Octagon 38 preview: who does Robo Pukac favour?

Octagon will close out 2022 with a pre-New Year’s Eve card featuring Filip Macek, who will take on UFC interim bantamweight champion Gustavo Lopez in the main event.

MACEK vs LOPEZ

Filip is one of the best grapplers in the country, finishing his opponent on the ground 20 times out of his 27 wins. He earned his title shot by winning his last two fights, both of which he won in the first round. Now he will face arguably the toughest challenge of his career, not counting his first fight with Jonas Magarde.

Gustavo Lopez is a UFC fighter and has also competed in Bellator and the well-known South American organization Combate Americas. He is a complete fighter who has never been finished by submission in his pro career to date.

He has had a total of four fights in the best MMA league in the world, notching one win, two losses and one draw. His brown belt suggests he should feel comfortable fighting on the feet and on the ground.

“I’m favouring Filip to win on the submission in this fight,” stated wrestler Robo Pukac, who believes the fight will go to the ground.

KEITA vs PALES

The champion of the organization, who defeated Ivan Buchinger or Rony Paradeiser, will face the best stand-up fighter in Slovakia, who is currently Milan “Minči” Pales, this time under Underground rules (MMA gloves, no ground fighting).

Losene Keita’s speed and toughness make him a problem for any opponent. Gloves could be an advantage for Keita as his opponent fights mainly in boxing gloves. Keita’s biggest weapon in this fight may be his punching speed in particular.

Milan Pales is the champion of the Oktagon Underground project and worldwide he is one of the best kickboxers of today. Minchi’s domain is an excellent eye and mixing kicks and punches, which could cause Keita some serious problems.

The Zilina native wields an uncompromising KO punch just like his opponent, which is why he could be a slight favorite in this fight. Minci has already notched up 42 wins in the stand-up and another one would take him up a notional notch.

“I trust Minchi here. He’s a proven stand-up guy, Pales is a world class stand-up guy, even abroad will tell you that. Keita is dynamic and every fight he’s in smells like a knockout, but I still think he’s not going to be enough right now,” Pukac said.

JURÁČEK vs LOHORÉ

Matúš Juráček has six wins in a row and has yet to taste the bitterness of defeat in the Octagon cage. In the biggest Czechoslovakian organization he managed to successively defeat Jan Široký, Gábor Boráros, Tata Primera and Rob Pukač in a technical fight in December a year ago.

Yuracek prides himself on his boxing skills in the fight itself and will look to work the distance as intelligently as possible. His defense against takedowns could also mean that if not the entire fight, we should see a stand-up fight for most of the fight.

Alex Lohoré is an extremely skilled wrestler who has no problem fighting on the ground as well as on the feet. Before coming to the Octagon, he gained experience in American Bellator and in the British organization Cage Warriors.

Don’t be fooled by his negative scores within the organization, as he has only lost to Leandro “Apollo” Silva on points, Karlos Vemola on points, and was last finished by the organization’s champion Patrik Kincl in the first round. In this fight, it will be interesting to see how Matúš Juráček can handle the arsenal of skills of a more experienced fighter.

“This is a fight in which I honestly can’t make many picks. Yuracek is very mobile, but I don’t think he has the weapons to threaten Lohori. Alex is a dangerous striker, but he needs to hit something to break Matus’ style. If I had to make a guess, I think Lohore will take the win.”

“On the card, among other things, I was intrigued by the Malacho vs Kohout fight. Both of them are skilled stand-up guys. Kohout is a very complex wrestler, on the other hand Jan has a KO punch in his hands. I am sincerely curious to see how it will turn out,” finished Róbert Pukač.

Apart from the aforementioned fights, Oktagon 38 will also offer a boxing match between Gábor Boráros and Václav Mikulášek. Daniel Škvor will also be missing, who, after his victory at Štvanica, will be back on home soil, this time against Frenchman Montagnac. Watch the whole tournament via PPV on oktagon.tv.

Source: Octagon MMA