Swedish featherweight sensation Samuel Bark is back in the win column, getting his hand raised after a grueling fight against Vladimir Lengal at Saturday’s OKTAGON 50 event in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Bark, who has held multiple Muay Thai championships, advanced to 9-2 in professional MMA as he defeated the No. 8 ranked Czech fighter by split decision. “Sammon Decker” put on annimpressive performance, showing an elevated MMA game overall as he utilized primarily his leg kicks and knees in the striking department while displaying strong takedown defense and even solid offensive wrestling as well as submission attempts on the ground.
Although the bout was billed as battle between strikers, Lengal ended up forcing the grappling and desperately trying to get the Swede on the mat. However, Bark would constantly bounce right back up to his feet when he was taken down and at some points the Muay Thai champ even secured his own takedowns or scrambled to reverse positions.
In the end, it was pretty clear that Bark had done enough to win two of three rounds in our opinion. When asked about how confident he was about the judges decision in his post-fight interview, Bark took a humble approach as he honestly answered “I’m not sure” before thanking his opponent for showing up and putting up a good fight.
Read more: Josefine Modig wins silver in No-Gi Worlds in Las Vegas: “I hate to end the year on a loss”
Samuel Bark expected Vladimir Lengal to box
Ahead of the fight, the Swede was confident with his own abilities in every department. He said that he expected his opponent – an undefeated 12-0 boxer – to box with him, but also mentioned how the fight would potentially end up on the ground.
“He will try to box with me and knock me out as soon as he can, that’s what I think,” Bark said in an interview with Frontkick. “We will start standing and I might clinch up, maybe even go for a takedown. Anything can happen, but I’m not fucking scared of his boxing.”
This is Bark’s first win in OKTAGON MMA. He has won six of his most recent seven bouts and is now 1-1 in the promotion, with his only loss coming to the now-featherweight champ Losene Keita. As for Lengal, he now falls to 6-2 in MMA after having his six-fight winning streak snapped by Bark.
Read more: Samuel Bark: “I’m not f**king scared of his boxing!”
OKTAGON 50 results: Vacant title fights end in stoppages
OKTAGON 50 was headlined by a vacant featherweight title fight between Losene Keita and Niko Samsonidse. In the co-main event, Ronald Paradeiser squared off against Ivan Buchinger with the promotion’s vacant lightweight strap on the line.
Both of the championship bouts ended in finishes, with Keita securing a brutal knockout and Paradeiser forcing Buchinger’s corner to throw in the towel.
Check out the official results down below!
Main Card
- Losene Keita def. Niko Samsonidse by KO (punches), Round 2, 0:23 — for the vacant Oktagon MMA featherweight championship
- Ronald Paradeiser def. Ivan Buchinger by TKO (corner stoppage), Round 3, 5:00 — for the vacant Oktagon MMA lightweight championship
- Samuel Bark def. Vladimir Lengal by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Matej Penaz def. Ole Magnor by TKO, Round 1, 0:29
- Stefano Catacoli def. Jan Siroky by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
- Rafael Xavier def. Dan Vinni by TKO, Round 2, 1:27
- Ebrahim Hosseinpour def. Matej Kuznik by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mate Kertesz def. Ammari Diedrick by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ondrej Raska def. Michal Kotalik by KO, Round 2, 0:28
- Marco Novak def. Michal Konrad by TKO, Round 2, 4:07
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