European fight promotion Oktagon MMA has been packing out arenas across Czechia, Slovakia and Germany, and with one of their biggest-ever rivalries set to reach its conclusion, the Czech-Slovak organisation is set to host its first event in a football stadium this weekend.
Oktagon 58 takes place at Fortuna Arena – locally known as Eden Stadium – as the home of Slavia Prague is set to be packed with 28,000 fans as longtime light heavyweight rivals Karlos Vemola and Attila Vegh face off for the promotion’s light heavyweight title in a bout dubbed “The Rematch of the Century.”
Light heavyweight rivals clash in Oktagon 58 main event
The first meeting between the pair came at Oktagon 15 back in November 2019, where former Bellator light heavyweight champion Vegh claimed a first-round TKO victory in their light heavyweight main event matchup.
Since then their rivalry has continued to simmer, as Vemola has risen to become one of the most prominent champions in the promotion, having held titles at both middleweight and light heavyweight, while Vegh has grown his own stardom through celebrity appearances such as his stint on Slovakia’s version of Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With The Stars, “Let’s Dance”.
The bout will be Vemola’s 12th MMA matchup since that first meeting, but for Vegh, it’ll be his first time competing in the cage since his win over “The Terminator” more than four years ago.
Oktagon 58 features action from two tournaments
The event will also feature a welterweight title mini-tournament, dubbed the welterweight title pyramid, as four 170-pound contenders vie for a shot at the vacant title.
On one side of the bracket, former champion David “The Pink Panther” Kozma returns in a bid to recapture the 170-pound crown. He takes on hard-hitting Romanian contender Ion “Dracula” Surdu.
The other side of the bracket will see Brazilian Leandro “Apollo” Silva face Georgia’s Amiran Gogoladze, with the night’s two winners set to face off for the title later this year.
There’s also action from the lightweight Tipsport Gamechanger, as the €1 million tournament continues with a pair of quarter-final matchups.
Spanish contender Acoidan Duque takes on Mago Machaev, while former Oktagon lightweight champion Mateusz Legierski takes on England’s Akonne “The Jedi” Wanliss.
The stacked card also features a Tipsport Gamechanger reserve bout, as Attila Korkmaz faces off against former UFC veteran Makwan “Mr. Finland” Amirkhani, while middleweight scrappers David Zawada and Marek Mazuch are also set for action.
Postponed grudge match will finally be settled
And the event will also see the long-awaited grudge match between Liverpool’s Shem Rock and Czech police officer Jaroslav Pokorny, with the pair finally set to fight after their originally scheduled matchup was postponed the day before the fight after a weigh-in skirmish between the pair.
Extra security is sure to be present as the pair face off this time around, and assuming there are no more flare-ups between the heated rivals, we’ll see Rock and Pokorny settle the score on Saturday night.
Oktagon 58: Confirmed fight card
- Karlos Vemola vs. Attila Vegh – for light heavyweight title
- David Kozma vs. Ion Surdu – welterweight title pyramid
- David Zawada vs. Marek Mazuch
- Jaroslav Pokorny vs. Shem Rock
- Mateusz Legierski vs. Akonne Wanliss – Tipsport Gamechanger
- Milos Petrasek vs. Kamil Wojciechowski
- Acoidan Duque vs. Mago Machaev – Tipsport Gamechanger
- Leandro Silva vs. Amiran Gogoladze – welterweight title pyramid
- Deniz Ilbay vs. Denis Tripsansky
- Attila Korkmaz vs. Makwan Amirkhani – Tipsport Gamechanger reserve bout
