There will be plenty of Serbian talent in action Saturday when the UFC lands in the country for the first time with a show in Belgrade, from headliner Uros Medic to curtain-jerker Marina Spasic, but none of them have the support of local football star Dejan Petkovic like Michael Oliveira.
Petkovic played for Real Madrid between 1995 and 1997 before building a solid football career for over two decades in Brazil. The 53-year-old occasionally trains boxing to stay in shape, and was impressed by Oliveira’s fighting style after watching him train at KO Squad and rack up an unbeaten 6-0 record with five knockouts under the LFA banner.
Oliveira makes his UFC debut on Petkovic’s home soil opposite Oban Elliott, 10 months after stopping Victor Valenzuela on Dana White’s Contender Series to go 9-0 with eight knockouts in the sport.
“The relationship [with Petkovic] started because he used to train at the gym, he knows LFA vice president Rafael ‘Feijão’ [Cavalcante], and he introduced us,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “We talked for a while and everything. He has this betting company that’s sponsoring the UFC event here in Belgrade and said, ‘Let’s do something.’ I was all for it, especially because it helps me bring my coaches over since that costs money. He liked me. Petkovic is very famous, he’s a very well-liked guy, and we got along really well. I went on his YouTube show, and we’ve built a great relationship since then.”
Petkovic didn’t make the trip for the UFC event, but went to the Rio de Janeiro international airport to give Oliveira a hug—and pose for a proper pre-flight staredown—before he embarked on his trip to Serbia. For Oliveira, the love shown by Petkovic on social media will likely translate to support from Serbian fans in the Belgrade Arena.
“I believe [they will support me] because he really got the Serbian fans involved, especially since I’m not fighting a local guy. Even that worked out perfectly,” Oliveira said with a laugh. “[Elliott’s] flag isn’t Serbia’s, because otherwise there’d be no way around it, people would still be cheering for him. It’s going to be good because of that. People will already kind of know me through him. I don’t think I’ll get booed. That helps too. But it doesn’t really matter either. If they boo me, that’s when I become even more of a killer [laughs]. But it’ll be all good.”
Oliveira fractured his hand in his DWCS bout and had to undergo surgery to insert 20 screws and a “huge” titanium plate. The time off was very useful, he said, to make him a “smarter fighter” for his UFC debut.
“And the biggest difference will be my physical conditioning because I was finally able to do training sessions that I couldn’t before since it was one fight after another,” Oliveira said. “I was able to train a lot more during that time off because of the surgery.”
Elliott has more experience in the octagon after a 3-2 run under the bright lights of the UFC, but dropped his past two against Seok Hyeon Ko and Jonathan Micallef. For “PQD” Oliveira, cage time ultimately won’t matter much because “he hasn’t fought me” in any of those bouts.
“He looks lighter and smaller than me, so naturally he’s probably a bit quicker,” Oliveira said. “He’s the kind of fighter who mixes his game, uses dirty boxing to wear his opponents down. I see him trying to mix things up while I try to impose my game and find his timing. I’ll be looking to land my shots, and he’ll be trying to neutralize me. I believe we’ll both be looking for the knockout because he has to make a statement, and I have to make an impact in my UFC debut. It’s going to be an incredible fight. Of course, I’m not ruling out the possibility of it going all three rounds. I trained hard for that. If it goes three rounds, that’ll be perfect because the more time I get inside the octagon, the better it is for me.”
