Kyle Prepolec says his trip to Serbia is “fantastic” as he prepares to face Mateusz Rebecki on the preliminary card of UFC Belgrade on Saturday. For the Canadian lightweight, this is more than just another fight: it is a chance to compete in a country tied to his family background, while also trying to move on from a long and difficult UFC road.
Prepolec is not arriving in Belgrade as a newcomer to hard moments. His first UFC call-up came in the spring of 2019 after he had built a 14-5 record, and his path since then has included a release from the promotion, a diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis after the Austin Hubbard fight in Vancouver, and more than two years out of competition when the COVID era began.
Why Belgrade matters to Prepolec
The emotional side of this one is easy to understand. Prepolec has said his mother grew up in the region before emigrating, and he has described the opportunity as personal as well as professional. “This is where my mom grew up before they emigrated here,” he said, making clear why the debut UFC event in the Balkan nation carries extra meaning.
He has also been open about how he expects the crowd to respond. “I’m half-Serbian, half-Croatian, so either you’re gonna like it or not like it out there, or maybe they’ll be like, ‘This guy is a hybrid!’” he said. That kind of comment fits the atmosphere around a first UFC card in Belgrade: part sporting assignment, part identity moment.
What kind of run has Prepolec been on?
Prepolec’s career has not followed a straight line, but his recent form suggests he is still a live fighter at lightweight. After returning to competition, he won four of five starts, including three straight first-round stoppage wins. That is the kind of momentum that can quickly change the tone around a fighter who once found himself away from the UFC picture altogether.
There have also been setbacks along the way. Last May in Montreal, he stepped in when Joel Alvarez could not make the trip and lost to Benoît Saint Denis by second-round submission. Then last October in Vancouver, he and Drew Dober earned Fight of the Night honors, another reminder that Prepolec has been involved in a varied run of fights since returning.
A long road back to the UFC stage
The broader story is one of persistence. In 2019, Prepolec fought Nordine Taleb in Ottawa on roughly a week’s notice and lost by unanimous decision. Four months later he fought Austin Hubbard in Vancouver, and after that bout came the diagnosis that changed the next stretch of his career. A few months later, as the COVID pandemic began, he was released from the UFC.
For more than two years after that release, Prepolec did not compete. That makes this weekend’s appearance in Belgrade more than a routine booking. He is back on the UFC stage, in a place that matters to his family, with a chance to keep building after a career that has already tested him in multiple ways.
Prepolec has said the broader lesson is easy to miss from the outside. “Obviously, everyone wants to win, but everyone only sees what they see,” he said. “They don’t see behind the scenes of you’re in the gym all the time, you’re doing this, doing that. He’s not drinking, going to parties, missing special events. People don’t see that, and you don’t know how hard that guy works, how long it took to get there; there are no overnight successes.”
That is the right frame for UFC Belgrade. Rebecki is the immediate challenge, but for Prepolec the night is also about the reward for staying in the fight long enough to get back here. As he put it, “The win is super-important, but the experience and the journey — it’s not always th...”
