Las Vegas, NV – UFC middleweight Dusko Todorovic returns to the octagon against Chidi Njoukani on the main card of UFC Vegas 55 on Saturday night.
Todorovic (11-2) last fought in December 2021 where he finished Maki Pitolo via TKO. The crazier part of that fight came out following the bout.
Todorovic suffered an injury to his left leg as a result of being hit by a car. He told no one about the injury and still fought and beat Pitolo after re-injuring it in warm ups.
“It was a very specific situation for me, for my whole team. Obviously we’ve never had to overcome something like that before,” Todorovic told reporters on Wednesday.
“Then we come here and start the warm up. It was like 10-15 minutes before the fight. I tried to hit some pads with my coach and my injured foot, ankle, just pops out and starts to swell. That was also a big ‘pissed me off’ moment. What else can go wrong?”
Todorovic still went on to finish the bout in the first round. Coming into this fight against Chidi Njoukani he said he’s ready to go.
“Compared to that fight I’m like million percent (ready),” Todorovic laughed.
Todorovic knows that Njoukani will bring a different challenge to the cage this weekend.
“I also think it’s going to be a very tough fight. My opponent is pretty dangerous striker also on the ground he’s a black belt. It’s a pretty interesting matchup for the fight fans because I do mostly striking in my fights. He prefers striking as well. He’s a big, tall guy, good movements, explosive, fast,” said Todorovic.
“I definitely think fight fans are in for a treat for this fight.”
On this card with Todorovic is former opponent Michel Pereira who fights in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 55. Todorovic was seen training with Pereira on Tuesday night.
“We remained in good contact. Even after my last fight against Pitolo in December we went to dinner altogether. Michel, his wife, my manager, coaches and me we all went to dinner and had a good time. We kept in touch after that,” Todorovic said.
Todorovic spoke on the origin of his nickname and how some friends labeled him “Thunder” after watching him fight.
“You need to be marketable to be in UFC. It’s a money business after all. Couple of friends they’re like ‘You need to get a nickname’. In that time I didn’t like the idea that much because honestly I didn’t have a clue what to pick. We did some Instagram questioning with the stories. Pick a nickname or just vote what would you like,” Todorovic said.
“Somehow we ended up with the Thunder. I think it suits me. It has a nice ring to it.”
Watch the rest of Dusko Todorovic’s media day scrum above. Todorovic takes on Chidi Njoukani at UFC Vegas 55 on Saturday May 21st in Las Vegas at the UFC APEX.