Aleksandar Rakic’s journey to the top echelon of the UFC 205-pound division has been an interesting one. The Austrian fighter started off playing soccer as a young child but soon transitioned to martial arts due to an unfortunate yet fortuitous event in his life. He was kicked off of his local soccer team for being too aggressive and getting into fights at the drop of a hat.

However, this turned out to be for the best as he found combat sports, and fell in love with it. ‘Rocket’ was so invested in martial arts that he had already been in forty fights even before he made his transition to MMA. Fast forward a decade, and he is one of the most exciting prospects in the UFC. So let’s shine some light on the Austrian fighter’s gym and coaches.

Who is Aleksandar Rakic’s coach? Where is his gym?

After leaving his local soccer team, Aleksandar Rakic started training in martial arts at the age of twelve. He started off with boxing and kickboxing and took a liking to the sports. The ethnic Serb had his first organized fight two years later, at the tender age of fourteen. While he undoubtedly has a warrior spirit, a large part of the credit for his success goes to his team and coaches, Gym 23 and American Top Team where he trains.

A relative latecomer to mixed martial arts, Aleksandar did not start training in the novel sport until he was twenty and already an experienced fighter. Rakic started and continues to train MMA in his hometown of Vienna. The 32-year-old trains at ‘Gym 23’ in the Austrian capital under head coach Nebil Sabai. ‘Rocket’ trains at the distinguished ‘American Top Team’ gym, home to several MMA stars. But the branch Rakic trains at is in Zagreb, Croatia.

Rakic also holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under coach Roberto Pastuch, and he will need all his skills and good advice from his team if he is to beat the undoubtedly brilliant former champion on April 13. Coach Pastuch ensures a sense of camaraderie among his team. With a background in Aikido, he tends to impart the Japanese philosophy of ‘Budo’, which helps the fighters maintain discipline, honor, and respect.

That’s probably how Rakic came to be such a disciplined and phenomenal fighter. After all, it’s not just the physical training that makes a fighter. Mental training plays a vital role as well, but who does Rakic train with?

A long list of Aleksandar Rakic’s teammates

While talking about the ATT gym, strong and established fighters like Dustin Poirier,  Jorge Masvidal, and Junior Dos Santos, often come to mind. Unfortunately, they’re not the ones that Rakic trains with. At American Top Team gym, ‘Rocket’ trains together with Ivica ‘Terror’ Truscek, Igor ‘The Duke’ Pokrajac, Lemmy ‘The Wardog’ Krusic, Filip ‘Nitro’ Pejic, and many others.

When Rakic trains in Vienna, he receives support from Markus ‘Mafia’ Di Gallo, Grigor Ashughbabyan, Gerald ‘Geri’ Turek, Ruben ‘The Viking’ Wolf, and about 20 more mixed martial artists. This is the place where he spends most of his time. And befriending the members of the team was indeed the first thing he did. Now, as Rakic gets ready to face Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 308, he will surely receive maximum support from his teammates.

After all, he needs every bit of backing he can get to overturn his 2-fight losing spree and defeat someone like Ankalaev. Do you think Rakic can rise victorious over his Russian opponent? Let us know in the comments down below.