Veteran Fighter Books Next UFC Fight Just Days After Losing UFC Debut

"Ironside" was stopped in his short-notice debut at UFC Belgrade

(Zuffa LLC)

A veteran fighter has already booked his next matchup after being stopped in his UFC debut last weekend.

The UFC returns home to Las Vegas, NV this Saturday for another UFC Fight Night event at the Meta APEX facility, but last weekend the promotion made history with its first-ever event in Serbia.

Uros Medic closed out UFC Belgrade with a 30-second finish of Daniel Rodriguez to give the event a record-breaking 12 finishes out of 14 scheduled fights, and the card also saw a total of nine different fighters make their promotional debuts with the UFC.

Alexander Poppeck Books Next Fight Days After Losing UFC Debut

UFC Belgrade featured two matchups that were contested between UFC newcomers, the first of which was a heavyweight bout between Jovan Leka and Alexander Poppeck that served as the second bout of the card’s prelims.

The fight saw Poppeck step in on short notice following the withdrawal of Max Gimenis, and Leka ended up stopping the former Oktagon MMA star just under halfway through the opening round after folding him with a nasty body kick followed by a series of follow-up strikes on the ground.

Alexander Poppeck (blue gloves) gets ready to fight Jovan Leka (not shown) during UFC Fight Night at Belgrade Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Leka’s victory featured as part of a five-fight stretch of finishes that kicked off UFC Belgrade, and the result ended an unbeaten run for Poppeck that dated back to 2024 and spanned six fights.

Jovan Leka (red gloves) fights Alexander Poppeck (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Belgrade Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Poppeck moved up to heavyweight from his usual light heavyweight division to make his UFC debut in Belgrade, and apparently the 34-year-old has already booked his next fight less than a week after being stopped by Leka.

Felipe Franco Returns Following First UFC Victory

First reported by Léo Guimaraes, Poppeck will return to 205 lbs. to take on Brazil’s Felipe Franco at a UFC Fight Night event scheduled to take place on October 10.

A veteran of Dana White’s Contender Series, Franco brought an 8-0 record into his matchup with Freddy Vidal last September but was submitted in the final seconds of the fight and failed to earn a UFC contract.

Mario Pinto (red gloves) fights Felipe Franco (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Brazilian returned in December and rebounded from his first loss with a 32-second finish, and in his first outing of 2026 he also secured a first-round submission to put himself back on the UFC’s radar.

Like Poppeck, Franco took advantage of a short-notice opportunity and moved up to heavyweight to replace Mick Parkin at this year’s edition of UFC London, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Mario Pinto.

Levi Rodrigues Jr. (red gloves) fights Felipe Franco (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Paycom Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 25-year-old moved back down to his natural light heavyweight division for his sophomore UFC outing in July and secured a “Performance of the Night” bonus for stopping the formerly-unbeaten Levi Rodrigues Jr. at UFC Oklahoma City.

UFC Vegas 122 Fight Card

Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Otari Tanzilovi

Matheus Camilo vs. Jai Herbert

Francisco Prado vs. Artur Minev

Darya Zheleznyakova vs. Alice Pereira

Felipe Franco vs. Alexander Poppeck