Shem Rock: If Pokorny is a legend, then I am a God. When I beat him, I’ll go for the title, whether Buchinger or Paradeiser holds it

The Oktagon will show in England for the first time ever and one of the biggest stars of the gala will be Shem Rock. He wants to settle accounts with Jaroslav Pokorny, with whom they have been shooting each other for a long time. In an interview with Ruik, Rock spoke not only about the match, but also about the Oktagon Challenge, for example.

Pokorny trains only with painters and decorators, says Shem Rock

If anyone doubted him after the first fight, there’s no room for that after the second one. In the summer at Štvanica Shem Rock uncompromisingly destroyed Jan Malach and silenced the critics. Afterwards, there were rumours about who would be next. Namely, whether Jaroslav Pokorný would challenge him, or maybe Vladimír Lengál, with whom he also exchanged a few words and had a lot to say about him in the interview.

However, Lengal is not interested in a duel with the fighter from Liverpool, which closed the whole matter. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Rock will be able to face Pokorny at the first Oktagon gala in England.

He didn’t even have to rest too long after his duel with Malach. “This is a lifestyle for me, I was straight back to the gym, got a first round finish, no injuries, I love being out of camp cause I just get to focus on improving my skillset and nothing else,” Shem Rock expressed in an interview with Ruik.

“Then once the camp started for Pokorny, its about working on the things that I’m good at an implementing my style on him. I don’t study my opponent; I leave that to my coaches. I just get in there and fight. Its about me not him,” he added.

“The camp went perfect; I left no stone unturned. I’m in he best shape of the life and if you follow me on social media you can obviously see that. And as for the rivalry, its no secret I dislike this man but come November 4th there will be no rivalry, cause I’m going to steam roll him and no one will ever want to see that fight again. That’s how one sided it will be,” Rock said.

If he’s a legend, I’m a god!

In preparation, Shem Rock, who boasts an almost movie-like story, has been training with UFC star Gilbert Burns: “He is a top lad and so is his brother Herbert. It was a good experience, of course he helped me but most of all, it just reinforced what I already know of the level that I’m at, at this point in my career. I get to train with some of the best athletes in the world, fighting at the highest level, while Pokorny trains with journey men, painters and decorators.”

In addition to Gilbert Burns, Shem Rock regularly meets Paddy Pimblett, another UFC star, in the gym. The latter, by the way, believes he can beat Pokorny on a first-round submission. But is that even Shaquem’s plan?

“Honestly, I’d love to go the three rounds and drag him into deep waters, beat him up on the feet, take him down, wear on him, drown him in deep waters and every time I’m about to finish him, just od enough to let him survive and absolutely maul him for three rounds. But if I want to, I’ll take him out in the first round,” the Liverpool native is clear.

Jaroslav Pokorný is one of the legends of the Czech MMA scene. He has been through big fights, but also big problems. He almost lost his leg to a staph infection. But the controversial fighter doesn’t accept that.

“I don’t think we should throw around the word legend so loosely. Hickson Gracie is a legend, Anderson Silva is a legend, Fedor Emelianenko is a legend, Pokorny is a police officer with an almost equal record who didn’t fight for 3 years cause he hurt his vagina. If he’s a legend, then I’m a God,” Shem Rock said.

Shem Rock, who doesn’t like cops, by the way, gets paid to legally punch one. A dream come true? More or less: “Answer me this mate, does anyone like the police? And if you’re reading this and thinking yeah I love the police, then you’re what’s wrong with the world. F**k the police and F**k Pokorny.”

Is Shem Rock planning a surprise for his fans?

While Shem Rock and Jaroslav Pokorny used to shoot each other, now there is relative silence from the Czech fighter. “He started the verbal after he refused to fight me but was still speaking in the Czech media and slagging me on social media. Now the fight has been announced, all of a sudden he has gone silent. Sounds like a scared man. I’ve been vocal on my social media I don’t know what you’re talking about mate. I DM him all the time and he doesn’t reply my messages, now he just reads them. Like I said to Pokorny, keep that energy mate cause we’ll be face to face just now,” Shaqueme revealed.

However, Pokorny recently said that a lot of English people have written to him saying that he is their favourite and that they don’t like everything Rock has done. “Everything I’ve done? Him nor any of the people he knows don’t know half of what I’ve done, 10% of what I’ve done, I take the opinion of idiots with a sprinkle of salt. He’ll be lucky to have 5 people in the arena cheering for him and if they are, they definitely won’t be cheering out loud otherwise it might not be a safe space for them,” the British fighter responded to his opponent’s words.

Shem Rock seems to have something special in store for his fans: “If this was in Liverpool, me, Paul Smith and Lee Chadwick would sell the gaff out by ourselves. I already know most of the crowd in the AO arena will be here because of me and Paul. Anyone who comes to watch me fight, stays to watch Paul and I believe vice versa. Scousers support their own.”

I’m going for the title, controversial fighter announces

Shem Rock has made no secret of his big ambitions since coming to the Oktagon. If he beats Jaroslav Pokorny, he would like to go for the title. That’s why this fight is very important for him.

“Every fight is the most important fight of my career but this really is true more than ever. I’m getting to fight in one of the biggest stadiums in the UK. All eyes are watching, after I beat Pokorny I’m coming for the title,” the Liverpool native is clear.

Moreover, the lightweight is now without a champion. Losene Keita lost his title due to inactivity, so Ivan Buchinger and Ronald Paradeiser will fight for that. “After they’re done and a champions decided, I’ll go and take the belt of either man, I’m no fussed,” Rock believes.

The Oktagon star, by the way, is hugely grateful to the organization. For example, because of the documentary in which Shaqueme plays the main role: “When Channel 4 ran with the Oktagon challenge, they also took on my short documentary. The documentary done more than 100K views on YouTube in the first week and my page has been going crazy on all social media platforms and people frequently stop me in the street and ask me about the documentary and my life. I’ve easily gained 10K followers from it.”

“I never would have expected such an amazing response from the Oktagon challenge show or the documentary. And I just want to say thank you to Pavol and Ondrej (Pavol Neruda and Ondrej Novotny, Oktagon MMA promoters) for the opportunity and thank you to the fans, I love you all,” he let it be known.

How does he feel about the Oktagon Challenge, which he participated in as a coach?

Shem Rock incidentally took part in the English-Irish Oktagon Challenge as coach of the Irish team. He said during an earlier interview that he enjoyed the whole thing immensely and sees it as one of the best experiences of his life. So he was curious to see how the whole show would go when it was out.

“I’ve watched every single episode of Oktagon Challenge and following religiously every week, tuned in like a fan. The production was amazing, the way the fights played out made the storyline also amazing. But they should rename the show, to the Frimpong show,” he said enthusiastically.

With the Frimpong Show, he was referring to one of his charges, Dennis Frimpong, who fought his way to the finals. He was able to get inside the heads of his opponents. But his behavior was way over the edge at times. The Irish, by and large, were not very friendly with the English.

“I don’t agree with all of the things that were said or the pranks that were played but I can understand maybe why certain people acted how they acted. People who have never stepped not the cage and fought could never fathom, the nerves the mindset or the fear of stepping into that cage so anything that you do that makes you feel comfortable, or you believe gives you a 1% advantage I’m all for this,” Rock explains.

This is also why he would never tame the behavior of one of his charges. He says it could negatively affect performance. “Plus, our job is to prepare them in battle and make them as ready as possible, for when they step into the cage by any means necessary. Whatever was said and done between the lads, is amongst them. We weren’t there to hold anyone hands, we’re not anyone mother or father. Everyone has their own way to prepare for their fight mentally. Dennis likes to break people with mental warfare, whereas a guy like Beau Gavin prefers to be more quiet and show his skills on the night,” Shem added.

Beau Gavin in particular impressed him a lot: “He really impressed me, very respectful, very humble, very quiet but when he steps into the training room, its all business and its time to train and when he steps into the cage, he is a savage. Armand Herczeg really impressed me because he came on short notice, off the couch and really worked his ass off in the training room and had the quickest finish on the show.”

He knows the Oktagon Challenge finalists from training together, so he was hard pressed to find an answer if they impressed him. “It’s hard to say that Dennis and George Stains impressed me because I train with them quite regularly, so I already know how good they are. They lived up to their expectations in my head,” Shem Rock concluded the interview.

Source: Oktagon MMA, Ruik, Channel 4