Will it ever stop? Only Joe Silva knows. The UFC’s talent acquisition seems to be continuing at dizzying speeds with the signing of another heavyweight fighter, the third this month, in 23 year old Viktor Pesta. Report of Pesta’s signing comes via Polish MMA site MyMMA.pl. No official announcement has been made and no debut date or opponent has been listed as of yet.
Assuming that all is above board, the young Czech will be making his way to the UFC on the back on a 9-0 record fighting largely out of Gladiator Championship Fighting in his native Czech Republic. His resume is pretty thin, with no notable and little worthy talent to be found on it. However, given his size (6′ 4″, 240 lbs) and his youth it’s very possible the UFC has picked up something of a rough diamond. He’s not with a big camp at the moment, training primarily out of Penta Gym Praha.
Watching Pesta fight, it’s obvious that he’s a work in progress. His range striking largely consists of swarming his opponent with wild punches, looking for an opportunity to clinch. Once he’s in the clinch however, his composure changes entirely and he goes from wild brawler to powerful dirty boxer with sharp knee strikes as well. Mostly however, he’s a top control grappler, using his superior size and athleticism to take fights to the ground where he looks for side control and the mounted crucifix. He’s got heavy hands and has won seven of his 9 fights by stoppage, but he needs to have his hands on his opponent to be effective.
Of interest, his recent bout against Yosef Ali Mohammad was initially scored for Mohammad, but after a protest was filed by Pesta’s camp the promotion overturned the victory and named Pesta the winner. There’s no talk of collusion as Mohammad was the hometown fighter, but it’s a strange side note to his unbeaten record.
To get us better acquainted with Pesta, here is his most recent bout against Lukas Tupa at GCF 26:
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