Sherdog Prospect Watch: Martin Batur

One Championship not long ago landed an interesting heavyweight prospect in Martin Batur, who will make his promotional debut opposite Paul Elliott in a One 160 showcase this Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. A UFD Gym representative out of Zadar, Croatia, he carries a 7-3 record with an 86% finishing rate. Batur, 30, joins the One Championship roster on a three-fight winning streak, with six victories across his past seven appearances.

The 6-foot-4 Batur casts an overwhelming shadow and makes the most of his physical advantages in bids to impose his will over his counterparts. The Croatian likes to throw a few combinations on the feet before switching the action to the floor with sudden takedowns. On the mat, he enjoys success with both submitting opponents and finishing them with strikes. Four of his wins have resulted in submission, and he has shown an affinity for the rear-naked choke. Holes in Batur’s ground defense were exposed earlier in his career, when he was twice victimized by chokes.


Batur debuted on May 12, 2012, when he put away Josip Balentovic with a first-round rear-naked choke at a Croatian MMA League event. However, his run with the organization ended with back-to-back submission defeats in the span of four months. After taking some time to work on his skills, Batur signed with Final Fight Championship and quickly dispatched Ivan Karacic in his promotional debut. He then partook in a one-night, four-man tournament at Final Fight Championship 17, where he took a unanimous decision from Ivica Tadijanov before dismissing Denic Strahinja with a second-round arm-triangle choke. In his next appearance, Batur was paired with future Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakic at Austrian Fight Challenge 1 on June 20, 2015. It lasted just 26 seconds, as Rakic connected with an overhand that separated the Croatian from his senses.


Following the stinging defeat to Rakic, Batur stepped away from MMA to polish his standup through other combat sports. He returned to the scene on July 31, 2020, when he forced Martin Horsky to tap to a rear-naked choke under the Fight Nation Championship banner. Roughly a year later, he smashed Dragan Dragojevic with punches 75 seconds into their Elite MMA Championship 7 clash. A second-round technical knockout of Michael Douglas Felipe do Nascimento at EMC 9 on April 16, 2022 completed his pre-One Championship resume. Now, he turns his attention to showcasing his skills in front of a much wider audience.