Damir Hadžović Record: 14-8-0

UFC tenure

Hadžović's Octagon debut in April 2016 was a brutal one: Mairbek Taisumov knocked him out in the first round. He answered in the best possible way, returning in 2017 to score a third-round knee knockout of Marcin Held – the kind of highlight finish that defined his appeal. The next stretch underlined his all-or-nothing reputation: a 2018 decision loss to Alan Patrick sandwiched between a split-decision win over Nick Hein and a 2019 second-round TKO of Polo Reyes.

The later years

From there the lightweight gauntlet caught up with him. A unanimous-decision loss to Christos Giagos in 2019 was followed by a first-round rear-naked-choke submission against Renato Moicano in March 2020. He found a bright spot with a unanimous-decision win over Yancy Medeiros in June 2021, but then dropped a decision to Marc Diakiese in 2022 and, after a long layoff, was stopped by first-round strikes from Terrance McKinney in February 2025. The veteran's resume now reads 14-8, a testament to a long career spent trading with high-level competition.

Fighting style

Hadžović is a power striker first and foremost, and his finish breakdown reflects it: seven of his 14 wins have come by knockout, several via his signature knees in the clinch, alongside three submissions for a 71% finish rate. His Arte Suave grounding gives him a respectable jiu-jitsu base, but his trademark has always been the threat of a fight-ending shot at any moment. The flip side is consistency – five of his eight losses came by decision and two by knockout, the mark of a fighter whose aggressive, swing-for-the-fences approach can leave him exposed against patient, well-rounded opposition. At his best, though, few lightweights have been more capable of ending a night with a single strike.

Career highlights

• Cage Warriors breakout — knocked out the experienced John Maguire in the first round in 2014 to force his way into the UFC conversation.
• Highlight-reel knee knockout — stopped Marcin Held with a third-round knee in 2017 for one of his signature UFC finishes.
• Refugee-to-UFC journey — rose from fleeing the Bosnian War as a child to a long career in the UFC lightweight division out of Copenhagen's Arte Suave.