Ante Delija: UFC Signs Former PFL Heavyweight Tournament Champ

Former PFL Heavyweight Tournament champion Ante Delija, aka ‘Walking Trouble’, has signed for the UFC.

Hailing from Croatia, Delija has fought for a variety of promotions over the years, including the likes of Rizin, KSW and M-1 Global, but it’s a long stint in the PFL promotion from 2019-2024 that he’s best known for.

During that time he fought to the final of PFL’s heavyweight tournament in 2021 only to lose out to Bruno Cappelozza by unanimous decision.

However, the following year Delija went one better by again battling his way to the final of the 2022 tournament final, and this time managing to TKO Mattheus Scheffel in the first round to win the title.

Delija would then go on to beat former UFC fighter Maurice Greene in 2023, before suffering a TKO loss to Valentin Moldavsky last year in what would prove to be his final fight for the promotion.

Earlier this year Delija fought another ex-UFC fighter Yorgan de Castro in the FNC promotion and TKO’d him in 41 seconds, which has now led to him being picked up by the UFC.

At this stage there’s no word on who Delija’s first opponent will be in the Octagon as he looks to continue build on his current 25-6 career record.