{"id":104458,"date":"2026-06-04T07:01:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T07:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grizzliz.com\/media\/fighter\/bernardo-sopaj\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T06:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T06:32:07","slug":"bernardo-sopaj","status":"publish","type":"fighter_profile","link":"https:\/\/www.grizzliz.com\/media\/fighter\/bernardo-sopaj\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernardo Sopaj"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Bernardo Sopaj, le \u00ab\u00a0Lion King\u00a0\u00bb albanais qui veut \u00e9crire l&rsquo;histoire<\/h2>\n<p>N\u00e9 en Albanie le 25 septembre 2000, Bernardo Sopaj (orthographi\u00e9 \u00ab\u00a0Benardo\u00a0\u00bb par l&rsquo;UFC) s&rsquo;est construit loin de chez lui : c&rsquo;est \u00e0 Stockholm, \u00e0 l&rsquo;Allstars Training Center, l&rsquo;une des salles les plus r\u00e9put\u00e9es de Scandinavie, qu&rsquo;il est devenu un poids coqs sur qui il faut garder un \u0153il. Il porte un objectif clair et assum\u00e9 : devenir le tout premier champion UFC venu d&rsquo;Albanie. Pour un gamin qui a commenc\u00e9 le MMA \u00e0 15 ans apr\u00e8s avoir d&rsquo;abord tap\u00e9 dans un ballon de foot, le chemin parcouru est d\u00e9j\u00e0 costaud.<\/p>\n<h3>Du foot au kickboxing, puis aux cages europ\u00e9ennes<\/h3>\n<p>Avant l&rsquo;UFC, Sopaj a fait ses gammes sur le circuit europ\u00e9en, en passant aussi par le kickboxing dans sa jeunesse. Le gar\u00e7on n&rsquo;a pas tra\u00een\u00e9 : il d\u00e9croche un titre d\u00e8s son quatri\u00e8me combat pro, puis empile les ceintures r\u00e9gionales en devenant champion poids coqs du Fight Club Rush et de l&rsquo;All Stars Fight Night. Quand l&rsquo;UFC l&rsquo;appelle, il affiche d\u00e9j\u00e0 un dossier de prospect, avec une grosse proportion de finitions \u00e0 la cl\u00e9.<\/p>\n<h3>Un finisseur, pas un calculateur<\/h3>\n<p>Le style Sopaj, c&rsquo;est de la pression et des fins de combat. Sur l&rsquo;ensemble de sa carri\u00e8re, il compte 7 victoires par KO\/TKO et 4 par soumission, dont sept finitions d\u00e8s le premier round. L&rsquo;UFC le cr\u00e9dite d&rsquo;une pr\u00e9cision aux frappes autour de 58 % et d&rsquo;une d\u00e9fense de takedown \u00e0 77 % : un coqs qui frappe fort mais qui sait aussi rester debout et lire le grappling. Bref, le profil d&rsquo;un combattant complet qui cherche le KO mais ne panique pas au sol.<\/p>\n<h3>Ses combats \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC<\/h3>\n<p>Ses d\u00e9buts dans le grand bain ont \u00e9t\u00e9 rudes. Le 2 mars 2024, \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC Vegas 87 et sur court pr\u00e9avis, il tombe face \u00e0 Vinicius Oliveira par KO\/TKO au troisi\u00e8me round (4:41). Une entr\u00e9e en mati\u00e8re compliqu\u00e9e, mais loin d&rsquo;\u00eatre un naufrage pour un nouveau venu lanc\u00e9 contre un ancien champion UAE Warriors.<\/p>\n<p>La r\u00e9ponse arrive le 18 janvier 2025 \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC 311 : Sopaj domine Ricky Turcios sur les trois rounds et s&rsquo;impose par d\u00e9cision unanime. Premier vrai jalon valid\u00e9 dans l&rsquo;octogone. Puis, le 16 mai 2026, il signe sa meilleure performance UFC en soumettant Timmy Cuamba par \u00e9tranglement arri\u00e8re (rear-naked choke) \u00e0 2:25 du deuxi\u00e8me round. Deux victoires de rang qui le relancent pleinement chez les coqs.<\/p>\n<h3>O\u00f9 il en est aujourd&rsquo;hui<\/h3>\n<p>\u00c0 25 ans, avec un record de 13-3, Bernardo Sopaj est sur une dynamique montante apr\u00e8s ses deux succ\u00e8s cons\u00e9cutifs. Jeune, finisseur, bien encadr\u00e9 \u00e0 l&rsquo;Allstars, il a le temps et les armes pour grimper dans une division poids coqs toujours embouteill\u00e9e. Son ambition de devenir le premier champion UFC albanais reste lointaine, mais elle a le m\u00e9rite d&rsquo;\u00eatre limpide.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sources-article\"><strong>Sources :<\/strong> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufc.com\/athlete\/benardo-sopaj\">UFC.com<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/cagesidepress.com\/2024\/03\/01\/welcome-to-the-ufc-benardo-sopaj\/\">Cageside Press<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/fighter\/Bernardo-Sopai-226661\">Sherdog<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bernardo Sopaj, \u00ab\u00a0The Lion King\u00a0\u00bb : poids coqs albanais de l&rsquo;UFC (13-3), finisseur form\u00e9 \u00e0 l&rsquo;Allstars de Stockholm, qui vise le titre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":102893,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"fighter_category":[],"fighter_tag":[],"class_list":["post-104458","fighter_profile","type-fighter_profile","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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