Vlasto Cepo‘s UFC debut couldn’t have gone worse. ‘El Chapo,’ a highly regarded middleweight prospect outside the UFC, aimed to impress his hometown audience at UFC Belgrade. Instead, Gilbert Urbina, who appeared to be fighting to remain on the roster, stole the show with a surprise first-round 61-second finish.
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The two fighters exchanged hard shots, with Vlasto Cepo appearing to have a better chance of stopping the fight early. But ‘The RGV Bad Boy’ had other plans, as he responded with a crisp straight left counter that downed the Serbian before swarming him with ground-and-pound, forcing the referee to wave off the fight just a minute into the first round.
As expected, the shocker generated a flood of reactions online, with many fans believing the brutal loss should mean the end of Cepo’s UFC run before it even really began.
“Getting finished by Urbina should be an immediate cut,” one fan wrote. This reaction isn’t out of place, as the 30-year-old had walked into the fight on a two-bout losing streak and has a promotional record of 2-3.
Another questioned whether Vlasto Cepo’s regional success had painted a misleading picture: “Nightmare for Cepo, looked flabby compared to on the regional scene, probably a regional roid merchant? Being fraud-checked by Gilbert f—— Urbina in 2026 is wild.”
Others pointed to Urbina’s own struggles entering the fight, making the result even more surprising. “Losing to Urbina like that is low-key embarrassing. Urbina looked so uncomfortable, and the positioning was really bad; she still managed to clip him for a finish somehow,” one fan commented.
Some went even further. “Losing to 7-5 Urbina should be immediate retirement,” one user wrote. Another added, “Getting cooked by Gilbert Urbina in 60 seconds is an indication you aren’t UFC level.”
Others called for immediate action from the promotion. “If you lose to Urbina, you should be banned from the sport on the spot,” one fan joked.
Another simply tweeted, “Cepo is a piece of trash. Cut him.”
One final reaction suggested the Serbian’s aggressive style may have worked against him: “Someone tell Vlasto Čepo that these aren’t street fights.”
For Gilbert Urbina, the win couldn’t have come at a better time. With only one win in his previous four UFC outings, the former Ultimate Fighter contestant came into the fight looking for a statement performance, and he delivered.
In fact, after the win, ‘The RGV Bad Boy’ even acknowledged the challenge that Vlasto Cepo presented and hinted that he believes he’s capable of hanging with anyone at 185 pounds.
“Cepo’s a very dangerous guy,” he said in the post-fight interview. “I know a lot of guys in the middleweight division didn’t want to fight him.
“A lot of dangerous middleweights out there in Las Vegas, maybe even the one with the title, knows how dangerous I can be.”
It is worth noting that the animosity between the two middleweights had already reached a boiling point before fight night.
Gilbert Urbina’s upset came after a heated final faceoff with Vlasto Cepo
During the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday, Gilbert Urbina and Vlasto Cepo had a final staredown before entering the Octagon. And such was the tension that UFC CEO Dana White stepped in to hold ‘El Chapo’ back as the intensity escalated, though he briefly broke into laughter after hearing Urbina’s trash talk.
“There’s no escape Chapo,” Urbina said, referencing Vlasto Čepo’s nickname, “El Chapo,” inspired by notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán. “You’re going down and I’m taking you back to America.
“I’m taking you back to America dead or alive, baby. Dead or alive, we’re taking Chapo back to America.”
The conversation didn’t end there. Following the staged faceoff, the two continued jawing at each other, prompting security to intervene before things could escalate any further. For anyone familiar, Gilbert Urbina’s “dead or alive” line was fitting.
After all, the Serbian came into the UFC with a perfect 100% finishing rate across his 14 wins, having scored 10 knockouts and four submissions. However, against Urbina, Vlasto Čepo’s all-action style looked to backfire against him, as he was caught in an early firefight and paid the price just 61 seconds into his UFC debut.
Luckily for the home crowd, ‘El Chapo’ wasn’t the only local prospect making his first appearance on the card. While the Serbian suffered a nightmare debut, Borislav Nikolic, a regional standout, delivered in front of his home crowd.
The reigning BRAVE CF bantamweight champion accepted the fight on less than a week’s notice and took advantage of the opportunity, defeating Mark Vologdin via decision to kick off his UFC run with a win.
Nikolic earned a 17-2 record in BRAVE CF before joining the promotion. Vologdin, meanwhile, was making only his second UFC appearance after landing a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. Prior to the late change, the Russian was set to go one-on-one against Josias Musasa.
For the hometown fans, Nikolic’s win provided at least one successful debut after Vlasto Cepo’s shocking first-round defeat stole the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
