Dragan Tešanović ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Тешановић, born September 2, 1985) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n retired

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

(MMA) fighter who competes in the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Tešanović mostly competed in the Eastern European circuit, before signing with the Bellator Fighting Championships.

Mixed martial arts career

Background and early career

Tešanović is regarded as a well-rounded fighter, due to his "solid stand-up, great ground work and dangerous clinch game." Tešanović often utilises "soccer kicks" in fights, drawing on his footballing background. In addition to his professional MMA career, Tešanović has placed first in five Serbian submission fighting competitions. He also holds a 5–1 record in amateur MMA and has been training since the age of 19. In 2009, Tešanović was named as the sixth top prospect in Europe by Sherdog. Tešanović's early career saw him compile a perfect 7–0 record, with three first round stoppages. Amongst this record was a decision victory over Antoni Chmielewski after dominating with knee strikes and effective takedown defence. Tešanović was scheduled to make his English debut in December 2009 against

Papy Abedi Mwimbi Papy Abedi (born June 30, 1978) is a Congolese-Swedish mixed martial artist who last competed in 2017. A professional competitor since 2006, he formerly fought for the UFC. Biography Abedi was born in 1978 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democra ...

, though the fight never took place as Tešanović withdrew. His final appearance in his early career was against Gregor Herb. Tešanović won the fight via decision.

Bellator Fighting Championships

In August 2010, Tešanović signed with

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney stated that "Dragan Tešanović has tremendous potential to become a dominant middleweight" and that "his diverse training regime and quickly progressing skill-set set the table for him to make substantial impact in our 185 division". Later, Tešanović signed to participate in his debut for the promotion. His opponent was named as Mike Bernhard, with the fight taking place at Bellator 34. Tešanović's previous seven fights have been held in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, making his Bellator 34 fight in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

his North American debut. He lost the fight via unanimous decision (27–30, 28–29, 28–29).

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 8-2 , Matteo Minonzio , TKO (knee) , TFC - Tesla Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:30 ,

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Serbia , , - , Loss , align=center, 7-2 , Svetoslav Savov , Submission (guillotine choke) , WFC 13 - Heavy Hitters , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

, Serbia , , - , Loss , align=center, 7-1 , Mike Bernhard , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 34 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7-0 , Gregor Herb , Decision (unanimous) , WFC 11 - Bash at the Beach , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Portorož,

, , - , Win , align=center, 6-0 , Markus Di Gallo , TKO (punch) , WFC 10 - Night of Champions , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:43 ,

Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 5-0 , Matus Laincz , TKO (punches) , Ultra FC - Stop the Crime , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:31 ,

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 4-0 , Antoni Chmielewski , Decision (unanimous) , WFC 6 - Relentless , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 3-0 , Saša Mitrović , TKO (punches) , Memorijal Gidra Stojanović , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Belgrade, Serbia , , - , Win , align=center, 2-0 , Mihaly Dobrai , TKO (punches) , Ultimate Fight - Čačak , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Bojan Vojnović , TKO (punches) , Memorijal Gidra Stojanović , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:49 , Belgrade, Serbia , ''Except where otherwise indicated, details provided in the record box are taken from Sherdog.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tesanovic, Dragan 1985 births Living people Serbian male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Belgrade Place of birth missing (living people)