MMA

Kincl defeated Vemola on points! I drowned him in his game, rejoices the successful middleweight title defender

OKTAGON 43 has delivered a five-year-awaited rematch. A duel of two champions, a duel of the absolute Czech top. A great personal rivalry. Patrik Kincl and Karlos Vémola fought for the middleweight title. What did the duel look like?

Published

1 year ago

21. 5. 2023

Pavel Langr

The biggest fight in Czech history at the biggest and most expensive tournament in the history of the Octagon. This was the rematch in which champions Patrik Kincl and Karlos Vémola faced off in front of a packed Prague O2 Arena.

Terminator entered the match as a slight favourite, but for a while the odds were even for both fighters. Even the weigh-in, where Inspektor looked much better, did not change the role of the favourite.

When Vémola came on the scene, an extraordinary moment began. The tension in the arena was almost palpable, the nervousness among the fans could be cut. The Terminator’s traditional successor had served his purpose.

Kincl, on the other hand, entered to a much bigger ovation, focused and with a clear goal. To go for the win. There was no doubt on his face or in his walk. You could only see the seriousness of the situation and how much this match meant to him.

When Ondrej Novotny introduced Vemola in the cage, the stands were buzzing. It was the opposite with Kinc. The fans were noticeably more on his side.

And how was the first round? It was obvious that Kincl wanted to decide it in the standup, but Vemola’s pressure pushed him to the canvas, where he tried for a takedown for nearly four minutes. But the Inspector put on an incredible defensive display and the Terminator didn’t get his rival to the ground once.

In round two, the scenario was more or less the same. With the exception of one split due to a punch to the groin by Terminator, this five-minute round was also more or less all played out at the fence, where Kincl had to defend against his opponent’s pressure. Vemola did get his opponent down for a few seconds, but the Inspector actually got right back up.

The third round was no different. Vémola was getting more and more frustrated, but he didn’t change his gameplan. Anyway, Kincl was still able to hit him at the net and cause damage. He was definitely more active on the strikes. Once the round was over, however, Vémola tried to hit Kincl again.

The fourth round was again in the same style, but the referee had the courage to step into the clinch at the cage and split it a few times. But Vémola’s pressure always got the job done. While Kincl was landing what shots he could, Vémola was still trying to get his opponent to the ground.

By the fourth round, Vémola’s eye was swollen shut. Significant punches and strikes overall were increasingly in the Inspector’s favor.

In the fifth round, the Inspector was a little more accurate in his stance, and when he was able to keep Vemola away from his body, he shot him well. But Vemola was always able to get into a position where he was pressing and it was hard for the Inspector to somehow finish him.

In the entire fight, however, Vémola couldn’t deliver a single takedown to keep Kinclo down for even a few seconds. Even the experts couldn’t agree on who won the fight.

But in the end, the judges were quite sovereign and all saw a fairly clear win for Kinceloe. He is still the middleweight champion! Specifically, he won 49-46 and the two judges saw the fight 50-45 in favor of the defending champion.