Bojan Veličković
Bojan Veličković (Serbian: Бојан Величковић; born December 18, 1988) is a Serbian mixed martial artist and sambist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has competed for the UFC, Professional Fighters League, and RFA, where he was the Welterweight Champion.
| Bojan Veličković | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bojan Veličković December 18, 1988 Novi Sad, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia (today Serbia) |
| Native name | Бојан Величковић |
| Other names | Serbian Steel |
| Nationality | Serbian [1] |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] |
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st) |
| Division | Middleweight Welterweight |
| Reach | 76 in (193 cm) |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Fighting out of | Denver, Colorado, United States |
| Team | Elevation Fight Team |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 29 |
| Wins | 17 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 9 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Losses | 10 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| By decision | 9 |
| Draws | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Background
Born and raised in Novi Sad, Serbia, Veličković began training in judo at the age of ten, before transitioning to Muay Thai at 14. Then at the age of 22, he began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts. In Muay Thai, Veličković holds a record of 14-2.[2]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Veličković was a gold medalist in amateur MMA at the FILA World Wrestling Federation before making his professional debut in 2010 as part of the "Road to the Ring of Fire" reality show. Veličković won all four fights and the show. He then began competing for the Tesla Fighting Championship in his native Serbia, where he was also Welterweight champion.
Resurrection Fighting Alliance
After compiling a professional record of 9-2, Veličković signed with the promotion in 2014. After losing his promotional debut to former UFC competitor and Ultimate Fighter Season 17 contestant Gilbert Smith, he won his next four fights with the promotion, capturing the Welterweight Championship in his final fight before signing with the UFC.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Veličković signed with the UFC after compiling a record of 13 - 3 first and relocating to Colorado.[3]
Veličković made his promotional debut against Alessio Di Chirico on April 10, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 86.[4] He won the fight via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 30–27).[5]
Veličković next faced Michael Graves on July 30, 2016 at UFC 201.[6] The bout was declared a majority draw.[7]
Veličković faced Sultan Aliev on December 17, 2016 at UFC on Fox 22.[8] He lost the fight via split decision.[9]
Veličković faced Nico Musoke on May 28, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 109.[10] He won the fight by knockout in the third round.[11] This win also earned Veličković his first Performance of the Night bonus award.[12]
Veličković fought Darren Till on September 2, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Struve vs. Volkov, losing the bout in a unanimous decision.[13]
Veličković faced Jake Matthews on November 19, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 121.[14] He lost the fight via split decision, and was subsequently released from the promotion.[15]
PFL
After the release from the UFC, Veličković signed with Professional Fighters League, participating the inaugural season's welterweight bracket.[16] He advanced from the regular season to quarterfinals where he eventually was eliminated, but was brought back to semifinals due to an injury of Abubakar Nurmagomedov. He lost the semifinal bout against Magomed Magomedkerimov via second round knockout.
Veličković also participated in the 2019 season of the Professional Fighters League, ending up losing both of his regular season bouts and not advancing to the playoffs.[17]
Post-PFL career
Veličković was expected to face Escley Araujo at Serbian Battle Championship 27 on March 14, 2020. However, Araujo withdrew from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Danillo Santos. Veličković won the fight via second-round submission.[18]
Championships and accomplishments
- Resurrection Fighting Alliance
- Welterweight Champion
- Tesla Fighting Championship
- Middleweight Champion
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Performance of the Night (One time)
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 29 matches | 17 wins | 10 losses |
| By knockout | 5 | 1 |
| By submission | 9 | 0 |
| By decision | 3 | 9 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 17–10–2 | Danillo Santos | Submission (guillotine choke) | Serbian Battle Championship 27 | March 14, 2020 | 2 | 0:59 | Vrbas, Serbia | |
| Loss | 16–10–2 | João Zeferino | Decision (unanimous) | PFL 4 | July 11, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Loss | 16–9–2 | Handesson Ferreira | Decision (unanimous) | PFL 1 | May 9, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Uniondale, New York, United States | |
| Loss | 16–8–2 | Magomed Magomedkerimov | TKO (punches) | PFL 10 | October 20, 2018 | 2 | 3:13 | Washington, D.C., United States | 2018 PFL Welterweight Semifinal bout. |
| Draw | 16–7–2 | Abubakar Nurmagomedov | Draw (unanimous) | 2 | 5:00 | 2018 PFL Welterweight Quarterfinal bout. Eliminated via first round tiebreaker. Later advanced due to Nurmagomedov injury. | |||
| Loss | 16–7–1 | Magomed Magomedkerimov | Decision (unanimous) | PFL 6 | August 16, 2018 | 3 | 5:00 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Win | 16–6–1 | Jonatan Westin | TKO (punches) | PFL 3 | July 5, 2018 | 2 | 2:50 | Washington, D.C., United States | |
| Loss | 15–6–1 | Jake Matthews | Decision (split) | UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura | November 19, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Sydney, Australia | |
| Loss | 15–5–1 | Darren Till | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve | September 2, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | |
| Win | 15–4–1 | Nico Musoke | KO (punches) | UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira | May 28, 2017 | 3 | 4:37 | Stockholm, Sweden | Performance of the Night. |
| Loss | 14–4–1 | Sultan Aliev | Decision (split) | UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson | December 17, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Sacramento, California, United States | |
| Draw | 14–3–1 | Michael Graves | Draw (majority) | UFC 201 | July 30, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Atlanta, Georgia, United States | |
| Win | 14–3 | Alessio Di Chirico | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Rothwell vs. dos Santos | April 10, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Zagreb, Croatia | Middleweight bout. |
| Win | 13–3 | Benjamin Smith | Submission (guillotine choke) | RFA 34: Veličković vs. Smith | January 15, 2016 | 3 | 1:51 | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | Won the vacant RFA Welterweight Championship. |
| Win | 12–3 | Vardan Sholinian | Decision (unanimous) | RFA 31: Smith vs. Marunde | October 9, 2015 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Catchweight (175 lbs) bout. |
| Win | 11–3 | Charles Byrd | Decision (unanimous) | AXS TV Fights: RFA vs. Legacy Superfight | May 8, 2015 | 3 | 5:00 | Robinsonville, Mississippi, United States | |
| Win | 10–3 | Chris Hugh | TKO (punches) | RFA 24: Smith vs. Romero | March 6, 2015 | 1 | 4:40 | Prior Lake, Minnesota, United States | |
| Loss | 9–3 | Gilbert Smith | Decision (majority) | RFA 20: Sanders vs. Mercado | November 7, 2014 | 3 | 5:00 | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | Welterweight debut. |
| Win | 9–2 | Nikolay Aleksakhin | Submission (guillotine choke) | Tesla FC 4 | June 14, 2014 | 2 | 2:35 | Pančevo, Serbia | Won TFC Middleweight Championship. |
| Loss | 8–2 | Krzysztof Jotko | Decision (majority) | MMA Attack 3 | April 27, 2013 | 3 | 5:00 | Katowice, Poland | |
| Win | 8–1 | Tomáš Kužela | Submission (rear-naked choke) | MMA Attack 3 | December 28, 2012 | 2 | N/A | Prague, Czech Republic | |
| Win | 7–1 | Jiří Procházka | TKO (punches) | Supreme FC 1: Balkan Fighter Night | December 9, 2012 | 1 | N/A | Belgrade, Serbia | |
| Loss | 6–1 | Svetlozar Savov | Decision (split) | WFC 17 - Olimp: Live & Fight | October 21, 2012 | 3 | N/A | Ljubljana, Slovenia | For WFC Middleweight Championship. |
| Win | 6–0 | Marko Lukačić | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Tesla FC 2 | December 24, 2011 | 1 | N/A | Belgrade, Serbia | |
| Win | 5–0 | Jason Lee | KO (punches) | Ring of Fire 41: Bragging Rights | August 20, 2011 | 1 | 1:39 | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Nemanja Uverić | Submission (guillotine choke) | Tesla FC 1 | June 19, 2011 | 2 | N/A | Belgrade, Serbia | |
| Win | 3–0 | Svetislav Nikolajev | Submission (armbar) | Tesla FC 1 | June 19, 2011 | 2 | N/A | Belgrade, Serbia | |
| Win | 2–0 | Marko Ignjatović | Submission (heel hook) | Ring of Fire Europe 2/3 | August 28, 2010 | 1 | 2:57 | Subotica, Serbia | |
| Win | 1–0 | Vladimir Jovanović | Submission (armbar) | Ring of Fire Europe 2/3 | August 28, 2010 | 1 | 3:59 | Subotica, Serbia |
References
- "Bojan Veličković". sherdog.com.
- http://www.ufc.com/fighter/bojan-velickovic?id=
- Zane Simon (2016-02-04). "Welcome to the UFC Bojan Velickovic". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
- Staff (2016-02-02). "Bojan Velickovic vs. Alessio Di Chirico slated for UFC Fight Night 86". themmareport.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
- Steven Marrocco (2016-04-10). "UFC Fight Night 86 results: Crowd unsure, but Bojan Velickovic tops Alessio Di Chirico". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
- Tristen Critchfield (2016-05-24). "UFC 201 Update: Michael Graves to face Bojan Velickovic in Atlanta on July 30". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
- Brent Brookhouse (2016-07-30). "UFC 201 results: Michael Graves and Bojan Velickovic grapple to majority draw". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
- Staff (2016-10-18). "Two fights added to UFC on FOX 22". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
- Brent Brookhouse (2016-12-17). "UFC on FOX 22 results: Sultan Aliev's top game leads to split decision over Bojan Velickovic". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
- Marcel Dorff (2017-03-31). "Nico Musoke returns after long layoff against Bojan Velickovic in Stockholm" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
- Ben Fowlkes (2017-05-28). "UFC Fight Night 109 results: Bojan Velickovic TKOs Nico Musoke in final minute of close fight". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
- Staff (2017-05-28). "UFC Fight Night 109 bonuses: Main event nabs 'Fight of the Night' honors". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
- "UFC-Rotterdam results: Darren Till strikes, showboats his way past Bojan Velickovic in crowd pleaser". MMAjunkie. 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
- Alex Oates (2017-10-12). "UFC Sydney: Jake Matthews announces move to welterweight, locks in fight with unheralded Serb". couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
- "UFC Fight Night 121 results: Jake Matthews takes split from Bojan Velickovic in return to 170". MMAjunkie. 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
- Marko Petrak (April 17, 2018). "Ekskluzivno – "Srpski čelik" potvrdio: Više nisam dio UFC-a, i mene je otkaz iznenadio!". fightsite.hr (in Cree).
- Jay Anderson (July 11, 2019). "PFL 4 2019 Results: Joao Zeferino Gets Past Bojan Velickovic via Unanimous Decision". cagesidepress.com.
- "MMA: Velickovic, Jankovic and Uveric sparkle in Vrbas!". engnews24h.com. March 15, 2020.
