned money to see my fight and I let them down. I wish I could give them every penny back.”

The question now is what punishment Shaqueme will receive. According to Kincl, the contracts stipulate fat fines for injuring an opponent in a staredown. Czech fans are also calling for him to be fired.

“Czechs who are calling for my expulsion from the Oktagon, keep dreaming. I’m more likely to be in the main event of the night than I am to be kicked out. Why aren’t you hearing from the English fans to get me fired? People need to understand that this happens,” he pleads.

“We haven’t fought and we’re paid to fight. I’ve been punished enough by that. I didn’t win, I didn’t go home with a bag full of money. Any communication between me and the Octagon about what’s next will be handled by my manager,” he added.

It’s worth noting that the British fans are behind the Liverpool native in a big way: “I’ve had a lot of messages and they’ve been supporting me all along. Look at the video. I clearly reciprocated to Pokorny. I’m not just going to stand there. I’m not going to get beat up. The people of Liverpool understand that.”

Will there ever be a Shem Rock vs Jaroslav Pokorny duel?

When it was revealed that Jaroslav Pokorny would not be stepping in, Oktagon tried to find a replacement. “I was willing to fight anyone. Even with an orthodox stand-up guy, although I was preparing for a grappler. I wanted to fight and get paid,” Shem Rock admits. But that didn’t work out.

So speculation began to surface in the media as to whether a Rock vs. Pokorny duel would ever be in the cards again. Shem himself is not defending it, even though this is the second time the fight has fallen through.

“He had a second opportunity to fight me. The first one was in Prague, the second one now. Jan Malach is a real warrior, he fought me and had no problems. Now I have to reward Pokorny with a third chance and on his turf in Prague? It would be a big risk for me, if the fight even happened,” he is clear.

“I want nothing more than to put a hole in his face. If the Octagon wants the fight, I suggest that it be fought in a few weeks, for example, at a weight of up to 77 kilograms. After this fight I wanted to take some time to recover. If the Octagon wants me, I’ll show up ten times on ten calls. I don’t know if the same can be said for Pokorny.”

Otherwise, Shem Rock isn’t thinking about his next opponent. After all, there’s no reason to. According to his own words, there is no one in his division he can’t beat. But he would like to see the Oktagon in Liverpool one day, where he is at home. He says it would be crazy.

Source: Oktagon MMA, Ruik