Another new heavyweight to the UFC as Zuffa continues to stock it’s 265 lb division and the UFC’s first Italian signing since Ivan Serati.
I don’t know what’s going on down in Zuffa central, but heavyweight seems to be the flavor of the moment. Once a division that couldn’t buy a new body, it’s now chock full of fresh talent. The latest newcomer in the field? Bojan Mihajlovic, who MMA D’Eferlante reports will fight Francis Ngannou in Zagreb, Croatia on April 10th.
Making his way to the UFC alongside Mihajlovic is a new middleweight fighter and a rare talent out of Italy. Alessio Di Chirico’s signing was announced by the UFC on January 20th. Di Chirico will be making his debut in Croatia as well on the April 10th card. No debut opponent has been announced yet. So…
Who is Bojan Mihajlovic?
The 35-year-old fighter is the first Serbian (I believe) in the promotion’s history. He trains out of Family Fight Team in Novi Sad alongside a number of longtime regional vets and reasonably promising young fighters, who compete mostly on the regional local circuit. Mihajlovic is an old-school adopter of MMA in his native homeland. He’s traveled to Brazil on several occasions to learn the basics of MMA and Luta Livre technique and bring them back to his own training environments. As such he has a somewhat inconsistent pro career that stretches all the way back to 2003. He’ll be entering the UFC with a 10-3 official Sherdog record, whether or not that represents a clear picture of his actual pro career. His record is mostly made up of cans and .500 opponents, but he hasn’t officially lost since 2006 to UFC vet Goran Reljic. Moreover, his record is pretty indicative of the circuit he fights on, which is pretty underdeveloped in comparison to the global MMA scene.
What you should expect:
First off, on a more well developed circuit, Mihajlovic would probably be a light heavyweight, and even then a smallish one. He’s got the Omielanczuk build of being shortish (5′ 11″), barrel chested, and short armed. He’s actually pretty light on his feet as a big man, but it’s reasonable to wonder if that’s not in part due to him not being a true heavyweight. In terms of skill sets, Mihajlovic is mostly a kicker when he’s standing and given time and space it seems like he’d like to be a range striker. But, he doesn’t do well at maintaining distance when he punches and usually ends up clinched up after one or two strikes.
Because he’s a smallish fighter, Mihajlovic often gets muscled around a bit on the inside. Opponents have been able to push him against the fence regularly and keep him there for long stretches. Part of that is his own comfort there, as bodylock takedowns are central to Mihajlovic’s arsenal. If he can get his back off the cage and find underhooks, Mihajlovic is decent at getting the bodylock and using foot sweeps along with his low center of gravity to snap opponents to the ground.
On the ground is where Mihajlovic does all his fight ending work. He’s quick to move into mount (usually from side control off the bodylock) and because of his short powerful stature, he has very little trouble kneeling or crouching over opponents while raining down heavy, fast shots. It’s the best developed part of his game, without question. It’s also shown him as a potential loose cannon fighter, who has tried to punch through referees and had to be pulled off of at least a couple opponents. It’s something that could translate really poorly to a larger, more public arena like the UFC.
What this means for his debut:
It’s pretty clear that Mihajlovic is set up as cannon fodder here for Ngannou. He’s not a dangerous puncher standing, and while he throws a decent variety of snapping kicks, his short arms and legs put him at serious disadvantage in trying to range strike against someone with 5 inches of height on him (and probably a lot more reach). His reliance on clinches and body locks to initiate his takedown and ground game mean he might be able to surprise the Frenchman once or twice and catch him off balance, but they make him poorly suited for winning a battle of strength inside over the long run of a fight. Mihajlovic is tough and scrappy and I expect he’ll put up a fight, but it’s hard to see him winning, or even making the final bell here.
To get us better acquainted, here’s his 2014 bout against Marko Igrc:
Who is Alessio Di Chirico?
When we wrote up our list of the top-10 middleweight prospects in MMA today, Di Chirico was hanging out right around 11 or 12. The 26-year-old Italian fighter will make his way to the UFC with an undefeated 9-0 record. He trains out of Hung Mun MMA Studio under head coach Fabio Ciolli and is the only notable fighter out of the camp to date (although it seems to be producing a lot of young regional talent). His record is about what you’d expect for a fighter in an underdeveloped market like Italy. Lots green fighters early, but he’s taken a few fights in Poland lately, against a much better level of opposition. And he has still done well in his steps up, having finished all but one of his pro fights. He started his athletic career playing semi-pro football (American style) in Italy, before moving to MMA.
What you should expect:
There are good sides and bad sides to being a big fish in a small pond, and middleweight is sort of a division of small ponds. Like LHW, there just aren’t a whole lot of natural 185 lb fighters out there on the regionals. On the plus side that gives guys the opportunity to develop some interesting, creative games we might not see otherwise, on the downside we get fighters with a strange hodgepodge of disconnected skills. Di Chirico is a bit of both. He kicks well enough at range, but tends to stick to single strikes. This is especially true of his boxing, which he uses to throw looping overhands coming forward and the occasional counter hook moving away. His forward movement (and rare combinations) seem to be entirely centered around getting in on single leg takedowns. Di Chirico’s a pretty good athlete, so he does well to stay out of trouble striking, but his low output and limited selection don’t create a lot of opportunities on their own.
Di Chirico actually has a pretty crafty clinch wrestling game and is strong in pursuit of the takedown when he can get a hold of a leg. But, he’s not necessarily a power takedown artist (I have some doubts about how well his double leg will translate to the UFC) and finessing single legs gets harder and harder at the higher levels of the sport. He’s generally a good scrambler and does well with back takes, but he’s not amazing at controlling dominant positions. He can hold opponents down alright and pepper in a few short shots, but when he tries to open up his submission offense or GnP he seems to lose position as often as not.
Because he’s a good athlete, I expect him to continue improving and to generally do well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as something of an OSP-like fighter whose athleticism, speed, and power often make up for less than stellar technique in all areas.
To get us better acquainted, here’s a look at his most recent bout against Andrzej Grzebyk: