UFC 266 Fighter to Watch: Uros Medic
Undefeated Contender Series graduate looks for another stoppage win as he steps up against Jalin Turner on Saturday
Back in January when I sat down to start writing what turned into an exhaustive seven-part Fighters to Watch 2021 series, I laid out my reasons for undertaking such a project, and now that I’m going to start shining a spotlight on one fighter set to step into the Octagon on the weekend here every Monday, I want to share them with you again:
I do this because this is how I wish the sport was covered — with incredible depth and detail and excitement and anticipation, where nerding out about someone with one UFC appearance and only moderate upside wasn’t dismissed as being a shill or a try-hard or something fake because so many people would rather shit on everything and find the negative in everything.
I do this because seeing it suggested that Deiveson Figueiredo and Kevin Holland were “unknown” or “anonymous” heading into last year doesn’t sit right with me, given that the former was a standout contender in a division everyone always claims to love and the latter had showed promise through his first five UFC appearances, winning three straight between a short-notice debut loss to Thiago Santos and a submission defeat to emerging standout Brendan Allen.
While I know I have a different level of interest in prospects and a unique ability to retain and recall information about things I’m passion about (but nothing else), it genuinely bothers me when only a small number of the fighters on a given card get talked about and so many of them are ignored and overlooked, especially when we hear so often that the job of MMA reporters and journalists and writers is “to cover everything,” when most don’t even come close.
That includes me.
For the most part, I write exclusively about the UFC because I can commit all my energy and focus to doing so, and I want to know everyone. I want to know everyone not only because, you know, it’s kind of my job to know everyone, but also because I can only imagine how much it stings to be called anonymous or unknown.
Think about it: you bust your ass in this sport for three, four, five years, maybe more, and final reach the highest level. You earn some victories, maybe even climb into the Top 15, and then, when a sizeable segment of the people paid to chronicle this sport are finally forced to pay attention to you because you’re doing so well, they call you an “unknown” because they weren’t paying attention.
That’s some bullshit to me, and that’s the last piece of the “Why I do this” puzzle:
I do this because even if less than 30 people read this, I want to be on record as paying attention to each and every one of the 284 fighters whose names are going to grace this three-part series — not in an “I like (insert brand) before they were cool and I want to lord it over you” way; I just want it stated that someone is paying attention, even if it’s just one guy on the West Coast of Canada, because ultimately, we all want to know someone is paying attention and appreciative of our work.
Yeah, I thought I could squeeze it all over three parts, but it turns out giving a shit about the men and women that put their health on the line for our entertaining each and every week takes a lot more than three parts and a cursory glance at their Wikipedia entry — if they’re important enough to have one, mind you — a couple days before they hit the Octagon again.
So yeah, whenever it’s UFC Fight Week, come by here on Mondays and I’ll introduce you to someone fighting on Saturday that you should be paying attention to this weekend and in the future because I wouldn’t want you to miss out on something awesome one of these anonymous and unknown fighters does just because the loudest voices in the sport didn’t have anything to say about them.
Name: Uros Medic
Nickname: The Doctor
Record: 7-0 overall, 1-0 UFC
Division: Lightweight
Team: Kings MMA
Opponent: Jalin Turner (10-5 overall, 3-2 UFC)
Here’s what I wrote about Medic at the start of the year in the Fighters to Watch series:
Another member of the Contender Series Class of ‘20, Medic is 6-0 with six finishes and has relocated to Orange County to train at Kings MMA.
Between that and the fact that he casually dropped the best line of summer — “That’s why they call me ‘The Doctor,’ I bring in the nurse!” — following his win over Mikey Gonzalez, I’m all-in on this dude, especially given the major strides we’ve seen from Marvin Vettori over the last couple years.
The Serbian-born lightweight, who was previously based in Alaska and began his career with five straight wins under the Alaska Fighting Championship banner, looked outstanding in earning his contract last season, stalking forward throwing an assortment of kicks while being completely unbothered by the flashy spinning offers coming back at him. Tall for the division at six-foot-one and fighting out of a southpaw stance, he caught Gonzalez with a left hook that got his attention, then folded him over with a kick to the body, swarming and finishing from there.
Medic made his promotional debut at UFC 259, taking on fellow Contender Series graduate Aalon Cruz in the second fight of the night. In the seven months since his appearance at the UFC APEX, the 28-year-old had transformed his body, shedding the doughy midsection in favor of abs, keeping the hair a little closer to the wood, and generally looking like a guy that wasn’t surprised or overwhelmed by standing in the Octagon.
The fight played out similarly to his bout with Gonzalez, with Cruz starting out by throwing long kicks, and Medic remaining calm, countering with kicks of his own before clipping Cruz with a right hook on the temple that stung him and sent him looking for a takedown. Medic dug his way out and connected who a tight left hook as Cruz exited, sending him stumbling backwards, and from there, it was academic, and probably allowed to go on for too long if I’m being honest.
Cruz was cooked, Medic had his first UFC win, and I was re-upping my “all-in” status on the promising lightweight.
He landed in fourth position in the newcomers category in the UFC staff’s Half-Year Awards (that’s where I had him on my personal list too) and became one of those guys with a big red circle around his name that signifies that I can’t wait to see what they do next.
And next is now a matchup with Turner on Saturday’s prelims.
Still just 25, Turner is another Contender Series product and another tall, lanky lightweight with an abundance of upside, which is why this pairing is so intriguing to me. If you throw out his short-notice debut loss up a division against Vicente Luque (and you should), “The Tarantula” is 3-1 in the UFC with three finishes and a decision loss to veteran Matt Frevola. Each of his 10 career wins have come by way of stoppage and he’s 7-3 over his last 10 after a 2-2 start to his career.
Honestly, Turner is someone to keep close tabs on going forward as well.
What I like about this pairing and why I’m so curious to see how Medic looks on Saturday against Turner is because it’s a logical step up from his last outing, but also one that carries increased risk, as Turner has made the walk to the Octagon a handful of times, was in there with a couple solid names prior to reaching the UFC and a few more since, and is someone folks have been hearing about since he was just just starting out down at Jackson Wink MMA.
This is a measuring stick fight for both guys and the kind of matchup where if Medic can go out and style on Turner, finish him the way he has everyone else thus far, his profile is going to explode… or should.
I love the move to Kings MMA because working with a quality team is always the right choice for promising young talents, and there are a number of quality fighters Medic can drill with, spar with, and learn from on this journey, most notably current contenders Beneil Dariush and Giga Chikadze. Additionally, we’ve seen the improvements Dariush has made, Chikadze has made, Marvin Vettori has made, and Rafael Dos Anjos made back in the day working under Master Rafael Cordeiro, and it’s reasonable to assume the same is possible for Medic.
Because he’s a UFC sophomore and this is a massive fight card where the championship fights are going to be overshadowed by the return of Nick Diaz and the two other outstanding main card fights are going to be hard pressed to get mention in the run-up to this weekend, Medic is one of those fighters that would otherwise slide by undetected, but I’m telling you — pay attention.
There are still a bunch of questions to be answered, but he has absolutely rolled thus far and has surrounded himself with excellent people, which makes him a prime candidate for being a Fighter to Watch and someone with the potential to climb the lightweight ladder and eventually make some waves in the 155-pound weight class if everything shakes out his way in the future.
Fighters to Watch 2021 Series
Part I: Strawweights & Flyweights
Part II: Bantamweights
Part III: Featherweights
Part IV: Lightweights
Part V: Welterweights
Part VI: Middleweights
Part VII: Light Heavyweights & Heavyweights