A rather unusual incident caught the eye on the preliminary card of UFC Belgrade , held this Saturday (1). In the 'desperate' duel between Bogdan Grad and Dennis Buzukja , the American ended up being defeated by submission with a katagatame in the second round. However, after the fight ended, he claimed that he did not give up, which caused confusion in the octagon.
After a first round dominated by Bogdan Grad , the second round followed the same script. The Austrian managed to take the fight to the ground and maintained control, punishing his opponent with ground and pound strikes until the decisive moment, in the final stretch of the round.
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Grad took his opponent down again and locked in the katagatame. In a desperate move, Dennis Buzukja tapped his rival's leg, a gesture that referee Jason Herzog interpreted as a submission, immediately stopping the fight. After the result was announced, the American fighter contested the decision, stating that he had not tapped out three times.
Watch the moment of the controversy.
DID HE TAP???? #UFCBelgrade pic.twitter.com/D1WaZaQVy0
— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) August 1, 2026
With the victory, Bogdan Grad ends his losing streak and returns to the winning track in the organization. On the other hand, Dennis Buzukja suffers his third consecutive defeat in three UFC fights.
Check out the results from UFC Belgrade.
MAIN CARD (14pm Brasília time)
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Uros Medic defeated Daniel Rodriguez by knockout (punches) at 0:30 of round 1.
Light heavyweight (up to 92,9 kg): Navajo Stirling defeated Jan Blachowicz by technical knockout (punches) at 2:56 of round 1.
Heavyweight (up to 120,2 kg): Aleksandar Rakic defeated Marcin Tybura by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Middleweight (up to 83,9 kg): Robert Valentin defeated Dusko Todorovic by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:14 of round 1.
Middleweight (up to 83,9 kg): Gilbert Urbina defeated Vlasto Cepo by technical knockout (punches) at 1 minute and 1 second of round 1.
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Noah Gugnon defeated Milos Janicic by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:20 of round 1.
PRELIMINARY CARD (11pm Brasília time)
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Tofiq Musayev defeated Ludovit Klein by technical knockout (punches) at 4:07 of round 2.
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Michael PQD Oliveira defeated Oban Elliott by knockout (punches) at 1:49 of round 1.
Bantamweight (up to 61,2 kg): Borislav Nikolic defeated Mark Vologdin by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Bogdan Grad defeated Dennis Buzukja by submission (Katagatame) at 4:31 of round 2.
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Mateusz Rebecki defeated Kyle Prepolec by technical knockout (Ground and Pound) at 4:40 of round 1.
Bantamweight (up to 61,2 kg): Nina Milosevic defeated Hailey Cowan by technical knockout (straight to the body) at 3:41 of round 1.
Heavyweight (up to 120,2 kg): Jovan Leka defeated Alexander Poppeck by technical knockout (middle kick) at 2:22 of round 1.
Strawweight (up to 52,1 kg): Stephanie Rondinha defeated Marina Spasic by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:22 of round 1.
Exclusive: Michael PQD talks about his brutal UFC debut victory.
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