Goran Reljic: Doctors Said I’d Never Fight Again But I’m Going to Prove Them Wrong
Goran Reljic (8-0), who makes his middleweight debut against CB Dollaway on February 21 at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia, recently spoke to Sherdog about the bout, his first since undergoing back surgery following his knockout of Wilson Gouveia in May 2008 in his UFC debut:
“I had a long layoff. I had surgery on my back and I had some other issues in my life. Now everything is taken care of and I’m back. I’ve been doing a lot of physical therapy since the surgery and getting my body back into shape. Doctors actually told me I’ll never fight again, but I love to prove people wrong and now I’m back. I can’t wait to step inside and fight again.
I said to them, ‘I’m going to show you who’s not going to be capable of coming back to the sport. I’m going to show you that you’re wrong.’ I said (that) to them in their face. I told them I’m going to prove you wrong and that’s what I did. Look where I am now. I’m coming back. I feel great. I have a heart. I never quit and I proved them all wrong.
People thought I was a standup fighter when I first showed up in the UFC. I’m not. I’m a grappler. I came from a jiu-jitsu background. I’ve been working on my wrestling a lot, and like I said, you’ve got to work for everything. Absolutely everything. You can never say, ‘I have a good standup; I’m going to do wrestling. I don’t need to do standup anymore.’ Or ‘I’m going to do jiu-jitsu and I’m not going to do standup.’ You have to improve on everything.
C.B. is a great fighter. He’s a great wrestler. He has solid standup skills as well. I think he mixes it up all together pretty good. I just think we’re going to put on a great show for the crowd and I hope everybody’s going to see what they expect and everybody’s going to be satisfied.”
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Tags: Goran Reljic
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This dude is hardcore! I’ve dug him since his debut. I considered him long before “whitemare” to be “Mini Cro Cop”.
It’s a shame it took him this long to return because I thought he would surely be a contender after his win over Wilson Gouveia. If he says he’s a grappler and has a jitz background, then the mw’s should be afraid because this guys stand up looked solid and powerfull the last time we saw him.
I’m not sure how this long layoff and health issues will effect him overall but I sure hope he comes back strong and that we get to see him compete more.
He also jumped in a river or something and saved a man’s life!
I hope he comes back and performs well, and that the layoff don’t affect him too badly. Not just because I want CB Dolloway to lose, but I think Reljic is a good fighter and a decent person (for the river rescue Jazz mentioned above).
I’m sure there is going to be some cage rust, but considering the alternative, I’m just glad to see the man stepping into the cage at all…
thats crazy i just read an article about this guy last night and he seemed like a cool guy. in the article i read it said it was 2 teenagers he jumped in after and saved their lives causing more injury to his back and that also prolonged his comeback. you gotta respect that, i hope he packs C.B.s bags up for him and sends him out of the ufc.