Haris Talundžić has big goals heading into Friday’s Legacy Fighting Alliance welterweight bout in Vail

Haris Talundžić is doing everything he can to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship dreams come true.

“The only goal is the UFC,” the ambitious, well-spoken 27-year-old said in advance of his third trip to Vail this weekend. The “Bosnian Silverback” will contest his second Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) mixed martial arts (MMA) main event fight at Dobson Arena — this time against Romanian Daniel Frunza — on Friday at 8 p.m.

It’s the next stop on a journey filled with more than a few twists and turns.

“If kids are reading this — or anybody is reading this — and you got dreams, trust your instincts and chase those dreams, because everyone is going to tell you you’re crazy until you actually get to where you’re at,” he said.

“That’s kind of been my life story.”

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From Bosnia to Grand Isle

Born in 1995 in Germany, where his family initially fled during the three-year Bosnian War, Talundžić was four when his family emigrated to Arizona. Their brief Southwest stay ended when his parents caught wind of an opportunity to work at a large meat-packing plant in Grand Isle, Nebraska.

“They were hiring refugees and people who didn’t speak English,” Talundžić recalled. He and his three brothers would grow up in Grand Isle, where the second-oldest first learned to wrestle.

“I used to watch WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment),” Talundžić stated. “I so badly wanted to be a pro wrestler growing up as a little boy.”

One day a local wrestling coach, hoping to recruit kids for a traveling team, passed out informational papers to his second-grade class. When he handed one to Talundžić, the boy’s eyes widened.

“I barely spoke English,” Talundžić recalled. “All I saw was the word ‘wrestling,’ and I was like, ‘holy crap it’s here! Like, God’s plan!'”

Convinced he was signing up to learn WWE, the young Talundžić was shocked to find out this new venture was “the exact opposite.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was doing,” he said. “But in my mind I was like, ‘if I do this, I’ll eventually be able to become a pro wrestler.'”

He fell in love with the sport and committed himself to the goal of becoming a world champion.

“I loved the competition,” he said. “The self-accountability.”

That latter quality became very real during his senior year of high school. Two weeks before the district tournament, the undefeated and heavily-recruited Talundžić was caught smoking marijuana. His season — and future scholarships — vanished.

“I was kind of at a road block and had to decide what to do with my life,” he said.

His current wife — whom he met and started dating in seventh grade — was moving to Lincoln to start college. Talundžić followed her to be close and figure out his next step.

“She said, ‘You know, there’s an MMA gym here. Why don’t you go start MMA?'” Talundžić recalled. The 18-year-old took her advice and walked into the small, now defunct Pinnacle Sports and Fitness.

“I stepped into that gym and never looked back.”

Reflecting on the poignant turning point in his life, Talundžić refuses to claim victimhood or make excuses.

“At the end of the day, I made a mistake,” he said. “Whether you feel weed is good for you or bad for you — it doesn’t matter — I knew I wasn’t supposed to smoke weed and I did it. And I knew the implications for getting caught were a big deal. So, ultimately, it’s not like the system was wrong. I was at fault.”

He said it’s a mistake he regrets to this day.

“I’ll never know what will come of that wrestling career that I could have had,” Talundžić continued. “I promised myself time and time again I wouldn’t screw this sport up like that.”

A big year

Talundžić last hopped into the octagon on Nov. 18, a win over Omoyele Gonzalez that improved his record to 6-1.

“The last year has been a big year outside of fighting,” Talundžić explained of the prolonged absence from competition. The welterweight married his middle school sweetheart and, after two years with Factory X, switched to the Elevation Fight Team. Amidst the transitions, he decided the best plan was to hone his skills in training rather than look for a fight. He’s doubled his volume now that, for the first time in his almost decade-long career, he’s no longer balancing full-time training with Amazon delivery driving, furniture moving and other random side hustles.

“MMA has been on the back burner almost my entire career because I was so hellbent on trying to get the bills paid, do these little things, like any other man would, and I was never really able to give it my all,” he said, adding that his wife is “essentially the breadwinner” in the house right now.

“She makes so many sacrifices for us,” he continued. “It’s made a huge difference in my whole game.”

Talundžić typically trains three times each day, combining morning kickbox and jiu jitsu sessions with a religiously performed evening strength and conditioning workout. He said the most notable improvements he’s seen this year are in his overall discipline and sacrifice.

“I’ve always been very willing to do whatever it takes to win — I love winning more than I hate losing,” he said. “This last year, I was finally able to take out so many distractions in my life.”

Eliminating distractions will be key against Frunza, a Floridian-based fighter with fierce striking abilities.

“He’s knocked out six of his seven wins,” Talundžić stated. “So, I know he’s very confident in his ability to knock guys out.” Based in Denver, Talundžić hopes to use his altitude acclimation advantageously, exploiting Frunza’s lack of a wrestling background in the process.

“There’s a huge advantage there as far as cardio,” he said. “I know if I can push the pace — if I wrestle— this is a fight where it could easily lead to a finish.”

Convincing wins are the only way from the LFA — the UFC’s No. 1 development organization — to the big show.

“They’re basically just waiting for you to get to that stage where they can give you a call after your win and say ‘hey, you’re ready to go, you want this fight?'” he said of getting to the UFC. Not surprisingly, Talundžić won’t be satisfied just to earn a contract with the Las Vegas-based promotional company.

“When I was wrestling, I knew I was going to be world or Olympic champion,” he said. “When I made the transition to MMA, my goals didn’t change at all. The only thing that changed was the sport. I want to be a world champion for the UFC, and until I do that, I don’t foresee myself even thinking about quitting.”