What made all HMB fans shiver and how can one Warriors’ Night in the Czech arena change the fate of fighters?
Last Saturday, December 21, an event happened in the Czech Republic that left no one indifferent, even a little familiar with medieval battles. Six professional battles took place as part of the MMA tournament Noc Válečníků, where the harshest Czech fighters defended the honor of their native country by accepting the challenge of professionals from all over the world: Russia, Israel, Spain and Poland. Even Slovakia managed to take part in the event, but a little later.
Let’s start with the results: one female and five male pairs of competitors showed the real beauty of the HMB to the world.
- Arkadiusz Przybylok (Poland) – Jan Burgerstein (Czech Republic): the winner is Arkadiusz Przybylok
- Jose Luis González de Lara (Spain) – Marek Noxter (Czech Republic): the winner is Marek Noxter
- Oksana Lugansky (Israel) – Pamela Pekárčiková (Czech Republic): The winner is Pamela Pekárčiková
- Krystof Olczak (Poland) – Martin Dymanus (Czech Republic): the winner is Martin Dymanus
- Alexey Petrik (Russia) – Jan Kutnar (Czech Republic) (Bohumil Masnicak (Slovakia): the winner is Bohumil Masnicak
- Michael Morgulis (Israel) – Michal Harapes (Czech Republic): the winner is Michael Morgulis
But a few fights are definitely worth a closer look.
In the battle Olčak-Dinamus young Czech fighter literally broke into the sleep of WMFC League celestials, defeating the experienced dinosaur Ollo, and thus earned a place in the First Class rating. If Martin continues in the same spirit (which we sincerely wish him!), then soon the veterans will have a very bad time.
In the confrontation between Morgulis and Harapes, we must pay tribute to the boundless ambition of the Czechs, who were not afraid to challenge the most experienced HMB veteran, who is at the top of the WMFC ProLiga rating! And not just to challenge, but to give a decent response, showing that Michal is not an “easy pass” opponent.
We talked to Michael Morgulis, and he told us this:
“It was a very high level tournament! It was a very high level tournament, and he told us, “It was a very high level tournament! Outdoor fire, colorful light music, a huge screen full of fans, well-chosen opponents. I would like to once again thank Paul Kreichi and Paul Hakim Meyer for such a great present for my birthday! I definitely think my fight is interesting, because Prague Trolls is a sign of quality for teams from the Czech Republic. The fight was not an easy one, my opponent fenced well, but in the end I caught the fuse and went away not for fun! So the decisive thing to win, as I’ve said many times before, was the spirit that was instilled in me at many stages of my life. One of the main people who got me thinking about *Spirit* (that very spirit power) is my coach Hagar Feiner (by the way, five times boxing world champion in her weight!). And I owe many of my victories to her. The second to win should be the desire and joy of war. Yes, not victories, but war! After all, wanting to fight in competitions, you already get what you want, and the rest – the third thing. It’s the same here. I missed the battles, and even a back injury five days before the tournament could not deprive me of the pleasure of fighting!”
And, perhaps, the most intense fight that the Night of the Warriors gave us was the fight of four-time World Champion and holder of the WMFC super-heavyweight champion belt Alexey Petrik and a huge and insanely dangerous bear from Slovakia Bohumil Masnicak, under whose shoulders – the most serious training in the ranks of the top British team White Company!
To understand the whole picture, let’s make a lyrical retreat: in the beginning, the mighty Jan Kutnar from Prague Trolls was to be as Petrik’s opponent. Unfortunately, a month before the event, he suffered a very unpleasant injury at a tournament in Flanders, which prevented Jan from coming out against the champion from Russia. They urgently started looking for a replacement, and it was found in the face of a smiling giant in a black and white surcoat of White Company. As it turned out later, this replacement cost Alexey a lot. Until then, as they say, nothing foretold…
Beautiful and loaded, they went out on the arena … and from the first seconds Bogush captures the advantage, imposing the fight on Alexei instead of so beloved by Petrik fencing, not letting him click the points and constantly taking his head. And in half a minute we see the victorious Slovakian dance in the solar plexus of Alexei and his powerful finishing strikes. At the very beginning, having knocked out the whole fuse from Petrik and markedly knocked down his breath, Masnicak continued the unstoppable movement of his locomotive with the banner “Let’s fight against fencing!”, without giving his opponent a single chance to realize his art, which in this case could not help him in any way. Here you are, gentlemen, and the distinguishing feature of professional fights in the 3 rounds of 3 minutes from the tournaments of the Donjon cup where there are 3 rounds of 2 minutes, and the fencers have much more chances! But let’s get back to our giants. In the second round we see, respectively, Petrik’s second fall, after which he can no longer climb instantly. And when he gets up, he continues the fight, without even noticing that he hits his opponent with the wrong side of the falseness. The third round is the third fall. Bogumil is awesome and cheerful. Alexei isn’t even striking in the wedge anymore. And we have a confident victory of the Slovak fighter in all three rounds for a clear advantage.
So what happened? Maybe we see a new champion in super heavyweight? Or maybe Alexey was injured? Or maybe Bohumil was just helped by the fact that he was supported by Kubzilla, also a very big fighter? 🙂
Alexey Petrik categorically declined any comments. But on his page in the social networks he wrote: “My opinion is that I didn’t have enough physical strength to win the battle. There was simply not enough energy for the simplest actions in the fight. Apparently, that’s how frequent trips arouse, because of which you have to miss training… It so happened that I should have had an ordinary fighter from the Czech Republic. 3 weeks before the fight, he is shot on the injury and I was offered as the only option Bohumil. I didn’t want to give up my trip, so I decided that I’d pull out in fencing. In the end, the preparation was 0, so the whole period was in traveling”.
That’s the answer. It was enough to look at the recording of the battle of Masnicak and Goryunov to understand that in the remaining three weeks you have to work, work and work to prepare for such a mega-breaker as Bohumil. If you are a champion, you have no right to make a mistake and no excuses. If you make a claim, you have to comply!
And here’s what our humble winner thinks about his victory:
“The last month of preparation for the battle was hell, but it paid off! My team ‘White Company’ were behind me every step of the way, so it was not only my victory but a victory for the team. First of all, I would like to thank the fans for their support, which incredibly electrified the atmosphere in the arena. In addition, the professionalism of the event was exceptional as well as the slick running of the programme which kept the crowd focused on the epic battles. I always knew it would be a tough fight, and I also knew that I would have to fight hard to win. I worked incredibly hard and did my research, and I am infinitely proud of what I achieved. I have a lot of respect for my opponent, it’s obvious that he has a lot of experience on his side, but I always felt and believed in what I can win. I know my strengths and used them to the best of my ability. My battle plan was very well thought out, I strictly adhered to it and fulfilled it well. How soon do you expect to be challenged to fight for Belt and Title of Champion? Can I still enjoy my victory a little bit, huh? 🙂 I worked hard and I think it’s also important to be able to enjoy the moment. However, I want to get the Champion Belt and I believe I can win again by working even harder. The fight can be initiated as soon as I, Alexey and WMFC will come to an agreement about the time. And at the moment I am training for Buhurt Prime with my team, so it will definitely be after Monaco. I have learned a lot from this victory and look forward to our next fight as I am sure it will be a really significant event.”
This is how the tournament organizer Pavel Krejčí commented:
“Bohumil and Pidel are sort of same fighters. Both buhurters. I don’t think Pidel is “ordinary” fighter, he is respected as the best super-heavy fighter here, that’s why he was chosen as Alexey’s opponent. I think, they are on same level with Bohumil. For us, Bohumil was an unknown bet to loter.
But we accept Slovaks as our brothers thanks to our common Czechoslovak history, so it would still be accepted as “ours”. Frankly speaking, Alexey’s loss was a great shock to those present. We were pretty sure in Alexey, everyone expected him to be victorious. He is a bright example for many fighters, and it was a great honor for us to accept him at our tournament. But given the fact that Bogusch had as much time to prepare as Alexey, this situation was a complete surprise for everyone”.
We can’t say if it was an international sporting event and a historic moment for the entire Czech HMB, the birth of the new super-heavyweight champion. But we know for sure: the revenge will wait absolutely for ALL!
