Igor Pokrajac replaces injured Anthony Perosh, meets Joey Beltran at UFC on FX 6

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:15 pm ET
Following a horrific toe injury that forced Anthony Perosh (13-7 MMA, 3-4 UFC) off the card, Igor Pokrajac (25-9 MMA, 4-4 UFC) has agreed to step in as his replacement.

He now meets fellow light heavyweight Joey Beltran (14-8 MMA, 3-5 UFC) at next month at UFC on FX 6.

UFC officials today announced the change.

UFC on FX 6 takes place Dec. 15 at Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Australia. The event's main card airs live on FX (on Dec. 14 in the U.S. due to the time difference) following prelims on FUEL TV.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) passed along news of Perosh's injured/mangled toe earlier today.

Pokrajac had recently posted a three-fight win streak with knockout victories over Todd Brown and Krzysztof Soszynski, as well as a win victory over Fabio Maldonado. However, the Croatian's streak came to an end at UFC 152 back in September, where he suffered a submission loss to Vinny Magalhaes.

Beltran, a former UFC heavyweight, received his walking papers after a rough 1-4 skid in the organization earlier this year. After an outside win in his light-heavyweight debut, he returned to the UFC but suffered a unanimous-decision loss to 205-pounder James Te Huna at UFC on FUEL TV 4.

The latest UFC on FX 6 card includes:
  • Ross Pearson vs. George Sotiropoulos
  • Hector Lombard vs. Rousimar Palhares
  • "The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs. UK" welterweight final
  • "The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs. UK" lightweight final
  • Seth Baczynski vs. Mike Pierce
  • Hacran Dias vs. Chad Mendes
  • Joey Beltran vs. Igor Pokrajac
  • Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
For more on UFC on FX 6, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Igor Pokrajac)

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Reply to Story

TheEagle on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:24 pm ET
Pokrajac by decision.
 

imhungry4444 on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:28 pm ET
Better fight, should be a brawl. Cant wait to see it. This should be an awesome card and whats crazy is two events back to back days but technically same day. awesome week for UFC that will be
 

MMAwarrior101 on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:31 pm ET
Solid replacement.
 

BARENUXXXXX on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:51 pm ET
nice, itll be a slugger
 

rljon on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:47 pm ET
Beltran getting beat up again. There were so many people who thought Beltran would have a better record i n the UFC at LHW then HW. That will never happen for pretty much any guy that drops down from HW.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:50 pm ET
Not 100% correct, but it is a strong point.
The LHW division is much more talented, most of the LHWs with KO power can knock out a heavyweight as well.
The 205-ers have better overall skills and better cardio.

That's, BTW, is one of the reasons why I believe that Jon Jones will do just fine as a HW.
 

EvolveOrDie on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:55 pm ET
"LHWs with KO power can knock out a heavyweight as well." Jones has no KO power I think he will struggle against guys his own size and bigger.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:59 pm ET
...because no KO power automatically means struggling, right?

Plus, don't forget that Jones actually KOd a heavyweight before his UFC stint.
The same heavyweight fought Gonzaga later on, and Gonzaga was unable to do the same.
 

coreymb on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:01 pm ET
He may struggle with the tops of the division, but he'll find success at HW. He has to show KO power at LHW and it hasn't been a problem-shouldn't be one at HW either especial when you consider how athletic he will be compared to most of those guys.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:03 pm ET
Plus, ALL of recent Jones' fights were against big KO artists:
Bader, Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Belfort - ALL of those guys have their knockout power proven.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:51 pm ET
While Perosh was a good matchup for Beltran, Pokrajac is a bad one.
A brawler with not less cardio, but with more technical striking in every area.
 

BARENUXXXXX on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:54 pm ET

id say beltran is a tougher SOB than pokrajac tho

it might play an important factor

he'll sacrifice his facial features for a W

 

 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:57 pm ET
Same with Pokrajac - if you saw his fights with Te Huna and Maldonado, you get a proof for that.
 

BARENUXXXXX on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:47 pm ET

i think beltran can take more damage and press

speaking of TEHUNA, where is he in the division

the man is kinda in the mid/top wouldnt you say????

 

BARENUXXXXX on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:48 pm ET
or atleast deserving of a high profile fight at this point
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 4:19 pm ET
I'd put Te Huna somewhere in the top 20.
I'd love to see him fight Griffin - shame that it didn't work out.

The best matchup might be Jimmo, kind of a fight that moves the winner to top 15, borderline 10.
Or, maybe, UFC can put him against Magalhaes - so Te Huna would crush his illusions that he'll do better this time around.
 

BARENUXXXXX on Nov 13, 2012 at 5:45 pm ET
id say hes not far from 10 already

hes 4-1 in the ufc with a loss to gustaffson

thats pretty good, and if you consider hes finished damn near everyone he beat

yea i  think Jimmo is a good fight to see where both men are at

Im not too familiar with Jimmo, before he came to the UFC i heard more about him than seen him fight honestly


 

FeloniousMonk on Nov 14, 2012 at 4:50 am ET
I think te huna is the dark horse in this LHW division. I'd like to see him against Glover or Thiago Silva next. As a fan, I would hope he polished his ground game a bit since his fight with Gustaffson. But I think the test would be good to see if he's ready for the top five. I'd say he's 10/11th
 

pinkstonaa on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:57 pm ET
Thanks, Junkie. Now never remind me of Perosh's toe injury again.
 

bman518 on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:06 pm ET
I actually think Beltran will be able to win this one as he still has a pretty good chin and good cardio. I think he probably improved his wrestling after his last fight and Pokrajac's takedown defense isn't the best.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:13 pm ET
Why do you think Beltran improved his wrestling?
The fact, that he got taken down numerous times and has failed with takedowns of his own in his last fight doesn't automatically say, that he's got better in this.

If anything, it actually says that he has a hole in his game.
Pokrajac has a good chin and good cardio too, but his striking is definitely more technical.
 

milklavar on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:15 pm ET
Improved wrestling? Did you see that wrestling in effect against Pat Barry lol?
 

bman518 on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:22 pm ET
I mean after his LAST FIGHT with Te Huna after he was taken down multiple times by a striker.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:25 pm ET
First of all, Te Huna is not just a striker - he actually has a good wrestling and GnP.
Secondly, that exactly shows than Beltran's wrestling is a big hole, and it'll be kinda naive to automatically consider that it'll improve since his last fight.
 

AllMMAisAwesome1991 on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:26 pm ET

Didn't Oliveira get injured? Why does it still say hes fighting Soszynski?

 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:27 pm ET
Right now, Oliveira's injury is just a rumor.
Seen it in wikipedia without any actual source or additional info - I don't understand where they took it anyway.
 

bman518 on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:32 pm ET
On UFC.com the fight was taken off the official fight card.
 

VadimWhite on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:32 pm ET
Oh.
Didn't know what, thanks.
 

silverbacc on Nov 13, 2012 at 4:27 pm ET
THESE ARE MY PICS;

PEARSON BY UD

PALHARES BY SUB IN 3RD AND FOTN

PIERCE BY UD

MENDEZ BY SD

POKRAJAC BY TKO IN 3RD

SOSZYNSKI BY UD
 

FeloniousMonk on Nov 14, 2012 at 4:56 am ET
I think Palhares won't be able to handle Lombard's hands. I could see a valiant effort being put up.. but Palhares doesn't seem like he enjoys to get punched too much. I'm so stoked for this match up. I put this on the  top 5 list of my most anticipated upcoming fights. This was the debut I wanted Lombard to make originally. I figured Boetsch's size would interfere with Lombard's ability to get inside. 
 

WHMoff33 on Nov 13, 2012 at 6:49 pm ET
This is simple, because both of these guys need to take the high road, and take this sucker to the ground, but Pokrajac has the better ground game, and prior to the UFC, he does have submissions.

Beltran, prior to the UFC, has had his arm cranked.

You tell me who's going to come out on top. I've got Igor all the way.
 

sadowolf on Nov 13, 2012 at 7:01 pm ET
Nice, now we just need to find Perosh a replacement for his big toe. 
 

juan_m3 on Nov 13, 2012 at 9:02 pm ET
Couple of LHW contenders and sluggers
 

shut_the_Fitch_up on Nov 14, 2012 at 3:30 pm ET
This is an excellent replacement fight, if Joey can beat Igor, then I can see him having a home in the UFC for at least another year.
 

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