Marpo is a successful musician, but he has also been successful in martial arts. When did he start, what is his record and why did he quit?

Marpo will be playing its toughest match on May 21. Otakar Petřina will face a famous fighter Karlos Vémola in a boxing match. What has the successful rapper already done?

Marpo and music

Marpo, by his own name Otakar Petřina, is undoubtedly one of the most successful musicians in the Czech Republic. In the past he drummed in the band Chinaski, then he started his own solo career as a rapper. He has gradually evolved and is now famous for his live performances.

With his band TroubleGang, he managed to sell out Prague’s O2 arena in 2018. His work is specific, as he can combine rap with elements of country or rock. He has over 10 albums to his credit and has collected numerous awards during his more than 20-year music career.

Marpo and martial arts

Marpo has been involved in sports since he was young. He started with handball, but ended up with martial arts, which he really fell in love with. At the age of 18, he started boxing, and eventually took up Thai boxing, which he has really developed to a more than solid level.

Otakar Petřina became the vice-champion of the country in Thai boxing, he even finished sixth at the European Championships. However, in 2010 he had to quit martial arts.

“I had my last fight in 2010. I was already drumming in the band Chinaski. I had a pneumothorax, so they gave me a choice. Either you play with us or you fight. Since I got about three or four thousand for that fight, it was a pretty easy decision. I wanted to provide for my family, so I had to give up wrestling,” Marpo admitted on the In Sight series.

He finished his professional career with a record of 9 fights and 6 wins, according to Fight Live. He fought most of his fights in the under 71 kilogram weight class. He even visited Thailand often, where he trained quite a bit.

Marpo didn’t last long without combat sports

Marpo was never able to give up combat sports completely. In fact, back in 2018, he fought Slovak musician Patrik Rytmus Vrbovsky in the ring under the banner of the XFN organization. In the main match of the tournament, he defeated him on points in the crowded O2 Arena in Prague.

On the same evening he was challenged by Karlos Vémola, who also appeared in the same tournament. Their match would take place almost four years later in the Oktagon organization, already a competitor of XFN at the time.

In addition, Marpo also signed a contract with the new XFN organization this year, where he is expected to fight another combat sports legend Ilja Škondrič before the end of the year.

Otakar Petrina says he wants to make up for lost years and wants to fight while he can before he gets too old. Understandably, he collects interesting sums of money for all his fights, as his name will attract a lot of attention.

Source: Oktagon MMA, The Jan Kraus Show, Fight Live, Regional List