Born in Belgrade in 1999, Miljan Zdravkovic was made to be a fighter. Currently the best fighting prospect out of Serbia, the fine folks here at Prospect Vault have him ranked as the 18th-best prospect in the world. He is the 7th-best bantamweight, easily cracking the top 10 in the best division in the world. This acclaim has not come overnight for the Serbian fighter. Debuting in March 2021, he has accumulated a pristine 10-0 record across his five years of fighting. This Saturday, November 7th, Zdravkovic will look to improve to 11-0. He defends his FNC bantamweight title against Joaquin Vargas in what will be his third straight title fight. The Balkan bantamweight should be a heavy favorite to walk away with his title in hand, taking another step towards the big leagues.
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Fighting out of Secutor MMA in Belgrade, he is the clear standout fighter at his gym. His lack of elite training partners clearly isn’t hindering his progression as a mixed martial artist, though. Having only started combat sports at 18 years old, he has progressed fantastically in the nine years that have followed. His success against solid competition in KSW, knocking out both Kamil Szaradek and Mariusz Joniak, shows what level he is at. He then joined Fight Nation Championship, a Croatian-based fight promotion. There, he won its vacant bantamweight title in his first fight, winning via second-round RNC. He then had arguably his toughest fight to date, beating Josh Hill, a man who racked up four wins in Bellator. This win was a five-round unanimous decision that proved Miljan could last five rounds like a true championship fighter.
Zdravkovic fights with wisdom beyond his years. He is an incredibly smart, measured, and patient fighter. While he is always pressing and on the front foot, he is never wild or reckless. With that being said, he is still incredibly dangerous, having found the finish in six of his 10 pro fights. He could work on improving his volume, but when he lands, it’s clean and powerful. He has a piston of a lead jab that he utilizes well at range. While he is always pressing, he still focuses a lot on counterstriking. The right hand is uncorked when his opponents are mid-combo, often stifling them. When he has opponents backed up to the fence, he still shows caution. While it’s smart to respect his opponents’ power, there are times when he should unload more combos and go for the finish.
He does well to keep his game multidimensional. He often spends the first couple of minutes establishing the leg kick. Miljan also shoots for a takedown a couple of times per round. Some of these are genuine efforts to get the fight to the ground, while others seem more like a reminder to his opponents that he’s got that in his bag. As I said previously, his fight IQ is spectacular. He often follows a lead hook with a high kick that catches people off guard. He doesn’t tend to let his combos extend too far. Rather, he keeps them tight and quick, making his chin hard to catch. Miljan hasn’t absorbed a lot of damage in his career, much to his credit.
The hole that I have seen defensively is that he tends to back up in a straight line. Circling off to the left or right would vastly decrease his chances of being caught by the end of a combo.
In the grappling department, Zdravkovic would get a B, or maybe a B+, from me. He shows tremendous balance when an opponent gets in on a single-leg takedown. When he is dumped to the ground, he does well to pop right back up and not let his opponent advance the position. I think he could work on his sprawl so that he doesn’t need to get up at all. In his FNC title fight against Kikadze, he was outwrestled for the first few minutes but was able to find the reversal on the ground. He never settled when defending and was constantly moving on the ground.
Zdravkovic’s jiu-jitsu far outpaces his wrestling. When in control on the ground, he unleashes a lot of head shots to create an opening for a rear-naked choke. In the second round against Kikadze, he landed relentlessly on the feet and on the ground, then snatched up the choke when it was finally presented to him. He is dangerous on the ground but can also get a little sloppy. He followed Kikadze to the ground multiple times looking for the finish, only to end up defending another wrestling attack. While his grappling is good for his current level of opposition, I could see him struggling heavily against higher-level wrestlers in the UFC or MVPFL.
In his upcoming fight against Joaquin Vargas, Zdravkovic is being handed another layup by FNC. While I wish he were facing stiffer competition, this seems like a bout made to get him a finish. That is likely because he didn’t get a finish against Josh Hill in his last fight. Josh Hill has only been finished once in 32 career fights, and it was by prime Marlon Moraes. I would say this step down in competition is an overreaction by his management and FNC. They clearly think he needs a finish to get the call-up. Vargas is dangerous with nine finishes in 10 wins, and Zdravkovic will likely show him respect in the cage. Miljan needs to realize he is on a different level, though, and show some more aggression in this fight. I think Zdravkovic is superior wherever this fight goes and will finish in round three against the young Argentinian.
Overall, I like Miljan Zdravkovic as a fighter. He is sufficiently well-rounded and is someone who just knows how to win. He is cold as ice when he steps into the cage and isn’t rattled by anything thrown his way. Miljan always seems to be the one dictating the pace and lets the finish come to him naturally. Once this fight with Vargas is done, it will be time to see if he can sink or swim in the big leagues. I will note that I am not quite as high on him as many others. I think his fight IQ and poise are his best-graded tools. He doesn’t throw enough volume, however, and seems to be too in love with landing the perfect shot at times. His jiu-jitsu is good, but his wrestling defense is average. His power will lead to wins over big opponents, but he does not have championship-level upside. With that said, he has more than enough talent to make Serbia proud. At just 27 years old, he should be a name that’s relevant for years and years to come.
