On Saturday, Feb. 10, Miroslav Broz will face Tom Crosby in a welterweight bout at OKTAGON 53, which takes place live from the Rudolf Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany.
Jake Foley of Combat Press recently interviewed the welterweight contender over email. Broz talks about returning to OKTAGON, going one fight at a time, his seven-fight unbeaten streak, and more.
As always, feel free to comment below or send feedback about the interview to @JFoMMATalk or @CombatPress on Twitter.
Two fights, two wins in 2023. What were your major takeaways of the year and did you accomplish everything you wanted to?
- Well, yes, but I wanted to write a joke, but my health just didn’t work, I had a long injury, but I’m perfectly satisfied.
In 2021, you were riding a two fight winning streak and then parted ways with OKTAGON? Just to educate me, what led to that?
- I left, I got a really big offer, I left and made a mistake, I missed the octagon, the atmosphere, the people, RFA fulfilled everything it had, but it didn’t fulfill me!
So, since you’ve fought in various promotions, I won’t ask you to pick your favorite but what are the major differences you noticed between OKTAGON, KSW and RFA?
- Well, Ksw and OKTAGON are the biggest European organizations and everything there is at the highest level!! but for me he won the return to the Octagon, I went home with my heart!!
From your first tenure to your second, OKTAGON has grown rapidly. What do you think about the promotion becoming such a presence on the global scale?
- OKTAGON has perfect marketing and social sites! They are doing well, they have stories that draw people!
Now going to your latest fight, you secured the split decision win against Robert Pukac. What was your thoughts on the performance and did you go back and watch? Were you surprised it was a split instead of unanimous?
- I was on antibiotics and went into the match on cracks. 2 rounds were for me, but I fell in the third and Pukac controlled me well on the ground, so I didn’t know if I wouldn’t give him the 3rd round. Anyway, it was pretty balanced and it was on my side, so I waited either win or draw.
So you haven’t lost since December 2020, next test will be against Tom Crosby. What are you thoughts on him as a fighter and what do you expect from him in the cage?
- Well, he’s a quality wrestler with a good score of 8:3, he was 3rd at the world championship and has a brown belt in bjj and I’m not even afraid of a shootout, he’s just such a viking, but I’m a fighter too, so we’ll see.
He hasn’t fought in two years. It’s obviously not like he’s going to forget how to fight or anything, but do you think the fact that you’ve fought four times since his last outing will be a factor?
-Well, it’s probably better for me that I’m an active wrestler and that the pressure and the experience from those matches should work in my favor, but I’m also here after a long injury, so it’s probably balanced.
How far of a trip is it for you from Czech Republic to Germany? Do you enjoy traveling for fights or would you prefer to be closer?
- I don’t mind traveling, on the contrary, I’m such a canner and I shut myself off and have peace!! I have everything prepared from home, food, drink, things, everything is ready and at least I can only take care of myself on those days!! I was used to it from hockey too, that we drove 3 hours to a game and we could play right away!
Do you follow the division closely when it comes to rankings and who’s fighting for the title? Thoughts on the landscape of the OKTAGON welterweight division?
- Well, the weight up to 77 kg is hugely charged in the Octagon!! I follow it, of course, but I’m just a wrestler who wants to do good matches rather than worry about the title, I’m too old for that.
Where do you think you’ll be in the welterweight rankings with a win later this week?
- Well, I don’t see that at all because Crosby is new and not in Zebra! But as I said, I’m not very interested in it, I want to go match by match and do great hard matches!!
Goals for 2024? How many fights? Where do you see yourself at the end of the year?
- Well, I’m older now and I have enough health complications, I’d like to give 2-3 more big matches and finish at the top of my career!!