MMA gala on Friday

Fists fly in the cage after nasty looks

Bogdan Grad (right) and Co. march up to the official weigh-in on Thursday. Schordje (left) is eager for his fight against Vito Spic.

(Bild: CFS (2), Krone KREATIV)

The weigh-in is over, enough dirty looks have been exchanged, now the fists are flying! An MMA spectacle awaits on Friday with the Cage Fight Series 14 at Schwarzlsee near Graz. KronePLUS customers(see our offers here) can watch all preliminaries and selected main fights live from 6 pm.

Everything is ready. The official weigh-in and line-up of the athletes on Thursday evening was practically the starting signal for the 14th edition of the renowned Cage Fight Series. Weeks and months of hard training and eating to build muscle are followed in the final days before the event by a number of "starvation diets" for the athletes to get down to the right fighting weight.

For Daniel Schordje, this "ordeal" was limited this time. "Because I agreed with my opponent, who normally fights in a higher weight class, that we would meet in the middle." In other words, that we would move from the lightweight class up to 70.3 kilos, in which the fight was officially listed, towards 74 kilos.

Bogdan Grad (right) and Co. march up to the official weigh-in. Schordje (left) is fired up for his fight against Vito Spic.

(Bild: CFS (2), Krone KREATIV)

Heavy(er) okay, Schordje feels "in top form" and is focusing on a lot of mental work, breathing exercises and fight visualizations in addition to "short, crisp units" in his preparations. How does he rate his opponent Vito Spic from Slovenia? "A strong guy with a good physique. But he's more of a brawler than a highly-skilled technician," winks Schordje.

"Thinking from fight to fight"
For the 32-year-old from Wr. Neustadt, who always trains from Monday to Wednesday at the Champions Gym in Graz with MMA pioneers and series organizers Gerhard and Michael Ettl, this is his fourth professional fight since his debut in March this year. The goal is clearly a fourth victory - and then? "I could say that - like all MMA pros - I would like to be in the UFC. But I prefer to set myself smaller interim goals, thinking from fight to fight."

Especially as competitive sport was and is by no means everything for the office clerk and father of two girls (aged 1 and 4), but still "provides structure". Schordje used to get lost in the soccer hooligan and Identitarian scene with alcohol and violence. Until he pulled the ripcord - encouraged by the Ettls as a talented martial artist - and radically changed his lifestyle in favor of his family and his MMA career in all areas. "Now I have to live healthily, plan my diet and training and much more." Time well spent.

Like many other athletes, Schordje can't understand why the tough MMA scene is often criticized for being "just a bunch of hooligans anyway". "Anyone who thinks that it's all just a lot of fighting hasn't got a clue, hasn't understood anything. Mixed martial arts is a high-performance sport, technically extremely demanding, strictly regulated - and has long since arrived in the mainstream."

More and more events, television and, above all, pompous internet productions are proving this. The world's largest organization, the UFC, including its well-known figureheads who fight in Las Vegas and other show capitals, has long since become a billion-dollar brand.

Livestream
Since 2022, it has also been broadcasting the maincard duels of the Cage Fight Series around the globe via UFC Fightpass. This time, however, delayed by a few days. That's why KronePLUS subscribers(see our offers here) will not only be able to watch all the prelims live and as usual this Friday here on krone.at, but also selected main fights for the first time! The latter, however, with original English commentary.