A week ago, Václav Mikulášek surprised the audience in the sold-out area of Prague’s Štvanice, in front of whom he threw his gloves to the ground. What made him do it? What is his relationship with the Octagon and is his career seriously over? We asked Vašek these and other interesting questions.
I would like to start by asking you how you feel now after a small gap of time and whether you planned to end your career in Štvanice. Wasn’t it just a spontaneous decision in relation to that result?
“It wasn’t a spontaneous thing, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. It didn’t give me as much as it used to, I didn’t enjoy it and it didn’t bring me joy, I simply didn’t want anything, I forced myself into everything. It was either too much or just something…
… I have no motivation, no reason to continue. And even if I won, I would do the same, I already felt this in the last matches. I’m not the type to do something just to get noticed. I think I have enough attention, and I don’t even have to do anything.’
Don’t the dropped gloves symbolize the end of a chapter, for example, in the Octagon? Or the end of MMA? Because you could do well in purely attitudinal disciplines.
“Whether it symbolizes something or not, I really don’t know. I do things as I feel them. And that’s just how I felt. If I wanted to continue, I wouldn’t throw down any gloves.
Of course I like attitude disciplines. I really like Bare Knuckle, for example. I have already received offers from Wotore in Poland and from various such organizations, because I would really like to try it, I am tempted, but I still have a valid contract with Oktagon. I still don’t know how to move forward in life. I haven’t rocked yet. Of course, that attitude would probably suit me better.”
Our editors learned that you received a rather lucrative offer from RedFace (and apparently not only from here). How do you feel about this interest now and is there anything that attracts you?
“Yes, I received an awful lot of offers. And I’ll be completely honest, they’ve all been financially better than what I currently have (with Octagon). But if I were to start something, I am first of all a very loyal person and I am grateful because I am what I am thanks to Octagon.
Octagon helped me and I am not curvy and never will be curvy. And I will never say that I quit just for the money, no. I’m fair and that’s just how I feel at the moment, so I’m not interested in any other organization at the moment.”
On what basis will you decide when choosing your next job? (finances/sports activities/achievement of some personal goals)
“What would I want next… I’m a person who doesn’t think too much and never thought too much. I have always done what I enjoy, what fulfills me and what gives me joy. I didn’t do it for the money or the fame. I did it because I loved the sport and have loved it since the beginning. Only now I don’t feel that way.
I used to wrestle for three thousand kroner and I didn’t really care that I put twenty or thirty into it myself at the time, I just didn’t care. I went to work, I went to babysit, I had discos on the weekend, then I went to training sessions and I was very happy, it was never about money. This sport is never about money, at least not for me.’
How are you doing with the Octagon now? Contract and relations with promoters? Could there be any problems if you decide to continue elsewhere?
“I still have a valid contract and I believe that Ondra will not give me up, he will not want to give me up (laughter). Whatever everyone thinks, I’m super grateful. I like Ondra, I like Pala, I think we have a very good relationship.
Ondra even had me call him after the match to ask if I wanted to go to the middle of the cage and tell him what it meant… But just because I’m not into these heart-wrenching speeches, I refused. And he told me that I should think things through and that he understands me, that he knows why I’m sad. It made me very happy from him that both Ondra and Palo were so concerned about me.”
Source: Author’s text, interview
