Aleksandar Rakic is changing weight classes this weekend, and the first test is a hard one. He will make his Heavyweight debut against Marcin Tybura on Sat., Aug. 1, 2026, in the Featured Fight of the UFC Belgrade main card at Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.
The move is the clearest sign yet that Rakic wants a different kind of career from here on out. After 20 professional fights and 11 in the Octagon, the 34-year-old said the long grind to make 205 pounds had become too costly, and that his body now needs about two months to recover after each cut. He said the last cuts took 38 and 39 pounds, a number that helps explain why the change to Heavyweight is happening now.
Rakic has been cutting weight for 20 years, and he says the work is no longer just a matter of discipline. He said doctors told him it is not the healthiest path anymore if he wants a life after fighting, and he made clear that his frame is not built for endless strain. At 6-foot-4, he said he is not a small guy, and at Heavyweight his body should no longer be forced into the same recovery cycle after every camp.
That is the part of the move that makes sense on paper. Rakic said that in the Light Heavyweight division he could not take a fight immediately after one bout or step in on short notice because he needed time to get his body right again. At Heavyweight, he believes he can fight much more often, and he has already said he plans to turn around quickly after this weekend. For a fighter who has generally competed about twice per year, the new division offers a different rhythm.
But the change does not erase the pressure on him. Rakic is also carrying a four-fight losing streak, which means this debut is as much about stopping the slide as it is about starting over. UFC Belgrade gives him a stage to do that in front of a friendly crowd, yet Tybura is not the kind of opponent who offers a soft landing. The 39-year-old veteran has spent years as a durable Heavyweight spoiler, the sort of test that can expose whether a bigger body and fewer cuts are enough to make the switch work.
That is why this fight matters beyond one night in Belgrade. If Rakic can make the division jump look real, the calendar could move quickly with him. If he wins on Saturday, UFC may try to book him again for a numbered event in Abu Dhabi in October, which would be the kind of fast turnaround he could rarely manage at Light Heavyweight. For Rakic, this weekend is not just a debut. It is the first answer to a question that will follow him into the next few months: whether Heavyweight can give him a longer career, a steadier schedule, and a way out of the damage that came with making weight for so many years.
