Interview: Croatian M-1 fighter Antun Račić on his ‘invaluable experience’ at Team Alpha Male

It’s not unusual to see American MMA fighters travel from gym to gym in order to work on aspects of their game, or just to sharpen their skillsets with a fresh outlook or a different coaching mindset that is more compatible with their methods and form of thought. Yet what has become somewhat more common is to see some international fighters move around, training with one high-level team to another, especially if it’s only for a set period of time before returning to their original team.

That brings us to a name you may not be familiar with yet. Antun Račić is a 25-year-old fighter coming from Croatia that has been fighting since 2009 and is still looking to grow in the sport of MMA. He has amassed a record of 18-7, with 13 submissions and 5 decisions, and is determined to continue his improvement and development as a fighter, despite some ups and downs he’s had in his last few fights in Russia under the M-1 banner. Bloody Elbow spoke to him as he was recently in California training in Sacramento with Team Alpha Male, a team known for working with some of the very best fighters in lower weight classes such as his (featherweight).

Victor Rodriguez: What was your initial motivation to start doing MMA? You very clearly have a grappling background and base, so what led you to the sport?

Antun Račić: Since I was 5 years old I was involved in martial arts. I started in Judo, so therefore it is my grappling base. After Judo I proceeded with submission wrestling. My first MMA training was in 2006 when I was 16 years old. I started training in Gladiator Dubrovnik MMA team and still I am one of the Gladiators. Also, in 2006, Georges St- Pierre became UFC welterweight world champion. GSP is one of the reasons that I love MMA so much.

VR: You have various wins with different techniques, so how did your submission game become so well-developed?

AR: In Judo I was a national team member and after that I became Junior World Champion (2010) in submission wrestling by FILA rules. In the early beginning of my MMA career I was training a lot with BJJ black belts, so it is not a surprise that the submission game is one of my key parts of fighting.

VR: What have been the biggest improvements you’ve seen in your time training with such an esteemed …

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