Reigning middleweight champion Patrik Kincl retained his title in emphatic fashion with a first-round TKO finish of Alex Lohore at Oktagon 35 in Brno, Czech Republic.
Czech powerhouse Kincl was expected to wrestle Lohore, who was thought to have the striking advantage heading into the bout. But “The Inspector” had other ideas as he turned to his own striking arsenal to batter Lohore en route to a first-round finish at the Winning Group Arena.
While Lohore started out throwing range-finding jabs, Kincl stepped in and connected with overhand rights that found their mark almost immediately. It didn’t take long before they started to take effect, as Kincl adjusted his range and made his punches count. After a head-kick caught Lohore clean, a big right stumbled Lohore, and Kincl saw his moment. He loaded up and closed in, throwing heavy shots that backed Lohore against the fence, where more heavy-duty strikes eventually sent him to the canvas for the fight-ending finish as he retained his title and improved his record to 26-10.
With Kincl cementing himself as the Czech-Slovak promotion’s premier 185-pounder, thoughts immediately turned to a rematch with former middleweight champion and current Oktagon light heavyweight champ Karlos Vemola, who stepped into the cage to engage in a tense exchange with Kincl after his post-fight interview.
The co-main event saw a battle of Slovakian lightweights, Karol Rysavy dominated Frantisek Fodor en route to a first-round TKO finish, then celebrated with a beer on the top of the cage.
Rysavy had the edge over his compatriot from the start, and had Fodor in big trouble mid-way through the round as he locked up a tight arm-triangle choke. But somehow Fodor was able to maintain enough breathing room to avoid the finish, as Rysavy opted to give up on the hold to avoid burning out his arms.
Ultimately, it proved a wise decision, as “Bomby” put his still-fresh arms to work, dropping Fodor with a big punch, then finishing him with a sustained barrage of ground strikes that forced the stoppage with just three seconds left in the opening round.
Also on the card, Czech fan-favourite Andrej Kalasnik added another victory to his record with a dominant decision victory over Brazil’s Joel dos Santos. Kalasnik looked one step ahead of his opponent throughout the matchup as he ran out a shutout winner on the scorecards to claim his 10th career victory.
The fight of the night saw Jakub Dohnal edge a split decision victory over Canada’s David Moon after a wild back and forth battle that saw the momentum swing one way, then the next as the bout went all the way to the scorecards.
Dohnal pushed the pace early and forced Moon to fight on the retreat, as the Brno native took control of the exchanges through the first round. But Moon came back strongly in the second half of the fight and appeared to be in the ascendancy when the bout reached its conclusion. With Round 1 looking like a clear round for Dohnal and Round 3 a strong stanza for Moon, the bout hinged on the second round, with Dohnal doing just enough to earn the nod from two of the three judges, winning with scores of 28-29, 29-29, 29-28.
There was also a hard-earned win for former interim lightweight title challenger Ronald Paradeiser, who claimed a shutout unanimous decision victory over Iamik Furtado in the main card opener.
Paradeiser looked in cruise control for most of the bout as he kept Furtado out of harm’s way with a smart combination of sharp striking and solid clinch work against the cage. Paradeiser’s win keeps him in the mix at lightweight, where he’s hoping to face former foe Losene Keita for the lightweight title before a possible move up to welterweight later next year.
In the night’s featured preliminary card bout, Brazilian submission ace Jorge Bueno showcased his grappling skills with a first-round finish of Marek Mazuch.
Bueno accepted the bout on short notice as he looked to bounce back from his first career defeat just eight days ago, and “Jorginho” did just that as he took Mazuch to the mat, transitioned to his back and locked up a mounted rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 2:49 mark of the opening round.
After his win, Bueno was immediately called out for a bout in December by Czech middleweight Vaclav “Baba Yaga” Mikulasek, with the pair enjoying a good-natured back-and-forth interview and faceoff to seemingly seal their upcoming matchup.
There was even time for a special guest appearance by UFC light heavyweight champion, and Brno native, Jiri Prochazka, who received a rapturous reception from the fans in the arena as he made the walk to the cage before conducting an interview in Czech with promoter/ring announcer Ondrej Novotny.
Oktagon 35: Official Results
MAIN CARD
- Patrik Kincl def. Alex Lohore via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:54 – for middleweight title
- Karol Rysavy def. Frantisek Fodor via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:57
- Andrej Kalasnik def. Joel dos Santos via unanimous decision
- Jakub Dohnal def. David Moon via split decision
- Robert Pukac def. Tomas Bolo via unanimous decision
- Ronald Paradeiser def. Iamik Furtado via unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Radek Rousal def. Marek Bartl via unanimous decision – striking rules bout
- Jorge Bueno def. Marek Mazuch via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:49
- James Lewis def. Selim Topuz via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 4:14
- Adam Raiter def. Nathan Christian via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:53 – Final of ‘Who Will Survive’
- Radovan Uskrt def. Denis Kurdinov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:12
- Jan Gottvald vs. Edilson Franca via unanimous decision
