Unbeaten FNC bantamweight champion Miljan Zdravković (10-0) defends against Joaquín Vargas (10-3) in the five-round main event of FNC 35 on Saturday, November 7, 2026 at Sportski centar Morača in Podgorica — fights start at 18:30 Vienna time.
On Saturday night in Podgorica, the FNC bantamweight belt sits on a fighter who has never lost. Zdravković walks into Morača at 10-0. Across the cage stands Vargas, a 25-year-old Argentine finisher making his FNC debut and chasing the biggest win of his career.
The question around FNC 35 is simple. Can anyone beat Zdravković — and is Vargas that someone?
The unbeaten champion
Zdravković, 27, is 2-0 inside FNC. He won the vacant bantamweight title by submitting Bondo Kikadze in round two at FNC 23 in Belgrade in May 2025, then kept it with a five-round unanimous decision over Josh Hill at FNC 26 in this same Morača Arena last December.
Before FNC he tore through KSW. He knocked out Mariusz Joniak in round one at KSW 86 and Kamil Szkaradek in round two at KSW 92, the latter earning Knockout of the Night. Across ten professional wins he has five knockouts or TKOs, one submission and four decisions — a 60 percent finish rate that says he can win early or go the distance.
Speaking to Net.hr ahead of the defense, Zdravković said he feels fully ready physically and mentally. On Vargas he was clear: the Argentine likes the stand-up, applies pressure and looks for the finish, while the Serbian believes he holds the edge on the ground. He also confirmed Vargas was not the original plan. The first opponent withdrew; Vargas was the first man to accept the short-notice title shot.
UFC remains the long-term goal. Zdravković said he did not receive an offer for the UFC's Belgrade card, for reasons he does not know, and that he will keep working toward that door while there are still challenges in FNC.
The challenger from Argentina
Joaquín "Kakaroto" Vargas enters at 10-3 out of Invictus MMA in La Plata. Seven of his ten wins came by KO or TKO, two by submission and only one by decision — a 90 percent finish rate. He settles fights early. Five of his recent wins ended in round one, including a spinning back-elbow knockout of Marco Saavedra and, most recently, a first-round TKO of Amauri Maia at Noche de Campeones 11 in May 2026.
The holes are real. In January he was submitted by Matías Palma in round two at LATAMM 4. He also owns a first-round TKO loss and a five-round split-decision defeat. This is his first fight in Europe and his first five-round championship bout under FNC rules. Pressure striking travels. Championship rounds and a grappling specialist on the other side are a new test.
Styles and paths to victory
Zdravković's path: Keep the fight honest on the feet, then force it to the mat. He has already shown he can grind out a five-round decision (Hill) and finish with a rear-naked choke (Kikadze). If he weathers the early storm and gets on top, the championship rounds heavily favor the unbeaten home-region fighter.
Vargas's path to the upset: Make it ugly and loud early. Force exchanges, hunt the body and head the way he did against Maia, and never let Zdravković settle into grappling sequences. A first-round finish is his clearest route. The longer the fight goes, the more the champion's experience, cardio and ground game take over.
Both men are listed around 61 kg and within a couple of centimetres of each other on height. There is no obvious physical mismatch. The gap is in résumé depth and in who has already proven they can win a title fight in this cage.
The rest of FNC 35
FNC built a card that is not only MMA. Eleven bouts are booked, mixing MMA with kickboxing and a boxing bout inside the cage.
The co-main is the showpiece of that format: Serbian kickboxing star Rade Opačić (24-8 per FNC) meets Alexander Soldatkin (18-4 in MMA) under K-1 rules. Soldatkin won a RIZIN heavyweight tournament while representing FNC; Opačić is the specialist walking into his own rule set. Elsewhere, former WBC world champion boxer Dejan Zlatičanin fights under Ultimate Boxing rules at home, Luka Bubanja and Stefan Dobrijević rematch under Ultimate Kickboxing rules, and the Sičaja brothers — Ivan and Tomislav — both appear on the main card.
Fights start at 18:30 Vienna time on Saturday, November 7. The main card is pay-per-view on VOYO and FNC.tv; the two prelims stream free on FNC's YouTube channel. FNC last packed Morača in December 2025. The crowd will not be quiet.
Prediction
Vargas can hurt anyone in the division if he lands clean in the opening minutes. That is the chaos factor, and it is real. Over five rounds, though, Zdravković's pace, wrestling and experience in title fights should decide it.
Pick: Miljan Zdravković by submission or late stoppage, with a decision as the safe floor if Vargas survives the grappling exchanges.
An Argentine debutant ending a perfect record in a foreign title fight would be a statement for the ages. The safer read is that the streak survives another night in Podgorica.
Make your pick in the free Pugna MMA app — live round-by-round results and a free no-money prediction game in eight languages.
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This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.