OKTAGON 58: Shem Rock Shuts Down 28000 Crowd with Submission Victory

Liverpudlian Shem Rock silenced the Czech crowd at Prague’s Eden Stadium on Saturday night, as he beat home favourite Jaroslav Pokorny to move to 11-1-1 and end what has been a bitter rivalry. 

It took Rock just 3 minutes and 6 seconds to submit Pokorny, with what is his third first-round rear-naked choke submission since signing with OKTAGON MMA in 2023.

The pair had been scheduled to fight at OKTAGON 48 in Manchester, but drama at the weigh-in which ended in Rock kicking Pokorny meant that the fight was pulled due to a rib injury for the Czech fighter. 

OKTAGON 58 saw 28,000 fans sell-out Prague’s Eden Stadium, in what is the 4th highest attendance in European MMA history.

Following his victory, Rock wasted no time in calling his next shot.

“It’s massive shows only from now on. I enjoy being the villain and silencing the home fans. OKTAGON is going to Germany in October, give me a German on that card, and he’ll get choked out in the first.

“What’s bigger than fighting in front of 28,000 fans? Fighting in front of 55,000! Get me on the Frankfurt card in October, and the result will be the same.”

The event, touted ‘Revenge of the Century’, was headlined by Attila Vegh vs Karlos Vemola. In a rematch from their 2019 fight, Vemola exacted his revenge, with a second round submission victory to retain the OKTAGON MMA Light-Heavyweight World Title.

OKTAGON 58 provided a night of unforgettable action in what was a monumental fight night for the promotion, who continue to hit their ambitious goals as becoming the Champions League of MMA in Europe.

OKTAGON MMA has proven itself on the European MMA scene, with high-level production value combined with competitive and engaging match-making helping them become one of the leading MMA promotions in the world. They recently made the 5-promotion shortlist for MMA promotion of the year.

Roberto Villa

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.