Daniel Brunclík at work.PHOTO: courtesy of Daniel Brunclík
The Královka Sports Hall in Prague will see one big farewell on Saturday evening. Czech fighter Daniel Brunclík will end his top career there. A popular gladiator and police instructor who will write the last chapter of the story on PML 4 in the battle with Branislav Zuzák. Thirty-five-year-old Brunclík talked about not only the reasons for his decision in an interview with kaocko.cz.
How are you looking forward to your Saturday dernier?
I’m really looking forward to it, I’m set up well. Even the best in recent times. I myself wondered why this is so. Probably because I am no longer bound by any pressure. This annoyed me a bit about MMA. There, everyone only dealt with the results, whether you won or not. How the match went, how good an opponent you had, nobody really cared anymore. In muay-thai, this is different. There, no one cares so much about the results, what matters is the beauty of the fight. This philosophy is much closer to me. I don’t go there saying I have to win, but that I want to win. And that’s great. If I had stuck with it earlier, I might not have finished yet. But the truth is that the results themselves are probably the last reason why it will be the last time for me on Saturday.
Is it safe to say that while muay-thai still has the spirit of combat sports, MMA is fading a bit and becoming just a show?
I think yes. Thai boxing teaches you humility, respect for your opponent. I never experienced trash talk or anything like that there. After all, combat sports are not about fighting someone. It’s about matching your art against your opponent’s. I’m not saying I’m completely against trashtalk, sometimes I understand it. If you’re really good and you want to break your opponent’s psyche, then why not. It just seems to me that there is already too much. And that some guys don’t even know why they get into it. It’s just their mask. Unfortunately, the respect that I liked about it is lost.
So, were you always clear that you wanted to do your last fight in muay-thai?
Not always. But when I came to Masta (coach Lukáš Jirkovský) with the fact that I was planning to quit, I said that I wanted to say goodbye in an attitude. I feel the best in it. When I was still doing MMA, I always had the handbrake on. There, I never really got off the ground in my attitude. I had it in my head that if I got too much of an advantage, everyone would want to take me down as soon as possible. And of course I was worried about that. After all, people also wrote to me that they always preferred to see me in muay-thai, that it simply suited me much better there. So I will write a period where I started and what has stuck with me throughout my career.
Can you tell me why you are going to quit?
My priorities have changed. When I started with martial arts, everything revolved around training and preparing for matches. I could still afford it back then, but now it’s different. I have a family and I know you can’t wrestle forever. I also want to develop myself professionally. When Cowboy Donald Cerrone finished, he wrote that he just doesn’t love MMA anymore. And I totally understood him. It’s not about hating the sport, it’s not even possible after all these years. But your priorities will change and training simply won’t give you as much as it used to. I have two small children, I want to take care of them too. And not coming home at night, when of course he’s already asleep. I told myself that it can’t go on like this. In addition, there are also financial reasons. I practically pay for it all myself, which doesn’t help the family budget much. In short, time, family and finances. These are the main reasons why I quit. I don’t want to sacrifice anything more for it. It was a really nice hobby for me, but now it has to go to the sidelines.
So the definitive end?
I just want to wrestle just for fun. I’m just saying that if an offer came that I couldn’t refuse, I’d take it. However, no one will give me 200 or 300 thousand per match, because for this money they can have much better wrestlers. And fighting for something that will more or less only cover my costs doesn’t really appeal to me anymore. Maybe one more match, yes, but I wouldn’t sign anything long-term anywhere. I give private lessons, I am a sparring partner for Zdenek Polívka. That way I will continue in some kind of training process, that’s clear. But it will no longer be about the fact that I have to, but that I myself want to. If something gets in the way or I just don’t feel like it, I won’t go to train. Which cannot be done during the preparation for the match.
What will you remember the most? What do you consider to be your greatest career achievement?
Definitely the fact that I could compare myself with really good wrestlers. I fought with Vasil Ducár, Matěj Peňáz, Vojtěch Garba or Dominik Humburger, they really are no pickles. That’s why I wanted Zuzák for my last fight. He is a driven fighter, no easy bite. And I am very happy that I will end up with such a good opponent.
Do you expect a shootout from the opening round?
I expect it to be a very difficult and challenging opponent. He is a young and cocky boy who will want to push me from start to finish. But I don’t mind that at all. On the contrary, I feel better under pressure than having to create something myself.
Are you planning a farewell party after the match?
Probably not right after the match, I’ll go to the hotel to sleep. But there will definitely be a party. We’ll see how my fight goes (laughs).
Which next match on the card will you be very interested in?
Definitely Ondra Malina with Matouš Kohout, that could be very interesting. I paired with Ondra, I know she is doing very well. Matouš is again very experienced and a good fighter. But Ondra will have a huge motivation to beat him.
And what will happen to Polívka, who challenges Samuel Krištofič at the Octagon tournament in Frankfurt?
In my opinion, Zdenek and I are terribly underestimated in our matches. But this position suits him, and so do I. When Zdenda gets a good night’s sleep, the Pirates get pretty pissed off. I believe he will win.
By the way, Polívka is said to be going through a period of love…
(laughs) That’s what everyone asks me. But I only learned about it from the tabloids. In addition, Zdenda is such that when he enters the gym, everything else falls away and he starts working hard. You can’t tell if he’s in love or not. And that’s right.
