After spending eight months in a Mexican prison on marijuana charges, Rodriguez was getting right back to work. The pair sat directly next to one another in the UFC rankings, at #14 and #15 in the media-voted standings.

Medic opened the affair with a leg kick; Rodriguez fired one of his own, tripping Medic up. Yet moments later, Medic put the fight away. With a left hand across the jaw, Medic had Rodriguez falling, and a right hand connected while he was toppling backward. Rodriguez hit the dirt, covering up in desperation, as Medic poured on blow after blow until the ref had no chance but to stop the fight. That got the crowd hollering and chanting ‘Uros Medic,’ with the hometown hero winning big in his first main event opportunity.

It was always going to be a tall order to expect “D-Rod” to come out in tip-top form following an eight-month stint in a Mexican prison. The speed with which Medic got the job done, however, was nevertheless surprising. Medic was at a loss for words initially, while fans continued to chant his name. After, he’d speak about leaving Serbia at 22 years old as “a student with a dream.” Nine years, nearly a decade later, he returned home to great success.

“I have so many words, I don’t think we have enough time tonight. With that being said, I’m gonna cook the rest of this division. With you guys by my side, we’re going to bring the belt to Serbia!” exclaimed Medic. He then called out Carlos Prates and Leon Edwards, who he suggested was “still hiding.”

Official Result: Uros Medic def. Daniel Rodriguez by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 0:30

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Guskov had shifted to the main event of last week’s UFC Abu Dhabi, losing to Magomed Ankalaev. That opened the door for Stirling, an undefeated City Kickboxing star, to take on an ex-champ in the biggest fight of his career to date.

The opening frame saw Blachowicz fight well, bloodying the nose of Navajo Stirling early. Stirling was rocked, but recovered. Then, midway through the round, Stirling was able to connect on a picture perfect straight right hand that sat down the former champion. Pouncing on the injured veteran, Stirling unleashed a flurry of elbows and punches that forced the fight to be stopped. An unbelievable performance in the biggest moment of his career, Sterling moved to 11-0 with the victory.

Improving his UFC win streak to six, Stirling shared that it was “an honor” to fight Blachowicz and that he was a big fan of his opponent. Stirling mentioned Khalil Rountree in the post fight interview, and will be firmly inside the top ten come next week.

Official Result: Navajo Stirling def. Jan Blachowicz by TKO (elbow and punches), Round 1, 2:56

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Tybura was looking to shake off back-to-back losses, while Rakic had lost four straight and needed a change of fortune badly.

The fight opened a bit scrappy, Rakic firing low kicks and Tybura letting his hands go. Rakic was not deterred and was able to fire off some quick multi-punch combinations. Tybura fanned on a high kick, and they moved back to center. Lots of action in the opening round through the first two minutes. Rakic clearly came out fired up in his heavyweight debut, and Tybura looked game, with no sign of dragging the fight down in the early going from either men. That changed in the final minute when Tybura caught a kick and briefly tried to dump Rakic, but that didn’t work out.

More back-and-forth action played out early in round two. About a minute in, Tybura complained of an eye poke, but didn’t get a break as the ref missed it. Rakic, however, willingly backed off for a moment before re-engaging. From there, it was more exchanges, more leg kicks, but at a slower pace, though still active compared to many a heavyweight fight. A much closer round in the second, given Rakic’s output in the opening frame, which had dropped comparatively in round two.

Round three started with a few more exchanges but with more men slowing down, the fight did end up on the fence. Surprisingly, it was Rakic taking it there, driving Tybura into the fence. Rakic wound up cut open with about two minutes on the clock, but stayed on Tybura and worked in a few shots to the body. Rakic was warned for grabbing the cage, and tried to reverse but couldn’t. He’d finally create some space and look to land a few shots, but Rakic grabbed the fence again. This time, the ref stopped the action and moved them back to center. Less than 20 seconds remained on the clock, however. An Rakic had already done enough to win it anyway.

Official Result: Aleksandar Rakic def. Marcin Tybura by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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2019 Contender Series winner Todorovic sought to build on a September victory over Jose Medina that had snapped a three-fight skid; Valentin had claimed his first win inside the octagon in April at UFC Winnipeg, where the TUF 32 alum snapped a three-fight skid of his own.

In the opening thirty seconds Valentin was able to drag Todorovic to the ground for a takedown. Working back to his feet Todorovic was able to reverse position on the cage and land a takedown of his own. After back and fourth grappling exchanges Valentin managed to snatch a Guillotine submission as Dusko tried to stand. It was in, and the fight was done! Valentin has now put together back-to-back wins in the middleweight division, silencing the Serbian fans. Showing off his evolving grappling game, Valentin is improving with each performance.

In his post fight interview Valentin had his opponent Dusko Todorovic translate to the Serbian crowd in an unusual show of sportsmanship. Valentin said he knew that Todorovic was good grappler himself, and thanked the crowd for their support.

Official Result: Robert Valentin def. Dusko Todorovic by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 4:14

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The Ultimate Fighter 29 finalist Urbina was just 1-3 in the UFC and had lost his last two. Coincidentally, that last defeat had come nearly a year ago, at the hands of UFC Belgrade headliner Uros Medic. That had come at welterweight; Urbina was making the move back to 185lbs to face Cepo, a Serbian Oktagon MMA veteran.

The fight started with Cepo getting right after it. He was letting his hands go swinging for the fences. He also wasn’t concerned about defense  seemingly at all, as he got cracked by Urbina with a straight left. That dropped Cepo, who hit the deck as Urbina unloaded with ground n’ pound. Cepo had no answer, and the fight was over in short order.

A successful return to the middleweight division for Gilbert Urbina, who improves to 2-3 in the UFC and 8-4 overall with the win. Referencing his Mexican heritage, he told Serbian fans he brought “the Eagle” with him, and thanked the country for its hospitality.

Official Result: Gilbert Urbina def. Vlasto Cepo by TKO (right hand and ground n’ pound), Round 1, 1:01

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The lightweight fight found France’s Gugnon, a former Bellator and ARES FC athlete, riding a five-fight win streak, while Montenegro’s Janicic was fighting close to home having won two straight in MMA, plus three more in Dirty Boxing.

The UFC’s debut on Serbian soil featured nine newcomers and a small army of Serbian talent, yet while some had come up big on the preliminary card, things would not go as smoothly for Janicic.

When the fight started, Janicic came out with the jab up top and another to the body. Noah Gugnon landed a leg kick, and Janicic was clearly already feeling it. He took a few more of those, and Janicic couldn’t bear any more weight on it. Down he went. Instead of letting Janicic back up, Gugnon engaged on the ground. Although it seemed like a bad idea, he quickly took the back, getting hooks in. From there, Gugnon worked and found the rear-naked choke and soon enough it was all over!

A solid debut for Gugnon, who may now look for a quick turnaround given UFC Paris arrives in September.

Official Result: Noah Gugnon def. Milos Janicic by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:21

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The fight opened with some feeling out, and back-and-forth, the first frame playing out pretty much entirely on the feet. Klein found some success with leg kicks, while Musayev didn’t shy away from them himself. Musayev began to turn up the heat with leg kicks and straight right hands as the round wore on, until by the final minute, Klein had his back against the fence, and appeared to be favoring his lead leg. Given Klein had injured his leg previously, it was a calculated attack by Musayev.

Round two saw the pair go to the fence early, Musayev getting double underhooks for a time and landing some knees. Kline whiffed with a decent punch off the break, leading to some exchanges at center. Tofiq had the edge in terms of volume, though it was far from a crazy pace. Kline backed up the Azerbaijani with a high kick, but it didn’t connect clean but was rather blocked. Kline would land a right hand moments later, with Musayev returning in kind. Then, that high kick snuck up again for Kline, and was followed by a side kick. Two minutes still on the clock, and Kline was having his best moments.

Yet just as Kline was heating up, Musayev got back in control. He’d drop Kline, following a body shot with a right hook, left hand combo. Musayev piled on with hammer fists from there as Klein covered up, and while some might have hit the back of the head, Klein was moving and none appeared intentional. Soon enough the ref called it, and Tofiq Musayev had the TKO win!

Saying that age was just a number in his post-fight interview, Musayev addressed UFC CEO and President Dana White. “Give me top 15. Give me bonus. Let’s go!”

Official Result: Tofiq Musayev def. L’udovit Klein by TKO, Round 2, 4:07

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Oliveira was 9-0 coming into the fight, while Elliott was 3-2 under the UFC banner and looking to shake off back-to-back losses. His backstory, with eight years of military service, and eight finishes to start the night made him a marketable addition to the roster.

All “PQD” had to do on Saturday was put on a big show, and Oliveira did exactly that. Big, and quick.

Oban Elliott started the fight with a right over the top, looking to get busy early. He’d add to that, landing another one soon after. Oliveira was heavily planted, taking the center, but ate another right hand from Elliott. Still, Oliveira was patient and used feints, and soon enough dropped Elliott with a light left jab. It was clear right away that Oliveira had massive power. Soon after, Oliveira landed a right over the top. He followed up with ground n’ pound, and Elliott could only take damage and wait for the ref to step in.

Exactly the sort of debut Michael Oliveira was looking for.

Official Result: Michael Oliveira def. Oban Elliott by TKO (right hand and ground n’ pound), Round 1, 1:49

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Nikolic was replacing Josias Musasa in the fight, and was a former Brave CF bantamweight champ.

Nikolic started the fight hot, heavy on the gas. That didn’t work out too well for him, as Vologdin cracked him with a short left hook. It dropped Nikolic, but he got back up quickly. Vologdin would land multiple knees with Nikolic stuck in a front choke, but Vologdin couldn’t put him away. When they broke, Nikolic raised his arms, firing up the crown. Nikolic was still coming forward, but Vologdin was doing a good job of catching him on the way in. Vologdin got a bit sloppy, missing on a kick and allowing Nikolic to score a takedown. Nikolic wasn’t able to hold him down for long, though.

Back at range, Vologdin was giving a few different looks. He was switching stances and throwing a ton of spinning kicks. None of those kicks came close, but his hands were landing. Again, as Nikolic came in, Vologdin beat him to the punch, buckling him to a knee. Vologdin ended the round by circling to the back before taking Nikolic to a knee against the cage.

Nikolic started round two the same way he started round one. He came out with a big flurry that had Vologdin covering up. Nikolic did over-pursue, almost getting taken down, but he landed on top for a moment. Vologdin threw another spinning body kick, but it was evident he was wasting too much energy on high-risk, low-reward strikes. Nikolic stayed heavy on the pressure throughout, throwing in bursts. Vologdin went for a takedown but was denied and slipped off another spinning kick. Nikolic landed a right hook and an uppercut, but Vologdin answered with a short right hand that seemed to stun Nikolic. Vologdin was doing better when the fight was coming to him, but he was making too many mistakes.

Going into the final round, it felt like anyone’s fight. Not even a minute in, Nikolic timed a leg kick from Vologdin and dropped him with a right hand. Vologdin immediately looked for a takedown but was almost caught in a front choke. He also ate a big knee and was clearly fighting from behind. He eventually pushed forward for another takedown, but as he completed it, Nikolic used the cage and wound up on top. Nikolic locked in a guillotine off the sweep, and while it didn’t get the finish, it helped him maintain control. Nikolic let it go and landed some heavy ground-and-pound. Vologdin got back to his feet with a little over a minute remaining.

Nikolic wasn’t going away, pouring on the pressure as Vologdin desperately searched for a takedown. Nikolic defended, took the back, and locked in a rear-naked choke, but the bell saved Vologdin.

Official Result: Borislav Nikolic def. Mark Vologdin by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

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Both men had losing records in the UFC, Grad at 1-2, Buzukja at 1-4. Both were coming off back-to-back losses.

While Buzukja landed a jab early, it was Grad landing a quick takedown, though he could not keep the fight down. Instead, they moved back to the feet, Grad landing, Buzukja returning fire. Grad’s next takedown attempt was stuffed, and instead he went back to walking forward, firing a jab and combos. Buzukja missed with an uppercut, but did have some success with his leg kick and a shot to the body. A spinning kick by Grad was blocked, but he’d dump Buzukja off a kick moments later. That allowed him to get on top and hunt a submission, then look to mount, though Buzukja was able to regain half-guard.

Later in the round, Grad would tie Buzukja up along the fence, looking for a trip. He’d eventually hop on Buzukja’s back, but was in danger of falling off the top. He didn’t, and was able to rain down ground n’ pound, with Buzukja saved by the bell.

Round two, the first of the night at UFC Belgrade, saw Grad tie Buzukja up again in the early going. Looking to go back to where he finished the first round no doubt. Buzukja however was able to fight him off, getting off the fence about a minute into the round. And at center, Buzukja managed to landed a few solid punches, which were answered with a spinning back fist from Grad that didn’t have much on it. Buzukja continued to threaten with his uppercut and right hand, while Grad was lunging in on his punches. That allowed him to close the distance, grab a leg, then switch to a spinning back fist. Again, the low-percentage blow didn’t land clean.

Grad’s takedowns were starting to look labored, and Buzukja easily fought off the next one. Buzukja fired a body kick; Grad started firing looping overhands. Buzukja’s striking was looking cleaning, but Grad did connect with a Superman punch. Moments later, a takedown, with just over a minute on the clock, landed for Bogdan Grad. He went after an arm-triangle choke, but parallel to the fence, there wasn’t much room to work. It looked like Buzukja might gut it out, but the ref then called it, ruling Buzukja had tapped.

Buzukja immediately protested, and replay showed there was a case to be made that the American was simply pushing the knee and moving his hand in a way that made it look like a tap. A controversy to be sure, but the fight was called and Grad awarded the submission victory.

Grad later admitted that he didn’t feel a tap, but added that while Buzukja could “blame the ref,” they “are pros here.”

Official Result: Bogdan Grad def. Dennis Buzukja by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 2, 4:33

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