Croatian Heavyweight, Ante Delija, made his UFC debut this weekend in Paris and surpassed all expectations by knocking out #7 ranked Marcin Tybura in the 1st round. Delija makes his debut after building a reputation of being one of the top heavyweight talents, becoming a PFL heavyweight champion back in 2022 and winning fights in various promotions across Europe. Delija’s win over Tybura holds personal significance as Delija earlier in his career lost to Tybura when they fought for a Polish promotion in the regional scene in 2015. With the UFC heavyweight division currently being in a slump with only 30 fighters signed to the division, Delija’s win over a top-10 opponent puts him possibly two fights away from a shot at the belt, and a chance for another Croatian to win UFC gold since Stipe Miocic’s retirement.
Lastly
You’ve left out what happened in 2015 when they first fought
Marcin broke Ante’s leg – he needed two surgeries – and took 3 years until his next fight
Imagine the f bravery of getting back in the ring w the guy who already broke your leg
Wow
Something only a “crazy” Croatian could do
Apparently he’s training w Tom Aspinall in Manchester (that’s the guy in the crowd they showed) – people commenting Ante’s fast hand he’s got from training w Aspinall
Who’s the guy in the crowd they show w the 44 jersey w neck tattoo and chain ?
Anonymous answered your question above
Here’s a better longer video
You missed the best part !
He was so emotional after the fight
Every Croatian when you see the emotion on his face immediately understands how he feels
Beautiful
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In the interview after he says he worked 20 years to finally get his shot at UFC
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We should all get behind this guy.
Ante – maybe reach out if he wants to do an interview w you (to help him increase his profile – so Dana sees a market worth pushing him to the title, etc) ?
Miocic UFC debut at 27 y/o and retired at 42 y/o w/ Jones but the Francis fight he was 38 y/o
Delija is 35 y/o – he can do one fight a year ? Not much time to get a shot at the title (2+1)
What’s his career earnings from fighting (just fights, not sponsorship stuff) ? How about Miocic (just from the fights) ?
This is a huge win. Although the UFC HW division is scarce, he just beat the number 7 ranked HW on his debut.