Former Hells Angels sergeant-at-arms Dayne Brajkovich wasn’t always the type of guy to wander into a rival gang’s clubhouse and start a fight with his boss.
Two decades before becoming Australia’s most recognizable biker, the infamous enforcer embarrassed himself in front of 10,000 fans in a kickboxing match.
Only 21 years old and without most of his famous tattoos, Brajkovich lasted less than two rounds against Muay Thai legend Nick ‘Special K’ Karagionnidie at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena on June 16, 2001. The footage of the fight is not flattering.
He has since transformed into a gangland heavyweight with ink on every inch of his body, these days he’s doing well enough in a scrap to beat Rebel President Nick Martin to a pulp at The Sandbar in Perth in November 2020 – with footage of the so wild brawl it set off his rise to infamy.
Brajkovich is so well known that every day he is approached by strangers in shops, airports or on the street and asked for a selfie.
But he explained to Daily Mail Australia how he collected scars – and chunks of hot lead – along with his tattoos as he navigated Australia’s motorcycle underworld.
Dayne Brajkovich (right, with wife Jacinta Hill) wasn’t always the infamous outlaw enforcer with the balls to walk into a rival gang’s clubhouse and start a fight with his boss
In 2001, the former Hells Angels sergeant-at-arms embarrassed himself in front of 10,000 fans in a kickboxing match. (Brajkovich is pictured right at age 21 with his boxing coach)
Brajkovich (left), aged 21 and without most of his famous tattoos, lasted less than two rounds against Muay Thai legend Nick ‘Special K’ Karagionnidie at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena
Footage of the fight is unflattering (Brajkovich can be seen here after collapsing from a blow)
He was given the chance to redeem himself for the Karagionnidie humiliation and fight for the Australian heavyweight title, but was thrown in jail for selling ecstasy just before the bout.
Brajkovich’s two-year stint in Wooroloo Prison is the only time he has spent behind bars, despite frequent court cases, and he insists drug dealing is long over.
“I found out you don’t leave your stuff in your fanny pack,” he joked.
And a gun attack on his home in 2021 that nearly killed his wife Jacinta Hill and stepdaughter Audrina wasn’t the first time he’s come under fire.
“In 2009 I kicked along with the big kids and got a bullet in my left leg. I drove myself to the Royal Perth Hospital and spent the night there,” he said.
“The police gang team came over and wanted a story and the bullet. They walked out with neither of them.
“The doctors told them the bullet went through the back of my leg and was stuck in a place where it couldn’t be removed.
“It’s still there.”
Before he became Australia’s most recognizable motorcyclist, Brajkovich was a fresh-faced teenager with no tattoo in sight (left)
Brajkovich’s two years in Wooroloo Prison is the only time he has spent behind bars, despite frequent court cases. (He is pictured in prison, back row, third from left)
Brajkovich was kicked out of the Hells Angels early last year after a heated argument, but still owns four bikes, including one with the number plate DAYNE that he rode after his marriage.
“The four bikes are a biggie because a lot of people say I’ve never been on a bike, but there are pictures of me in the papers on one at a funeral,” he said.
“I own $150,000 worth of motorcycles with turbos and nitrous oxide.”
But he admits he’s less excited for a ride after having a six-inch plate screwed into his left collarbone following a 2021 accident on one of the Harley-Davidsons he rode every day.
Despite being out of the club for over a year, Brajkovich said his notoriety led to him recently being called up for a day of questioning.
“I’m not sure if they thought I was some kind of drug smuggler or something, but at the end one of them said, ‘Dyne, you’re just a regular guy who doesn’t take shit,'” he said. .
Brajkovich’s involvement in the underworld supposedly began when, as a troubled teenager with a struggling single mother, he met the notorious Finks bikie hardman Tristan Allbeury in Year 12.
“Tristan is nicknamed Bam Bam because he hits hard. He curled my nose with a good uppercut at a party in Carlisle [in southeast Perth] in 1996 when I was 16,” he said.
“We were both Belmont boys and enemies in high school, and he spent most of his adult life in prison.”
Brajkovich (pictured with his wife Jacinta Hill and stepdaughter Audrina) has been forced out of the biker life by Hells Angels headmen and is focusing on his real estate empire, owning three investment properties in the Belmont area – where it all began
Despite owning four bikes, Brajkovich is less excited for a ride after he had a six-inch plate screwed into his left collarbone (pictured) following a 2021 accident on one of the Harley-Davidsons
Despite their teenage rivalry and being members of different clubs, Brajkovich said Allbeury did him good by beating up the man who delivered the stolen cars used in the shooting of his home.
“Bam Bam beat up Jacob Gorton in front of me while they were both in the special treatment unit [in prison]. He got it in the hour of relaxation a day they get,” he said.
“Gorton was in protective custody, known as the boneyard because it’s full of dogs [snitches]but Bam Bam is just in SHU because he is a threat.
“I think things are still hostile between me and Tristan, but I probably owe him that.”
Forced out of the biker life by Hells Angels head honchos, Brajkovich focuses on his real estate empire, owning three investment properties in the Belmont area – where it all began.