News
28/07/10 - "No pressure" says 0-2 Pokrajac ahead of James Irvin fight
Igor Pokrajac has had a steep learning curve since joining the UFC and believes that his inexperience of fighting in such an organisation actually cost him his last fight. Pokrajac, who was Mirko CroCop’s cornerman and sparring partner for many years, is 0-2 in the UFC since losing to James Te Huna at UFC 110.
“Referee (Steve) Percival came to me before the fight and explained the rules that we all know and told me that if I get in some position where he’d stop the fight, but I was okay, just give the thumbs up and he’d let the fight go... as soon I did that (at 3:24) in the fight he stopped it and gave the fight to Te Huna by TKO,” Pokrajac told UFC.com
“For me that was a big lesson. I could smell Te Huna’s fear. I was waiting for them to stop the fight on the end of the second round (when he rocked Te Huna with 17 seconds to go) and then it would be a TKO (victory).”
Now heading into what must surely be a make-or-break fight with James Irvin at UFC Live on Versus 2 this weekend, Pokrajac is adamant he does not feel any extra pressure because of his 0-2 UFC run.
“I don't think of my losses as a problem or obstacle but rather a learning experience. Now everybody knows what happened against Te Huna and against [Vladimir Matyushenko] - this was timing, and that type of stuff won’t happen again. For me every fight is like that...I’ll be better than the last time,“ he said.
“I gave two great fights. I don’t see anything different than that in my next fight, only a better one than last time. I’ll go after him and the final message is to come to the UFC in San Diego and have a blast with all of us.”
Attachments:
- There are no attachments for this article
