SALT LAKE CITY – Uros Medic beat Matthew Semelsberger with a third-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 291 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Take a look inside the fight with Medic, who has back-to-back knockout wins despite being the betting underdog in both fights.
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Uros Medic
Result: Uros Medic def. Matthew Semelsberger via TKO (elbow, punches) – Round 3, 2:36
Updated records: Medic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Semelsberger (11-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC)
Key stats: All nine of Medic’s wins have been by stoppage, including seven knockouts.
Medic on the fight's key moment
“Things just came together. I started hurting him to the body – I think I saw it on him a little bit. He did have a good poker face, so I think I hurt him even earlier. When the finish was there, I don’t know exactly what happened. I did get rocked. I found myself on my back. I got up. I did sneak in some shots from the ground with my upkicks, as I remember, and in the second round, I think I even dropped him kicking up”
Medic on fighting in Utah
“I like it a lot. I could see myself – I don’t know about living in the city, but I would like to live here in the state of Utah. … It is so beautiful. It reminds me a lot of Alaska, and I spent six years in Alaska. It’s super nice. I could see myself spending more time here, especially in the wintertime.”
Medic on teammate Beneil Dariush vs. Charles Oliveira
“If you guys remember, Beneil Dariush had a finish just a few years ago (against) Scott Holtzman. (Dariush is) my main training partner. I love him to death, just like all the guys at Kings MMA. We train so hard together. They’ve all had my back. It’s been a year that I didn’t fight, and they all trained with me, whatever I needed, whenever I needed. Benny went through hell and back (helping me) and lost his fight against Charles (Oliveira). So many things happened in that camp.
“Charles was the better man that night, but that wasn’t Benny that I know and I wish I could get that fight back for him as the Benny that I know. I think Benny beats him nine out of 10 times, and that was that one of those times. It’s not comparable to any other sport.”
Medic on what he wants next
“November? Yeah. Yeah. I I would like to, why not? I mean, there. Why not? If I’m healthy, if I’m ready, let’s go. I would hope to fight in Paris. This is what I wanted because then I can go to Europe and see my family. I do need UFC to help me out with my immigration so I can sort that out. I’m good here (in the U.S.), but for some reason, I’m still waiting on the travel documentation to be sorted out and immigration system is not the fastest system working around here, and I understand – they’ve got a lot of work to do. So I’m patient, but at some point, I’m like, ‘What’s going on? Where do we begin, and where does it end?'”
To hear more from Medic, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
