Growing up, Benardo Sopaj was just interested in soccer, but everything changed when his friend introduced him to MMA. Known as ‘The Lion King’ inside the Octagon, the Albanian fighter has a record of 11-3 with 7 of his wins by KO. He started training in MMA when he was 15 ‘just for fun’ and within a year, Sopaj made his pro debut in 2016. While Bernardo Sopaj’s UFC debut was unsuccessful via a KO loss to Vinicius Oliveira, back in March 2024, ‘The Lion King’ is looking to bounce back at UFC 311, and live up to his namesake, i.e., become king of the division someday.

But who is this 24-year-old outside the Octagon? Is there a significant other behind his success, i.e., does he have a partner? All these questions have fans pretty curious as the up-and-comer bantamweight looks to beat Ricky Turcios at UFC 311.

Benardo Sopaj’s wife

The young and confident fighter from Albania does not share much about his personal life on social media. However, he could not help but share a post about his wife Elena who has always supported him through his endeavours. He previously posted a picture with his wife when both of them were in Dubai. He wrote a simple caption of a heart emoji and a bride emoji after tagging her in the picture as well.

She is quite vocal about her support for Sopaj on her social media. With 1,444 followers, she recently posted stories of her traveling to Los Angeles for her husband’s UFC 311 bout. In the lead-up to Saturday’s event, she shared a picture of her husband with the caption, “Hungry eyes means hungry Lion King”.

Bernardo Sopaj is a confident, young prospect with a well-rounded skill set, evident from his seven knockouts and 3 submissions in 11 victories. Despite the setback in his debut, the fighter looks like he could make it far in the sport, given his unrelenting resolve, evident from his social media posts. In that light, let’s take a closer look at what made ‘The Lion King’ Bernardo Sopaj.

Sopaj’s early life and background

Bernardo Sopaj was born in Albania and spent his initial years of schooling there after which he, his mother, and brother shifted to Greece. He was only eight when they decided to move out of Albania and lived his life in Greece until he was 17. A lover of soccer, he played until 2014 which was also around the time his shift towards mixed martial arts began.

As per his accounts in a podcast by FCR, he started training in MMA with his friend Symeón. Surprisingly he refused his friend’s initial request for him to train, saying, “‘No, I don’t wanna do this. I don’t like that sport’ as I thought it was fake, you know like WWE.”

Fortunately, he had a pretty determined friend who was persistent about him training in MMA, and Sopaj finally obliged and began training in MMA in 2015, instantly loving it. After four months of training, he fought amateur bouts, and then three months later he had his first pro fight in 2016. The young 15-year-old was up against a guy who was 26 and had a purple belt but managed to win his pro-debut via unanimous decision.

From then on, he never looked back and today, at age 24 he is a part of UFC with a 11-3 record. The All-Stars gym member is a talented striker and is sharp at picking his shots. The bantamweight is going to be tested again at UFC 311 against Ricky Turcios. Do you think he can bounce back from his promotional debut loss? Let us know in the comments down below.