Aleksandar Rajacic
From Belgrade academy co-founder to Metamoris Challenger winner, Aleksandar Rajacic has combined competition, coaching and flood-relief seminars.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Eastern Europe, interview with Aleksandar Rajacic, June 19, 2014(opens in a new tab)
Aleksandar Rajacic is a Serbian Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner from Belgrade.
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Carlos Maia awarded Rajacic his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt at a seminar in 2014.
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Rajacic recalled that a friend introduced him to jiu-jitsu. After two months of weekly sessions, he began attending regularly.
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In 2014 Rajacic explained that, after returning from the United States, he shifted his competitive attention to MMA because he saw more room to progress in that sport while remaining in Serbia.
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Rajacic and Nikola Savic founded Old School BJJ in Belgrade, where they both coached; the academy began operating in November 2013.
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Rajacic described Old School as combining contrasting approaches: Savic taught half guard and close control, while Rajacic brought a different technical game. He said experienced friends had joined the young academy as competitors.
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Rajacic first encountered Carlos Maia at a camp at Lake Balaton in 2011. They stayed in touch, Maia later taught a seminar, and Rajacic also visited Slovenia before receiving his black belt.
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Rajacic recalled mixed emotions about his black-belt promotion because it coincided with the severe floods affecting Serbia.
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During the 2014 flood emergency, Rajacic and Savic used a Facebook page and their personal contacts to encourage fundraising seminars within Serbia and abroad.
Where in the source: Answer 3: organisation of flood-relief seminars.
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By the June 2014 interview, Rajacic reported roughly six or seven fundraising seminars, including events in Serbian cities, Chicago, Podgorica and Ljubljana. He also discussed a larger Belgrade seminar and possible sessions in other combat sports as plans.
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Looking back on about nine years of training, Rajacic welcomed the growth in Serbian academies but argued that instructors needed continued access to more advanced teachers.
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ProFightStore, interview by Ina Ferenčić with Aleksandar Rajačić, February 7, 2014(opens in a new tab)
Before concentrating on jiu-jitsu, Rajacic had enjoyed football as a child. ProFightStore described a gradual shift until jiu-jitsu became his main sport.
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In February 2014 Rajacic said a permanent move to the United States was not then an option because of his attachment to Belgrade. He linked that decision with his move toward MMA.
Where in the source: First answer: return from America and attachment to Belgrade.
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Rajacic said he was working to improve his striking but intended to build his MMA around grappling, adjusting to wrestling or striking when an opponent or situation required it.
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Despite focusing his own competition on MMA in early 2014, Rajacic said he usually made time to help the fighters who came to him for jiu-jitsu training, many of whom were friends.
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BJJ Eastern Europe, Metamoris Challenger report, November 17, 2015(opens in a new tab)
Rajacic won the lightweight division of Metamoris Challenger in Los Angeles in 2015. The report identifies Brandon Walensky as his opponent in the lightweight final.
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The Metamoris report described Rajacic as an Old School BJJ instructor from Belgrade who had spent the preceding six months training at Chicago Mixed Martial Arts.
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The November 2015 report credited the Metamoris division winners with a $10,000 prize and contracts for three further matches after progressing through two qualifying stages.
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BJJ Eastern Europe reported that Rajacic had placed third at the 2012 IBJJF Europeans in the adult brown-belt division.
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Digitsu, Aleksandar Rajacic straight-footlock course(opens in a new tab)
Rajacic teaches The Footlock Manifesto through Digitsu, concentrating on straight ankle locks, their escapes and counters, and their integration with guard attacks.
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The course includes ankle-lock work from butterfly and half guard, single-leg X, 50/50 and passing situations, as well as adjustments for taller opponents.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage