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Attila Vegh. Photo via OKTAGON
On Saturday June 8, European MMA star Attila Vegh will finally be back in the cage after a four-year hiatus.
He returns to once again face his long-time rival Karlos Vemola in a fight billed as ’The Rematch of the Century’. Their first fight, back in November 2019, gained record-breaking viewing numbers and had Vegh come out as the winner via a first-round knockout.
Now, four years later, the highly anticipated rematch at Prague’s Eden football stadium will make MMA fans all over Europe hold their breaths.
”I see my upcoming fight as doing absolutely everything to win,” Vegh tells Frontkick in an exclusive interview. ”I train in two phases, in Bratislava, Sereď and Trnava, and I prepare really carefully. I’m not thinking about the result yet, it’s written up there, but I’m doing everything to make the result go well for my side.”
Vegh has been out of fighting action since the bout against Vemola back in 2019. Being away from the cage for such a long time is not necessarily a problem according to the 38-year-old veteran, who’s been fighting professionally since 2008.
”I haven’t wrestled in over 4 years, but it’s the same as riding a bike. Even if you haven’t sat on it for several years, you’re back after a few minutes and you know exactly what to do. I have been doing this sport all my life and I take the positive from the break that the body rested, regenerated and I got a great appetite for training again. Now I have several new goals in the form of a title, to get in shape and feel great, and of course to fully compete at the biggest event in Czechoslovakia ever.”
Is there like a ”derby-feeling” between Czechs and Slovakians going into the fight?
”I have a feeling it definitely is. Some fans may see the match as a Czech-Slovak derby, but I personally don’t see it that way at all. I personally consider myself a Czechoslovak and when I go to the Czech Republic, I feel as if I am at home in Slovakia, but for the fans this topic can certainly be.”
Attila Vegh. Photo via OKTAGON
Attila Vegh is a true veteran of the game and has been a staple in European MMA for more than a decade.
After fighting in various promotions, including Poland’s KSW, he signed with Bellator MMA in 2021 to fight in the light heavyweight division. In his Bellator debut he defeated Dan Spohn via split decision, and in his fifth fight he won the promotion’s light heavyweight title as he knocked out Travis Wiuff in the first round.
”Bellator was my dream, to get there, to win the title… But now I can say with a calm heart that the OKTAGON is at such a level today that it is a clear European number one with a brutal level.”
At age 38, the Slovakian light heavyweight doesn’t think too much about his future as a fighter. With 44 pro MMA bouts to his name, he takes every fight as it comes.
How many fights do you want to do after the Rematch of the Century?
”We’ll see after the match how it all turns out. I don’t want to shout ahead that I win or lose and we’ll see what the situation is. But personally I don’t have any other specific goals, I don’t have anything else I want to achieve with regard to the title that Karlos is holding now and we’ll see what happens. I’ll leave it in the stars for now.”
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