Highlights! Rakic Dominates ‘Lionheart’ In Main Event Debut

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakic captured the biggest win of his career last night (Sat., Aug. 29, 2020) at UFC Vegas 8 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the Austrian fighter dominated former title challenger Anthony Smith for a unanimous decision win.

A barrage of early leg kicks by Rakic quickly put Smith in trouble. The former title challenger ended up falling to the canvas, but somehow grabbed a hold of Rakic’s back. Rakic was able to reverse and score significant ground-and-pound to close out the remaining moments of the the first round.

Smith advanced early into the second and landed a big shot on the feet, but Rakic immediately shot for a takedown to land in top control. Then came more ground-and-pound by Rakic as Smith tried to position for a possible submission attempt. Rakic kept good posture and allowed his pressure to steer the fight and eliminate any real threat.

In Round 3, Rakic turned the pressure up on the feet and scored heavy kicks to the body and a knee to the head. Smith backed into the cage and Rakic scored another takedown. From there, Rakic once again held “Lionheart” down and scored punches from top position. The action would eventually return to the feet but Smith didn’t do nearly enough to get himself back in the fight.

Check out the highlights below courtesy of UFC/ESPN.

For complete UFC Vegas 8 results and highlights click here.