Borislav Nikolic took the short-notice chaos from his late UFC call-up, ate the scary part first, and still left UFC Belgrade with his hand raised. Not bad for a guy who replaced Josias Musasa and had to deal with Mark Vologdin throwing heat like he was trying to break the new guy at the door.
Nikolic defeated Vologdin by unanimous decision on Saturday, August 1, with all three judges turning in 29-27 scorecards. The fight was ugly in the best way, a three-round scramble through knockdowns, front chokes, bad ideas, and one Serbian crowd that got louder every time Nikolic refused to fold.
Watch Nikolic’s UFC Belgrade Octagon interview below.
The official result was Borislav Nikolic def. Mark Vologdin by unanimous decision, with all three cards reading 29-27. That tells you the weirdness of the bout right away, because Vologdin had the kind of first round that usually makes a debuting opponent start blinking like a busted dashboard light.
Nikolic Survived The Bad Moment And Took Over Late
Vologdin cracked Nikolic early with a short left hook and had him in danger with knees while Nikolic was stuck in a front choke. Nikolic got back to his feet, waved to the crowd, and kept marching forward, which is a very Serbian way to handle getting clipped in your UFC debut.
The second round swung on pressure. Vologdin kept giving him different looks, including spinning attacks that burned more energy than they created damage. Nikolic stayed on him, threw in bursts, and began forcing Vologdin into mistakes while the fight drifted from clean kickboxing into pure cage-fight mess.
The third round was where Nikolic put the receipts on the table. He dropped Vologdin with a right hand, threatened a front choke, landed heavy from top position, and later jumped on the back with a rear-naked choke attempt before the horn saved Vologdin from a nastier ending.
Watch the highlights below.
GOING ALL OUT [ Borislav Nikolic | #UFCBelgrade | LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ]
— UFC (@ufc) August 1, 2026
WHAT A SCRAP Borislav Nikolic earns the hard-fought UD victory! [ #UFCBelgrade | LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ]
— UFC (@ufc) August 1, 2026
BRAVO BOKI #UFCBelgrade Borislav Nikolic gets the win in his Octagon debut!
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 1, 2026
In the cage afterward, Nikolic admitted the early shot scrambled him. “After first punch I can’t remember,” he said, before adding that Vologdin did not catch him off guard. “He didn’t surprise me. He’s a tough opponent. I was prepared for everything. This is my moment.”
Then came the fun part. Nikolic used his mic time to call for Brad Katona, saying he wanted revenge after grinding out a UFC debut win that was anything but clean. It was a proper fighter callout, short, direct, and delivered while the adrenaline was still leaking out of the cage.
The win also gives the former BRAVE CF bantamweight champion a much better problem than just being the short-notice replacement. He is now a UFC bantamweight with a win, a home-country pop, and an obvious next name. With Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez still carrying the top of the Serbia card, Nikolic made sure his own UFC Belgrade moment did not get buried in the undercard noise.
