Australian-Croatian heavyweight Brando Peričić made an explosive entrance to the UFC, knocking out Elisha Ellison just 1 minute and 55 seconds into the 1st round of their heavyweight bout. Peričić showcased his power and composure, finishing the fight with clean ground-and-pound strikes.
Peričić moved to New Zealand to train full time at City Kickboxing, one of the most respected gyms in the sport and home to elite fighters. Surrounded by top-level training partners every day, he’s quickly emerging as one of the most exciting prospects in the UFC heavyweight division.
With the win, Peričić improves his professional record to 5–1, and fans will be excited to continue watching “The Balkan Bear” rise through the ranks of the UFC.
Marseilles crushed Ajax 4-0 and scored all four goals in the first 52 minutes.
Then Sutalo came on in the 55th min (for Youri Bass), and the score remained the same.
I don’t watch Ajax games, but I’m noticing a pattern here. Ajax doesn’t really have a good record when Youri Baas starts. They mostly lose or draw their games…and in a couple of these draws, Ajax were losing when Bass is subbed out for Sutalo (and then Ajax comes back to tie the game).
I’m curious if there is a notable performance improvement in the backline with Sutalo there instead of Bass, but I guess I’d have to watch the games.
Also interesting today was Mislav Orsic scoring a textbook Orsic top-right-corner bomb from waaay out. I wonder if he’s back in full form?
Mario Pasalic also scored the winner for Atalanta. This guy is always good for a late header.
Petar Sucic with a solid start for Inter.
Ivanovic coming off the bench for Benfica (cue the panic!)
Ajax defence was awful in the first half gifting all the goals with misdirected passes in front of their penalty box. This surely has to convince the Ajax coach that Sutalo needs to be in the starting 11.
Orsic with a stunning strike from distance for the best goal of the night.
Mario Pasalic had an excellent match, firstly he was brought down in the box to win a penalty for the equaliser and then scored with a late header to win the match. What is noticeable this year with Juric in charge at Atalanta is that Mario is a regular starter and he is rarely being subbed these days.
Sucic unlucky not to score, went around the keeper but the shot was cleared off the line.
Overall good night for our players and thankfully no injuries?
Another youngish guy that is having a typical Croatian late-blooming career jump is Ivan Dolček.
Not sure what’s going on with him this season, but he’s one of the best players in the Scottish League this season for Dundee United and he has 5 goals in 5 games so far (along with a couple of assists).
He’s only 25 and plays multiple positions of need for us (LW and LB) and could compete with guys like Pjaca for backup minutes (especially when Stanisic or Perisic are unavailable).
Weird thing is that he’s actually been playing this season at RW (which is his not his primary position) but he seems to be thriving.
@Anonymous, Maminjo and MART
Hmm… dunno if you guys already know this but I just stumbled upon the fact that Maccabi has a Serbian coach who, prior to Maccabi, coached TSC until summer 2024 so I guess there’s a strong connection here with the choice of venue for Maccabi “home” games. Seems like a darn inconvenient location too as I read on SN the Dinamo team has to spend the night in Belgrade before traveling up to Backa Topola…
***
Perhaps due to Vuskovic acing it at Hamburg (3 games in only but I have faith he will continue to do well over the rest of the season), I suddenly have this somewhat random wish that Hamburg can rope in another 1 or 2 of our players during the winter… how about get Baturina or Luka Sucic on loan, maybe even Livakovic if he can terminate his loan contract with Girona. Or sign up Toni Fruk since Rijeka would be forced to sell after the failed takeover. I see Hamburg as a Croat-friendly club since so many Hrvati have played for them, and the club management and fans are supportive toward Vuskovic’s older brother despite his doping ban. With multiple Croats in their ranks, methinks Hamburg will stand an infinitely better chance of avoiding relegation too 🙂
I did not know that about Maccabi coach, but that would explain why the match is being played in Backa Topola. Interestingly enough Israel national team play their home WC qualifying matches in Debrecen Hungary.
I did see some highlights from the PAOK v Maccabi match in Greece which ended in a 0 – 0 draw. From what I saw Maccabi had the better chances and won’t be easy for Dinamo.
Livakovic is a bit of a worry not playing at Girona, but despite this he has the experience and needs to be in the starting 11 v Chechia.
Good Interview.
Let’s go Brandon the Boar!
Great to see more of our boys kicking ass in UFC.
As always, it’s no coincidence that we have some many fighters across multiple disciplines (MMA, Kickboxing, Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo, etc.).
Side Note:
Balkan Bear is a terrible nickname, ha ha. Sounds both Balkan and Eastern European.
Peričići are from Hrvatsko primorje. Should’ve given himself a name with links to that area.
He only started fighting at 23 (31 now)
He used to play Rugby but had tumours in his fingers so needed surgery and the doctor told him pre-surgery you might lose all your fingers but do my best
Also, a lot of people have pulled out fighting him or declining fighting him
Kind of similar personality to Stipe – here’s an interview couple yrs ago
***.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/174hao2/ckb_heavyweight_brando_balkan_bear_pericic_just/
Another interview – his uncle gave him the nickname – there is a non-PG story behind it….
***.youtube.com/watch?v=PUnmTp7U3MY
Forget BBB, meet BBBB (Balkan Bear x Bonnie Blue has a nice ring to it)