Igor Pokrajac
Introduction '''Igor Pokrajac''' (born 2 January 1979) is a Croatian mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, Pokrajac has also formerly competed for K-1, KSW, It's Showtime, and Jungle Fight promotions.
Mixed martial arts career ===Early career===Pokrajac started his professional MMA career in 2003, primarily competing in his native Croatia. Over the next six years, he compiled an impressive record of 21–5.===Ultimate Fighting Championship===In August 2009, it was announced he had signed with the UFC, with his first fight taking place against Vladimir Matyushenko on September 19, 2009 at UFC 103.He lost the fight via unanimous decision.Pokrajac next faced James Te-Huna on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110.Pokrajac lost again, this time via third-round TKO, due to strikes. This loss was somewhat controversial, as Te Huna had Pokrajac in a modified crucifix position on the mat and landed five to six clean shots to Pokrajac's face and although Pokrajac was not able to defend himself from this position, he was signalling to the referee that he was okay, although the ref did not acknowledge this, and stopped the fight after the unanswered shots from Te Huna. Although visibly dazed, Pokrajac disputed the stoppage directly after the fight to no avail.Pokrajac then faced James Irvin on August 1, 2010 at UFC on Versus 2.Midway through the first round, Pokrajac took Irvin down and immediately got side control on the floor. After taking multiple strikes, Irvin rolled over and was submitted by a rear naked choke, handing Pokrajac his first UFC victory.Pokrajac fought Stephan Bonnar on December 4, 2010 at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale. Pokrajac lost a unanimous decision.Pokrajac defeated Todd Brown on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann by TKO at the conclusion of the first round. Brown was dropped by a knee in the final minute and hit with several clean follow up shots, being saved by the end of the round. When the fighters went back to their corners, Brown was unable to stand on his own power and the fight was stopped.Pokrajac was expected to face Krzysztof Soszynski on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131, replacing an injured Anthony Perosh. However, Pokrajac was himself forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by returning UFC veteran Mike Massenzio.Pokrajac/Soszynski ultimately took place on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140.Pokrajac defeated Soszynski via first-round KO.Pokrajac was expected to face Thiago Silva on May 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier, replacing an injured Brandon Vera. However, Silva was pulled from the bout to face Alexander Gustafsson on April 14, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 2 after Gustafsson's original opponent Antônio Rogério Nogueira pulled out of the bout citing an injury. Pokrajac instead faced Fábio Maldonado at the event. He won the fight via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, and 29–28).Pokrajac was defeated by Vinny Magalhães via second round armbar on September 22, 2012 at UFC 152.Pokrajac next faced Joey Beltran on December 15, 2012 at UFC on FX 6, replacing an injured Anthony Perosh. Pokrajac lost the fight via unanimous decision. However, on January 10, 2013, it was announced that Beltran had failed his post fight drug test, testing positive for nandrolone and the result of the bout was changed to No Contest.Pokrajac faced Ryan Jimmo at UFC 161 in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 15, 2013.He lost the fight via unanimous decision.Pokrajac faced Rafael Cavalcante on November 9, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 32.He lost via submission due to strikes in the first round.Pokrajac faced Marcos Rogério de Lima on December 20, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 58.He lost the fight via TKO in the first round, and was subsequently released from the promotion shortly after.===Post UFC===After being released from Ultimate Fighting Championship Pokrajac signed for Croatia's Final Fight Championship promotion. His debut was expected to be against Maciej Browarski, but he was replaced and he will now make his debout in heavyweight division against Archontis Taxiarchis at FFC 18 - Ljubljana on 17 April 2015.He weighted 102 kg at official weight ins.===Second UFC stint===After recording three first round stoppage victories on the regional circuit across the Balkans, Pokrajac was re-signed for a second stint in the UFC. He faced Jan Błachowicz on April 10, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 86.Pokrajac lost the fight via unanimous decision.Pokrajac was expected to face Ed Herman on March 4, 2017 at UFC 209.However, Pokrajac pulled out of the fight in early February citing an injury, and was replaced by Gadzhimurad Antigulov.On May 4, 2019, it was reported that Pokrajac was released by UFC.
Accomplishments and championships * '''Serbian Battle Championship''' **SBC Light Heavyweight Championship (one time)
Mixed martial arts record Loss29–15 (1)Michał KitaTKO (punches)FEN 28 - Lotos Fight Night10:37Lublin, PolandWin29–14 (1)Maiquel FalcãoTKO (elbows and punches)Serbian Battle Championship 2513:24Novi Sad, SerbiaLoss28–14 (1)Maiquel FalcãoTKO (punches)Serbian Battle Championship 2114:55Odžaci, SerbiaLoss28–13 (1)Jan BłachowiczDecision (unanimous)UFC Fight Night: Rothwell vs. dos Santos35:00Zagreb, Croatia  Win 28–12 (1)  Zauri Maisuradze Submission (armbar) FFC 20: Zagreb  1 1:16 Zagreb, Croatia  Win 27–12 (1)  Rudolf Pavlin TKO (elbows) Montenegro Fighting Championship 3  1 2:35 Budva, Montenegro   Win 26–12 (1)  Archontis Taxiarchis TKO (punches) FFC 18: Ljubljana  1 3:03 Ljubljana, Slovenia  Loss 25–12 (1)  Marcos Rogério de Lima TKO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway  1 1:59 Barueri, Brazil Loss 25–11 (1) Rafael Cavalcante TKO (submission to knees and punches) UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson  1 1:18 Goiânia, Brazil  Loss 25–10 (1) Ryan Jimmo Decision (unanimous) UFC 161  3 5:00 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  NC 25–9 (1) Joey Beltran NC (overturned) UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson  3 5:00 Gold Coast, Australia  Loss  25–9 Vinny Magalhães Submission (armbar) UFC 152  2 1:14 Toronto, Ontario, Canada  Win 25–8 Fábio Maldonado Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier  3 5:00 Fairfax, Virginia, United States  Win 24–8 Krzysztof Soszynski KO (punches) UFC 140  1 0:35 Toronto, Ontario, Canada  Win 23–8 Todd Brown TKO (knee and punches) UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann  1 5:00 Louisville, Kentucky, United States  Loss 22–8 Stephan Bonnar Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck Finale  3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States  Win 22–7 James Irvin Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko  1 2:28 San Diego, California, United States  Loss 21–7 James Te Huna TKO (punches) UFC 110  3 3:26 Sydney, Australia   Loss 21–6 Vladimir Matyushenko Decision (unanimous) UFC 103  3 5:00 Dallas, Texas, United States   Win 21–5 Kalvis Gebauers TKO (punches) WFC 8: D-Day  1 1:16 Ljubljana, Slovenia   Win 20–5 Roderik Jambor TKO (punches and elbows) K-1 ColliZion 2009 Croatia  1 1:09 Split, Croatia   Win 19–5 Mihajlo Fincur TKO (punches) Grand Fight  1 3:59 Varaždin, Croatia   Win 18–5 Patrik Jevický Submission (rear-naked choke) Ultimate Fight: Challenge 3  1 1:42 Samobor, Croatia   Win 17–5 Jan Antoska Submission (armbar) Hell Cage 1  2 3:39 Prague, Czech Republic   Win 16–5 Martin Zawada Submission (rear-naked choke) Balans: It's Showtime 75MAX Trophy Final 2008  1 1:01 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands   Win 15–5 Marko Sintic TKO (punches) Ultimate Fight: Challenge 2  2 2:00 Samobor, Croatia   Win 14–5 Ladislav Zak Decision (unanimous) OB-Gula: Fight Night  3 5:00 Ogulin, Croatia   Loss 13–5 Mamed Khalidov Submission (kneebar) Boxing Explosion 2  2 0:55 Pag, Croatia   Win 13–4 Bojan Spalevic TKO (elbows) Osijek Challenge 07  1 0:43 Osijek, Croatia   Win 12–4 Slaven Planinic TKO (knee and punches) Bilic Fight Night  1 3:09 Zagreb, Croatia   Win 11–4 Sasa Lazic Submission (armbar) Noc Gladiatora 1  1 2:02 Karlovac, Croatia   Loss 10–4 Assuerio Silva Decision (split) Jungle Fight Europe  3 5:00 Ljubljana, Slovenia   Win 10–3 Ivan Brguljan Decision (unanimous) International Fight Night  1 4:01 Opatija, Croatia   Win 9–3 Lukasz Jurkowski Decision (split) Sukosan Fight Night  2 1:41 Sukošan, Croatia   Win 8–3 Jure Lucic Submission (armbar) Ultimate Nokaut 4  1 3:19 Karlovac, Croatia   Win 7–3 Ivan Bacic Submission (rear-naked choke) Ultimate Nokaut 3  1 0:59 Rijeka, Croatia   Loss 6–3 Lukasz Jurkowski TKO (corner stoppage) KSW IV: Konfrontacja  2 5:00 Warsaw, Poland   Win 6–2 Branislav Zeman Submission (rear-naked choke) Ultimate Nokaut 2  2 2:49 Zadar, Croatia   Loss 5–2 Miodrag Petkovic TKO (punches) Ultimate Nokaut 1  2 4:51 Karlovac, Croatia   Win 5–1 Peter Cakic TKO (punches and elbows) Trboulje 2: Croatia vs Slovenia  1 2:25 Trbovlje, Slovenia   Loss 4–1 Miodrag Petkovic KO (punches) Ultimate Fight Dubravc  2 3:21 Zagreb, Croatia   Win 4–0 Andre Castro KO (knee) DF: Durata World Grand Prix 1  1 2:00 Zagreb, Croatia   Win 3–0 Matthias Riccio TKO (doctor stoppage) DF: Durata World Grand Prix 1  1 4:00 Zagreb, Croatia   Win 2–0 Pavel Botka TKO (punches) DF: Durata World Grand Prix 1  1 4:00 Zagreb, Croatia   Win 1–0 Nik Peric TKO (knees) Strabag Free Fight  1 1:33 Rijeka, Croatia
References
External links ** Official UFC Profile