"I’m very happy to fight all these guys" - Rade Opacic honored to share the cage with his idols

Rade Opacic has truly embodied the saying “work hard until your idols become your rivals.”

The Serbian heavyweight started as an impressionable fan but has now gone up the ranks in ONE Championship, holding a perfect 4-0 record in the promotion. Opacic is also a certified force in the division with a 100 percent finish rate.

In an interview with ONE Championship, the 24-year-old knockout artist described how he feels going from following some of his opponents’ careers to facing them inside the circle:

“It was a big thing for me to fight someone that I used to watch, who I looked at like a mentor or something.”

As fate would have it, his first opponent in the promotion was Errol Zimmerman. The former Glory tournament winner was even one of Opacic’s mentors in his early kickboxing career, yet the two traded leather in the most vicious of ways.

Opacic eventually knocked out his mentor in the second round of their December 2020 meeting in Singapore:

"[Zimmerman] was here in Belgrade when I first met him, and then I was in Holland training with him. And a couple of years after, I fought him and beat him. So it’s a great thing, a great memory. We’re still good friends, even before and after the fight, so everything is good.”

Rade Opacic added that Zimmerman was nothing but thoughtful when they first met in 2017 at the famous Hemmers Gym in Breda, Netherlands:

“I’ve been there twice, two training camps when I was 19 or 20 years old, so I felt a little bit of the training there and sparred with them. If you spar with some big names, you know where you belong. You can see what level you are at – if you are good or not good, and where the other guy is better. It’s good to see where you stand.”

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Rade Opacic is feeling nostalgic heading into his next fight

Opacic’s next opponent in his ONE Championship journey is another one of his fighting inspirations, Guto Inocente. The two heavyweights will match up at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on May 20 which will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Brazilian veteran is one of the most well-respected fighters in the sport and is a multi-time champion in the WGP. According to Rade Opacic, fighting Inocente has a similar feel to when he faced Zimmerman back in 2020:

“I watched his fights before. I’m very happy to fight all these guys. It’s a dream come true for me and I’m enjoying it.”