Viktor
Pesta found yet another place to hang his hat.
The 33-year-old Czech journeyman will make his
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki debut when he matches wits and fists
with
Filip
Stawowy in a three-round
KSW 86 heavyweight showcase on Saturday at Hala Orbita in
Wroclaw, Poland. Pesta, who sports an 18-8 record, enters the match
on the heels of back-to-back losses in the
Professional Fighters League. He last appeared at PFL 4, where
he bowed to punches from
Rob
Wilkinson in the first round of their June 17, 2022
pairing.
As Pesta moves ever closer to his looming battle with Stawowy, here
are five things you might not know about him:
1. Suburban life suited him fine.
Vemola was born in Pribram—a Bohemian town of 33,000 people in
central Czech Republic situated some 230 miles to the northwest of
Vienna. He shares a hometown with Patrik Stefan, who was the No. 1
overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and spent parts of seven
seasons in the National Hockey League with the Atlanta Thrashers
and Dallas Stars.
2. He hit the ground running.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Czech made his professional mixed martial
arts debut at the age of 20 on Dec. 5, 2010 and proceeded to rattle
off nine consecutive victories, seven of them finishes, and
establish himself as one of the top prospects in Europe.
3. Some might consider him a trailblazer.
Pesta in May 2014 became the second Czech competitor—
Karlos
Vemola was the first—to appear in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. He compiled a 1-4 record across
his five outings inside the Octagon, his unanimous decision win
against
Konstantin
Erokhin at UFC on Fox 14 overshadowed by losses to
Ruslan
Magomedov,
Derrick
Lewis,
Marcin
Tybura and
Alexey
Oleynik.
4. Regional gold highlights his resume.
The
Daniel
Bartak protégé captured the Gladiator Championship Fighting
heavyweight crown when he put away
Lukas Tupa
with elbows in the first round of their GCF 26 main event on Dec.
7, 2013 and laid claim to the Oktagon MMA light heavyweight
championship when he prompted a third-round doctor stoppage against
Stephan
Puetz in the Oktagon 28 headliner on Sept. 25, 2021. Pesta did
not defend either title.
5. He dropped anchor with careful consideration.
Pesta now operates out of the
Kill Cliff Fight Club camp in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where
he trains under
Kami
Barzini, Henri Hooft and
Greg Jones.
A host of accomplished martial artists have called the gym home,
including three-time
Bellator
MMA titlist
Michael
Chandler, former two-division
One
Championship titleholder
Aung La N
Sang and ex-UFC champions
Robbie
Lawler,
Vitor
Belfort,
Kamaru
Usman,
Rashad
Evans and
Luke
Rockhold.