7 Questions With UFC Light Heavyweight Igor Pokrajac

The top billed bout on the UFC 152 preliminary card is a light heavyweight contest between Croatian striker Igor “The Duke” Pokrajac and submission ace Vinny “Pezao” Magalhaes. Pokrajac hold a 4-3 record inside the octagon, however, he is currently riding a three-fight win streak with victories over Todd Brown, Krzysztof Soszynski and most recently, Fabio Maldonado. The 33-year-old has finished his opponent in 21 of his 25 victories, which includes two knockouts and one submission victory inside the octagon.

As Pokrajac closes in on one of the most crucial fights of his professional career, he took the time to speak with FightCove.com for this edition of 7 Questions.

Mike Bohn: How are you liking Toronto so far?

Igor Pokrajac: I like Toronto a lot. I was here last December, I had I good time I was fighting Krzysztof Soszynski and you know it was – everybody ask me when I was going to come back to Toronto and I didn’t know to confirm it then and now Joe Silva ask me if I want to fight in Toronto on UFC 152 and I said ‘yes, of course’ and now I’m very glad to be here again.

Mike Bohn: Your bout (against Vinny Magalhes) is the top bout on the preliminary card, are you excited to be the featured bout on that portion of the card?

Igor Pokrajac: Yes it is the top bout, first I was on the main card and now because of Jon Jones versus Belfort I was pushed to the prelims on FX, but you know I can do nothing about that I just need to fight again and to do my best.

Mike Bohn: Does fighting on the preliminary card opposed to the main card that a difference to you?

Igor Pokrajac: Yeah of course it makes a difference, pay-per-view is the most, the biggest thing in UFC, fighting on pay-per-view, especially when the media is much bigger, the concentration is on you so, of course.

Mike Bohn: You’ve been on a good streak lately, three-straight wins. Before that you were kind of alternating losses and wins back and forth, what’s changed for you in these past three fights?

Igor Pokrajac: Nothing’s changed. I just grow as a fighter and I get a lot of experience and I had some injuries, I had some bad luck and I just train hard. For each fight I train hard whether it’s for a title shot or for nothing. Nothing’s changed for this fight also.

Mike Bohn: What do you think about this fight? Vinny’s been out of the UFC for a few years now.

Igor Pokrajac: Yeah he was for a few years out but he was fighting in small organizations like M-1 and he was competing on ADCC as he is the top level of grappling and BJJ fighter, so this is MMA and I have more experience in MMA so we’re going to see on Saturday night.

Mike Bohn: How do you think his game has changed since the last time he was in the UFC? He only had two fights and then got released.

Igor Pokrajac: I’ve seen his fights in M-1 and he don’t changed a lot, you know his skills are not set up as good as mine and on the ground he’s much better than all fighters, not just me he’s a top level jiu-jitsu fighter. But I don’t have to be afraid with him to go to the ground, I take him to the ground, I can be on my back, I can be on top of him so this is MMA and everything can happen.

Mike Bohn: Do you have a prediction for the fight?

Igor Pokrajac: Yes it’s going to be a tough fight, but I will beat him and I plan to knock him out as fast as I can.

Mike Bohn, founder and lead writer of FightCove.com, conducted this interview. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeBohnMMA. Also, follow @FightCove on Twitter and “Like” Fight Cove on Facebook.