This weekend in Belgrade, Serbia, a very fun, stacked FNC 31 card takes place. The card is filled with former UFC fighters, fighters that have competed on Contender Series, and a few solid prospects. Fighting out of Podgorica, Montenegro, is one of those prospects, Dalibor “Mugiwara” Dragojević.
If you take a look at Dragojević’s Tapology or Sherdog page, it shows he transitioned to pro MMA after a 4-1 stint in the amateurs. However, this is wrong, as confirmed by both him and a coach from his gym, MMA Club Omladinac – he ended his amateur career with a record of 21-5. Dragojević is currently only 21 years old and started MMA back in 2019 when he was just 15.
While I’m not sure who all of his amateur losses came against, the one shown on Tapology was against a good opponent in Altin Zenuni, who is currently 4-0 as a professional. All throughout his time spent in the amateurs, Dragojević was a fast, explosive finisher, and that has not changed since becoming a pro. At 4-0, Dragojević has finished all but one of his opponents via submission, with the other win coming by unanimous decision.
On the feet, Dragojević has two very different modes when striking. At range, he tends to be a bit more patient and can fight putting forward pressure on his opponent or off the back foot. When he does choose to fight at range like this, his arsenal mainly consists of a quick jab and lots of kicks. Dragojević will kick on both sides but tends to use his left leg much more often than not. He mixes up his kicks very well, going to all three levels, and will even throw the occasional spinning kick to the body. The biggest issue with his kicking game is that his hands are never up when he throws them. He was dropped really early in his third pro fight against Igor Júnior due to this, but was able to recover. Other than this, he has been hit hard a few times while kicking, but overall, Dragojević has been able to get away with it.
His other mode is explosive and chaotic in the pocket, but man is it fun to watch. In between these moments of striking at range, Dragojević will close distance by basically running at his opponent and throwing wild punches. It is also not uncommon that he opens up the flurry of chaos with a successful flying knee. Dragojević is quite fast and powerful, so a lot of the time he is able to overwhelm his opponent into opening up an opportunity to get the fight to the ground. He has definitely hurt opponents with punches and kicks, but a lot of the time he opts to use those moments to initiate grappling.
Dragojević is a lot of fun to watch on the feet because of how explosive and wild he can get, but in my opinion, on the ground is where he is the most impressive. In getting opponents to the ground, he is well-versed with trips, single or double leg takedowns, and body lock takedowns in his arsenal. I’m a big fan of the way he grinds opponents down until the submission presents itself. Dragojević is very good at not forcing something that isn’t there, as I’ve seen him fully abandon positions on the ground he doesn’t like.
Another impressive thing is his use of body weight. Dragojević isn’t the most physically imposing guy, but I’ve seen him roll guys over into dominant positions for himself after being muscled down to the ground. I’m not sure all his opponents have been super high level, but Dragojević has been great at finding his way into mount, where he can let ground and pound go. This, along with the way he wears opponents down, has typically led to him being able to find the submission. Dragojević’s front chokes are deadly, but specifically his anaconda has been his go-to finish.
This weekend at FNC 31, Dalibor Dragojević takes on fellow undefeated fighter Khanbulat Irisbiev, as he looks to continue building his resume to reach his goal of fighting in the UFC one day.
