Czech-Slovak promotion Oktagon MMA will bring the curtain down on a big year in 2022 with a huge middleweight title clash between two of their biggest stars at Oktagon 38 in Prague.
Reigning middleweight champion Patrik Kincl retained his title at Oktagon 35 in September with a first-round knockout of Alex Lohore, and the narrative immediately turned to a potential bout with “The Inspector’s” nemesis.
Former middleweight champion Karlos Vemola now has the promotion’s 205-pound title, and was sat at cageside for Kincl’s impressive victory in Brno. Now, just a matter of weeks after that event, Kincl and Vemola have been booked to face off in a huge championship clash.
Kincl’s middleweight belt will be on the line when he faces Vemola in a rematch of their bout with Czech promotion X Fight Nights back in the summer of 2018.
Vemola earned the unanimous decision that night at the O2 Arena in Prague, and in a nice touch of MMA symmetry, the pair will meet again at the same venue in the rematch on December 30.
Kincl has lost just once since that defeat to Vemola – a third-round knockout to Roberto Soldic in a failed bid to capture the KSW welterweight title in 2021 – but is 7-1 since that loss to “The Terminator” in Prague. He’ll head into the rematch riding a two-fight win streak and with revenge on his mind as he looks to make it three in a row and solidify his status as the promotion’s premier 185-pounder.
Vemola, meanwhile, will look to arrange a reunion with the middleweight title he never lost inside the cage. The London Shootfighters-trained powerhouse wasn’t left beltless for long, as he picked up the vacant light heavyweight crown with victory over Aleksandar Ilic in his last appearance, at Oktagon 34.
Now the rematch with Kincl is on, with the chance for Vemola to reclaim his old title and become Oktagon MMA’s very own “champ champ,” and hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
