\n<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t find the UFC Belgrade main event between Uros Medic<\/strong> vs. Daniel Rodriguez<\/strong> particularly compelling ahead of time.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the most highly ranked collision on the card (that would be Jan Blachowicz<\/strong> vs. Navajo Stirling<\/strong>), and while it promised action, it didn\u2019t feel like a guaranteed technical slugfest like \u201cPrelims\u201d headliner Tofiq Musayev<\/strong> vs. Ludovit Klein<\/strong>. Medic entered his first main event on a nice three-fight win streak, but anyone looking at his recent record honestly would be forced to admit he\u2019s building hype off older fighters on the downward trend. His foil \u201cD-Rod,\u201d meanwhile, spent most of a year in a Mexican prison leading up to this bout \u2026 which is compelling, but not necessarily in the sporting sense. All of this is to say it was a perfectly fine fight but didn\u2019t read like a main event to me.<\/p>\n I\u2019m extremely happy to be wrong.<\/p>\n Medic didn\u2019t just win. He didn\u2019t just find a quick knockout or end the night on a positive note. From his walkout to the performance and then into the post-fight speech, Medic created one of the year\u2019s most memorable combat moments, elevating his own star in the process.<\/p>\n After a difficult start to the main card that saw several local athletes finished in quick and\/or embarrassing fashion, the Belgrade crowd was desperate for Medic to pull through. The desire and intensity was palpable as Medic made his way into the cage.<\/p>\n The performance, of course, was flawless. Within 30 seconds, Medic stunned Rodriguez with a hellacious combination of punches that sent him flying. As he chased Rodriguez to the floor, Medic managed to rip a soccer kick to the belly before pounding away and forcing the finish \u2014 a nice little sample of the nastiness that makes \u201cThe Doctor\u201d such a cold-blooded killer.<\/p>\n As soon as the referee moved in to save Rodriguez, the crowd quite literally exploded. There was smoke and flashes of fire throughout the stands and up in the rafters. A booming refrain of \u201cUROS MEDIC\u201d echoed throughout the arena. It was the kind of response generally reserved for Conor McGregor<\/strong> and other megastars, instead showered upon Welterweight\u2019s No. 14-ranked contender.<\/p>\n The crowd continued to cheer as Medic recounted his near-decade away from home and detailed how much the moment meant to him. I\u2019m not Serbian nor am I sold on Medic\u2019s championship potential, but when he promised to bring the belt back to Serbia \u2026 I believed him!<\/p>\n Bringing Medic to his home country and giving him a main event opportunity paid off beautifully, turning what should have been just another Welterweight slugfest into a memorable event. Between the bevy of finishes and standout finale, UFC Belgrade is suddenly notable and will be remembered at the end of the year.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no reason the UFC cannot line up fights like this more often. Imagine if Manel Kape<\/strong> had rallied late to knock out Kyoji Horiguchi<\/strong> inside the Saitama Super Arena in front of 30,000 Japanese fans rather than in the uncaring Apex \u2014 that\u2019s how moments are created, stars are built, and sports are carried.<\/p>\n