Where Does Aleksandar Rakić Train? Coaches, Gym Training Partners and All About the UFC Light Heavyweight

Published 04/07/2024, 1:01 AM EDT

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.

So invested was ‘Rocket’ in martial arts that he already had had forty fights before he even made his transition to MMA. Fast forward a decade, and he is one of the most exciting prospects in the UFC. 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. Ahead of his UFC 300 clash against Jiri Prochazka this week, which may be the most important fight of his career so far, we take a look at his team and coach.

Aleksandar Rakic still trains with Austrian team

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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.

A relative latecomer to mixed martial arts, he 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 MMA stars like Dustin Poirier, Jorge Masvidal, Junior Dos Santos, and Andre Arlovski. 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 ‘Rocket’ will need all his skills, experience, and good advice from his team if he is to beat the undoubtedly brilliant former champion on April 13.

Rakic expected to be back with a vengeance against ‘Jiri’

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The reason Aleksandar Rakic was christened ‘Rocket’ by fans after his viral head-kick knockout of Jimmy Manuwa in 2019 is because of his tendency to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. The Austrian puts relentless pressure on his opponents from the first bell with his lethal striking ability. And fans expect nothing less in his next fight against Jiri Prochazka on Saturday.

Rakic is coming off an unfortunate loss to former champion Jan Blachowicz two years ago. He injured the ligament in his right knee, before suffering a third-round KO to the Polish juggernaut. This, of course, has kept him out of action for two years.

Given this long hiatus and a potential 205-pound title shot, if he can get through Prochazka, fans are expecting the Austrian to be at his absolute best. But he is not the only one coming into the bout with a chip on his shoulder. Prochazka, too, is coming off an injury and a tough loss.

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‘BJP’ came back after a shoulder injury but lost to Alex Pereira in their UFC 295 light heavyweight title bout and will himself be looking to remind the UFC world just how good he is. The fight has all the ingredients of being an absolute banger, with someone almost definitely getting slept. What are your predictions for UFC 300?

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports with nearly 5 years of professional writing experience. Kanishk has expertly covered the heated rivalries of the fight game, and delivered meticulous reports of payouts of PPV events and Fight Nights, in addition to covering the personal side of fighters outside the sport. He is also an ardent Joe Rogan fan, who hopes to draw in more fans to the sport as Rogan did for him.

Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen

Where Does Aleksandar Rakić Train? Coaches, Gym Training Partners and All About the UFC Light Heavyweight

Aleksandar Rakic still trains with Austrian team

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Rakic expected to be back with a vengeance against ‘Jiri’