Despite a noted lack of hype coming into fight week, UFC Belgrade ended up being the little card that could with a record setting twelve finishes and ten first round finishes. There were also eight knockouts, which was not a record but still an impressive number.
The crowd in Serbia represented as well, showing up early and staying raucous all through the night … perhaps a little too raucous. In what we understand is a classic Serbian sports move, fans in the crowd were lighting off flares in the rafters,
turning the arena a glowing red.
“Is this the first time you’ve ever seen flares in the crowd at a UFC?” TheMacLife’s Oscar Willis asked UFC CEO Dana White following the event.
“Yes. Thank God,” White replied with a nervous laugh. “I hope I never see that again.”
Fans lit flares following hometown fighter Uros Medic’s 30 second knockout of Daniel Rodriguez (highlights here), with the cameras on the broadcast capturing the moment. Those with phones in the arena captured at least two other flares being lit off, which is apparently a pretty chill display by Serbian standards. During soccer matches, dozens of flares are lit at the same time, turning massive stadiums an eerie crimson with smoke everywhere.
As cool as it looked on television, we certainly wouldn’t want to be sat near someone in a tiny arena seat when a flare gets lit up. People can’t even manage to keep beer in their cup, and now we’re trusting them with a 2000 degree flame? It was cool to see a hometown tradition make it onto the broadcast, though, given how homogeneous the UFC likes to make their broadcasts no matter where in the world they are.
