UFC Belgrade set for Aug. 1 as promotion debuts in Serbia
The UFC will make its first trip to Serbia on Aug. 1 with a Fight Night card in Belgrade.
The promotion announced the event Monday but has not yet named a venue or main event, per MMA Fighting. Welterweight Uros Medic and middleweight Dusko Todorovic are the organization’s only Serbian fighters under contract and are likely to appear on the card.
Medic called for UFC Belgrade after knockout win
Medic spoke the event into existence. After flattening Geoff Neal in the first round at UFC Houston in February, he made an impassioned pitch in his post-fight interview. “Belgrade, Serbia. UFC this summer,” he said, according to Sherdog. “Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards if he’s available. I’m gonna knock him out and a guy after him and a guy after him.”
The 28-year-old has stopped four of his last five UFC opponents, all in the opening frame. Todorovic bounced back from a three-fight skid with a first-round submission of Jose Medina at Noche UFC last September.
“The passion of our European fans is incredible and I can’t wait to make our debut in Belgrade to deliver world-class fights,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a statement, per MMA Mania. Luka Nikolic, president of the Serbian MMA Federation, called the event proof that the country “stands behind the MMA community.”
The Belgrade card is part of a packed international slate. Nine of the 13 UFC events announced through August take place outside Las Vegas, including stops in China, Azerbaijan, and Perth this Saturday.
Photo: Lee Brimelow / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Original reporting:
- mmafighting.com — UFC announces Serbia debut with August card in Belgrade | MMA Fighting
- mmamania.com — UFC Belgrade makes history with Aug. 1 ‘Fight Night’ in Serbia | MMA Mania
- sherdog.com — UFC set for debut event in Serbia on Aug. 1