Not long ago (January 27, ed. note), the movie Karlos had its official premiere, documenting your career as an MMA fighter and your private life. How do you feel today after such a social event?
I feel tired, everything is a bit hectic now. Maybe giving interviews is out of my comfort zone. In addition to journalists, the premiere was attended mainly by my friends and acquaintances, who praised the documentary a lot, but they are not objective. I will only know the truth when it goes to theaters and the public sees it. How did you like him?
Don’t tell me something is wrong, because when I hear this, I’m going to do it
I had fun, even though I’m not an MMA fan. I took my thirteen-year-old son with me, who also liked the movie, but was especially excited that you greeted him in person. It was nice of you to spend those few seconds with him. Do you always treat fans like this?
Of course, I was just as excited and happy as he was at that moment! I like these young guys. And do you know why? Because with those children or teenage people, the enthusiasm is honest, they don’t play it yet. They will easily express joy or, on the contrary, disappointment. Seeing young guys cheering me on is my engine that drives me forward. I am happy that I can be a role model for them in certain things, that maybe thanks to me they will go to practice, do sports, play football or hockey.
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My son wanted to go with me today, but I wasn’t sure how you would take it…
It’s a shame you didn’t take him! I would show him the animals.
I haven’t calculated it exactly, it’s still not enough for me anyway. I love animals. Sometimes I think that I like them better than people, because you can help a person a hundred times, and he will still betray you. But the animal is your mirror. What you give him, you get back. I like to show animals to people who are interested. Even though my wife Lela (model Lela Ceterová, editor’s note) says that people here are not interested in animals, but they come here to see what a fool I am. Because no one would want animals like mine at home. Who would want a shark in their living room? And the crocodile, not at all! Or lions in the garden…
Someone likes art, I like animals. You could say we live in a zoo here. You can see different birds of prey, parrots, owls, raccoons, squirrels, lions, I had a tiger out there, crocodiles live in the next room, fish and turtles swim right in front of you. If you look over there from the kitchen, you’ll see the winter quarters for the lions. They had a wall there, through which they couldn’t see us, how many times they cried and I felt sorry for them, so I tore down that wall and replaced it with glass. They see us and no longer yell, they like the contact.
Oh yeah, they really look here.
And I look at them again, they calmed down amazingly. Construction changes also took place because of sharks. It used to be arranged so awkwardly that when I was in the kitchen I couldn’t see the sharks in the living room. So I broke down the wall. The woman wondered why I was doing this. I explained to her that I was tearing down the wall so I could see the sharks and at the same time check if she was cooking in the kitchen from the living room. And over there behind that door we had a beautiful study and library, but I don’t read or work much, so I put crocodiles in there.
What did your wife say about this?
At first she was happy, she thought I was building an indoor pool for us, but the next day crocodiles swam in it. She wasn’t so happy anymore.
Are they angry that instead of an indoor pool, you have a crocodile enclosure next to the living room?
But we have a pool outside! Now I bathe in it most often in January. When the temperature goes to zero, I like it best. That Lela doesn’t toughen up isn’t my problem. If he wants to take a bath, he can. Or let him tame the crocodiles like me and he can bathe with them. That would be cool! The truth is that animals have more space than us, I subordinated the arrangement of the house to them.
Photo: Jan Handrejch, Law
In his house, a giant aquarium stretches from the entrance hall to the living room
Nevertheless, you have faced accusations in the past that you do not have enough space for breeding or that you cannot convincingly prove the legal origin of the white tiger, which was taken from you by the authorities.
I really like listening to these smart opinions of some would-be experts from zoos. (gets angry) I always tell them one thing about it – you who work in a zoo, take care of animals for money, it’s your job and livelihood. But I take care of the animals because I love them and I want them to be well. I spend time with them non-stop. When I’m in a bad mood at night, I go to the lions and sleep with them because I like them. Who does this here in the Czech Republic?
The biggest role model? Pamela Anderson. Karlos is heading to the cinema
Probably no one. Do you really go to the lions in the cage and sleep at night?
Clearly. When I need to calm down, I pull out the pillows there and lie down with them. It makes me feel so good.
What reassures you about that?
The trust that exists between us at that moment. Because if you fall asleep next to a lion, it can tear you apart at night. At the same time, there is also an adrenaline rush, something that you can’t just experience anywhere. He has that trust in you and you in him. This is simply an incredible experience.
How do you get such a lion?
Not exactly easy, but if you really want something, you go for it. I visited breeders, circuses and zoos. All the experienced people advised me to start small. So I started with a lion. Then they said – wait until the lioness is two years old, she won’t let you in anymore. They also warned me that if I had two lionesses, they would conspire against me. And so on… Well, you see, the lionesses keep letting me in, I can pet them and sleep with them. Don’t tell me something is wrong, because when I hear this, I’m going to do it. People who know me at least a little have stopped telling me this. They know I’m crazy enough to show them anything goes.
Seeing young guys cheering me on is my engine that drives me forward
Many blame you for wanting to make yourself visible through animals, to make another show around yourself. What would you say to them?
A lot of people think it’s a pose. But today I am in a position where I can buy the best Ferrari and make a much bigger show with it on Wenceslas Square than at home in the garden with a lion. But I don’t need a Ferrari, I need what fulfills me and really makes me happy. And these are my animals. Do you realize what the deal is with them?
I can’t even imagine it.
An awful lot of work! I have to feed them every day, clean them every day. I do it all myself because I think the animals deserve to be well taken care of by me.
Wouldn’t it be easier to pay someone to do it for you?
I do not want it. I take it as if I couldn’t take care of them myself, then I don’t deserve the animals. If I didn’t have time for them, I wouldn’t get them. You have it like with children. If you don’t have time for children and don’t want to take care of them, you shouldn’t have them either. Animals keep me on my toes on a daily basis. I come home and there is, for example, dirty laundry, like today. You came in and there were clothes lying across the chairs. I noticed it and it made me feel a little cold for you, but at the same time I know the mess is something I can fix tomorrow. But you can’t feed the lion tomorrow. Because if you miss one day, it will eat you up the next.
Do you have all the animals named?
I have, for example, the pair of crocodiles I was showing you, that’s Lela and Karlos. But I don’t have named fish, there are too many of them.
MMA: Fight, punch, kick, but don’t bite
I read that you got a large land turtle for Lela. Where is it?
I had to give it to a friend who has a big garden and can take good care of it. One thing is true about turtles – they constantly poop. When such a turtle walks around the house and leaves a line like that of a snail and you keep flying with a rag… Lela put up with it for about three months.
Do you teach your children to love animals?
They grow up in it, it’s a matter of course for them. We’ll see how they turn around when they’re older. In my childhood, my parents did not allow animals, they argued, like most parents, that we did not have the conditions for it. That’s why I say to all parents: Allow your children animals, or they will grow up to be idiots like me. I couldn’t have animals in my childhood, so now that I can have them, I fulfill all my childhood dreams, to the extremes. I bought two chipmunks because I loved the Fast and Furious TV show Chip and Dale the chipmunks when I was a kid. Or I watched a series about a kangaroo called Skippy, so I kept a kangaroo for a while. Or the story of Elsa the lioness – it made me get a lioness.
When I’m in a bad mood at night, I go to the lions and sleep with them because I like them
And the crocodile is the movie Dundee?
I didn’t like crocodiles as a child, but when I went to the zoo with my first son, he was about six years old, he saw a crocodile there. He liked him and wanted him. My ex-partner said it’s impossible, that we can’t have a crocodile because it’s not intelligent. I stood there and remembered my childhood, my mom telling me exactly this when I begged for a pet. And I said to myself: “Well, not this! If he wants a crocodile, he’ll have a crocodile!’
What about your ex-partner?
She said I was crazy. How could I buy him a crocodile? What if he wants a giraffe? Fortunately, he didn’t want a giraffe, but if he wanted one, he would have one! Well, I’m not surprised that our relationship fell apart. (Laughs)
Photo: Photo archive of Karlos Vémola
In MMA (mixed martial arts), he wrestles under the moniker Terminator. He started his career fifteen years ago in England, and plans to end it this year.
MMA fans would probably not forgive us if we did not dedicate part of the interview to this sport that is so popular today. How do you explain his popularity?
We are modern-day gladiators who were already here under Caesar and people looked up to them. And as Caesar said, the people need bread and games. The rules are a little different than back then, but the basis remains, we are still mercenaries who go to fight for money. In the Czech Republic, MMA became famous thanks to the right community of people who got together. I did MMA in London, and when I came to the Czech Republic with it, I believed that it would catch on here. I knew how MMA worked in America, what potential it had. A lot of people told me that not all American sports catch on well here, they argued about American football, for example, which is also played here, but somehow it is not very popular.
In 2019, your match with Attila Végh even sold out the O2 arena…
Yes, at that moment people started to take it seriously and no one laughed anymore.
What do you enjoy most about MMA?
For me, it’s my whole life. I am sitting here with you now not because I am Karel Vémola, but because of the sport. Thanks to him, I got into the whole world. Although I sometimes blame my dad for not putting me in football or tennis, because I could make a good living playing sports and no one would beat me in the head. (laughs) As a six-year-old boy, he brought me to Greco-Roman wrestling, later I studied classical bodybuilding and started training in our gym in Žamberk. But to answer your question – at each stage of my life I enjoy something a little different about MMA. When I was a young lad, I enjoyed beating people up for money and being the sharpest pencil in the pencil case. Today, I am entertained and motivated by the fans, the young guys who believe me when I say that hard work can beat talent.
You must not give up, even if you fall flat on your face. I have experienced many highs and lows
Do you really believe that hard work is enough?
You also need luck. And also purposefulness, ferocity and the desire to win. Of course, the people around me also helped me. But the basis of success lies in the fact that I worked hard and never cheated on any training. You must not give up, even if you fall flat on your face. I’ve had a lot of highs and lows and I’ve always bounced back. Sometimes your personal high can be someone’s bottom and your personal bottom can be someone’s high. It’s just a matter of perspective and what you want to achieve in life. Even though I recently fell on my face (he lost a match against Slovakian Samuel “Pirate” Krištofič in December), I still keep going.
You have a match with Attila Végh scheduled for June. You recently announced that you will end your career after him. Do you already know what you are going to do?
Parents ask me this most often. My father has been working on the railway for forty years and this year, like me, he is going to retire. I answer him – what will you do? He says nothing. And I don’t have to do anything anyway, since I was able to retire a little earlier thanks to my cleverness. However, I believe that my journey is not over. One of my big role models is Arnold Schwarzenegger. After ending his bodybuilding career, he became an actor and subsequently the governor of California. I don’t want to scare anyone that I might go into politics, but I hope that there are still great things ahead of me. In any case, I will continue to enjoy my animals, children, family. Live your dream.
