THE KARLOS PHENOMENON. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

05.10.2023
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Karlos Terminator Vemola. The name probably brings to mind something for everyone. MMA legend, showbiz star or exotic animal lover. Join us as we look beneath the surface of the headlines and get to know the incredible story of the athlete who has shown the Czechs and Slovaks the power of martial arts. Everything you need to know about the Terminator in one article. 



WHO IS KARLOS IN ONE SENTENCE?

Karlos "Terminator" Vémola = legendary Czech fighter and pioneer of MMA in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the first Czech ever in the UFC, holder of several light heavyweight and middleweight titles in Czech and British organizations and a sports figure who entertains the world with his flamboyant lifestyle and extroverted personality.


TALK LIKE AN EXPERT: WEIGHT CLASSES AND FIGHTING STYLE

The weight class in which Karlos fights has changed throughout his career. At the very beginning of his professional career he competed at heavyweight, but since then he has only fought at light heavyweight and middleweight, which he has switched around. Although he recently announced that he will only fight at light heavyweight for the rest of his career.

His background, meaning the martial art he comes from, is Greco-Roman wrestling. He is incredibly strong, especially when fighting on the ground. You really do not want to get there with him, because then the victory would almost certainly be on his side.


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KARLOS' STORY: FROM THE BEGINNING UNTIL TODAY

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

Imagine little Karlos. A boy with thick glasses, who is happiest in the nature, where he loves to catch butterflies so much. Despite his longstanding eye problems, he is not a timid child. Full of energy and temperament, he often gets into trouble and has been doing martial arts since childhood. His father takes him to Greco-Roman wrestling and dreams of little Karlos becoming an Olympic champion one day.

But the teenage Karel falls in love with another sport. Sculpted muscles and weight training become his priority, and a poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger on the wall of the teenager's bedroom motivates him to perform at his best. It is after his role model and the legendary film that he later chooses his nickname. The goal is clear: to be the best bodybuilder in the world. At the age of 19, he leaves for England, where he hopes to find better conditions and the fulfillment of his dream.



THE BEGINNING OF HIS MMA CAREER: FROM BODYBUILDER TO A FIGHTER

Life in England throws obstacles in his way, but he fights them in a "Karlovian" way. When he first participated in the UK bodybuilding championship, he was not allowed to enter the junior category, so he straight away won the men's category. However, the controversies and uncertainties associated with the competitions began to annoy him so much that his interest in bodybuilding faded. He earns a living as a nightclub bouncer, and when he easily settles a fight between two professional MMA fighters, he impresses their manager enough to take him under his wing and convince him to train. After two weeks in the gym, he wins his first fight in the first round and continues his winning streak cheerfully on. Until he does what no Czech has ever done before.


KARLOS VÉMOLA, THE FIRST CZECH IN UFC

Karlos becomes the first Czech to enter the UFC, and thus he will forever be a part of Czech history. Although his first fight ends in defeat, Karlos convinces the crowd that he didn't sign the contract by accident. In total, he competes in six fights in the UFC, in which his performance is variable. In his last fight in Brazil, the difficult environmental conditions take their toll on him and his journey in the famous organization unfortunately comes to an end.

It is 2013 and Carlos has several fights ahead of him to further build his star career. He moves from the UK back to his home country where he accepts challenges from a series of Czech fighters and picks up more wins.

He gets another chance to return to the UFC, but loses a key fight to Jack Hermansson. On top of the defeat, he is charged with tax evasion in England, for which he is sentenced to one year in prison. So it seems that in 2015, the Czech Terminator is fading into the night.

However, he ends up serving only half of his sentence and then returns to wrestling in full force. He remains undefeated for 3 years.


BECOMING A LEGEND: KARLOS VÉMOLA AND OKTAGON

In 2019, Karlos becomes a part of our organization. He is helping us increase the popularity of martial arts which until then had no parallel in the Czechoslovak sports scene. His fight of the century with Attila Vegh in November 2019 and the rematch with Patrik Kincl in 2023 completely break all spectator records and become a real phenomenon - both sporting and social. Just as it's impossible to imagine Karlos without MMA, it's hard to imagine MMA without Karlos anymore.



FIGHTS THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW

FIGHT OF THE CENTURY: VÉMOLA VS. VÉGH

A fight in which two Czechoslovakian MMA icons faced each other and attracted the attention of fans, journalists and martial arts experts. Karlos eventually lost the fight and it was the first time in his career that he was finished by KO. Revisit this unforgettable fight:

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VÉMOLA VS. KINCL

The great rivals reunited in the cage after five years to settle their long-standing dispute. The five-round cage fight ended with a victory for Patrick Kincl, who retained his middleweight championship belt. The fight once again attracted an incredible amount of media, and both professional and public attention, and nobody talked about anything else for weeks.

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VÉMOLA VS. ILIĆ

Just one month after his victory over the Polish veteran Pasternak, Karlos choked out Aleksander Ilić in the first round to become the temporary champion of the OKTAGON MMA light heavyweight division.

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VÉMOLA VS. LOHORÉ

Karlos had this title fight in his hands for all five rounds. Thus, he won in the eyes of all the scoring judges and could celebrate his victory of the OKTAGON MMA light heavyweight belt. Check out the beautiful five rounds of the fight:

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VÉMOLA VS. PETRUZELLI

The Terminator started his first UFC win in style. Petruzelli, who was the first fighter ever to defeat the legendary Kimbo Slice, was finished by Karlos via TKO in the first round. He was even rewarded with a cash bonus for the best finish of the night.


VÉMOLA VS. HERMANSSON

The Swede with UFC experience put Karlos in a tough armbar after just two minutes to close the door back to the famous organization. However, Karlos proved what a fighter he is by getting his arm broken instead of tapping out.


KARLOS OUTSIDE OF THE CAGE

Karlos is not just MMA, Karlos, he is a lifestyle. With his wife Lela, he enjoys a luxurious lifestyle, expensive cars and exotic pets that he keeps in his deluxe residence. He has a lioness, a crocodile, a shark and even a kangaroo in his private zoo (named Vémoland). In the past, he has also hosted his own talk show called the KARLOS SHOW and sells his products under the KTV brand. He just knows how to use the power of his personality to succeed.


P. S. INTERESTING FACTS THAT NOT EVERYONE KNOWS

Karlos met his role model Arnold in person!  

View post on Instagram
 

He describes Gustav Frištenský, a legend of Czech and world wrestling who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as one of his role models.

In 2024, a biographical movie about him will be released by director Michal Samir.


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