The first-ever UFC fight in Serbia kicked off the UFC Belgrade prelims on Saturday, as strawweights Stephanie Luciano and Marina Spasic faced off.
Spasic was making her promotional debut in the fight, jumping straight to the big show with a 7-1 record and fighting at home in her native Serbia. Looking to play spoiler was Luciano, 2-1 under the UFC banner and looking to build on a win over Ravena Oliveira back in October.
The fight started with Spasic getting her hands out there early. She was doing a good job with the left hand doubling and tripling from the same side. She landed a big right that landed clean. To no surprise, Luciano clinched up but didn’t do anything with it. Spasic timed a leg kick with a beautiful one-two, really showcasing her striking. Luciano, when she was planting her feet and throwing she was landing well. In fact, she was landing the bigger shots as the fight went on. She was doing a great job of exploding in and mixing it up.
As Luciano got the respect on the feet, Spasic didn’t see the takedown coming. Luciano quickly took the back, and the RNC came so easily for the tap. A good start from Spasic, but Luciano proved to be too much.
Official Result: Stephanie Luciano def. Marina Spasic by Submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:20
