Issue 157

August 2017

Damir Hadžovic detonates Marcin Held with a dynamite knee

Down two rounds to Marcin Held with five minutes to save his UFC career, you might have expected Damir Hadžovic to feel the pressure to go for broke at UFC Fight Night 109. You’d be wrong. He was taking his time to find the perfect opportunity to finish and earn his first Octagon win.

“I didn’t feel pressure,” he said. “I had less pressure than (my first UFC fight) because I love my life, I enjoy this, I don’t want to let pressure ruin it for me. I was going to find my timing. You know how it is when you train with someone – you know their style and timing. When you meet a guy for the first time in the cage, you’ve got to find his timing and what he does.

“In the second round, I felt him fatiguing. I got him to the cage and felt him getting tired, but I was not getting tired at all. I was hanging in there.”

‘The Bosnian Bomber’ only needed seven seconds of the final frame to seize his opportunity. He timed a single strike to perfection and, boom! Held was out on impact. It was a totally unexpected result based on the first 10 minutes and the pre-fight odds. Hadžovic surprised almost everyone, except himself.

“Every bookmaker called me out, but paper doesn’t fight paper,” he added. “I’m glad I was the underdog because I had no pressure. I hope somebody made some money.”