If you forgot who Mirsad Bektic was, he served everyone a brutal reminder in Charlotte.
At the beginning of 2017, Mirsad Bektic was an undefeated prospect who seemed destined to compete for a UFC title. He was dominating everyone the promotion threw at him. When he was matched up against Darren Elkins at UFC 209, it looked like another lopsided win was in the bag.
In the first round, Bektic crushed Elkins. He outlanded him by 102 strikes to six. He outwrestled, outgrappled and outworked him to comfortably take a 10-8 round. Although his pace slowed in the second frame, all three judges awarded it to him 10-9. All he needed to do was close out the third to secure a win over a streaking opponent.
However, 'the Damage' had other ideas.
Elkins crawled through the fire on his hands and knees, stood up and rendered the prospect unconscious. Bektic fell face-first into the canvas. His neck took the full weight of his body. It was a soul-destroying way to suffer the first loss of his professional career.
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It took nearly a full calendar year for Bektic to return to the Octagon. During this period, he made the move to Tristar gym in Montreal, home to Georges St-Pierre, Rory MacDonald an Joseph Duffy. When he came back against Godofredo Pepey in Charlotte, he had a point to prove.
Pepey is one of the most dangerous fighters not ranked at 145 lbs. His creative, ultra-aggressive style coupled with his long reach makes him a legitimate finishing threat to anyone. The flashy striking game shut down pretty quickly once Bektic got his hands on him.
One crushing right hand to the sternum followed by some brutal ground-and-pound later, Bektic was awarded the TKO win at 2:47 of round one. That fight-ending sequence earned him a $50,000 performance bonus and erased some of the memory of that Elkins loss.
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The win improved Bektic's record to 12-1. After the fight, he said he would be keeping an eye on the featherweight dual between Andre Fili and Dennis Bermudez further up the bill. Fili secured the win via contentious split decision.
