Goran Reljic

Last May at UFC 84, Croatian middleweight Goran Reljic successfully made his UFC debut with an impressive second-round TKO of Wilson Gouveia that pushed his undefeated record to 8-0 and earned him “Fight of the Night” honors.

Reljic was booked to fight middleweight contender Thales Leites in October at UFC 90, but was forced off the card after suffering a back injury.

According to Reljic’s manager, Zoran Saric, attempts to rehab the injury were unsuccessful and he ultimately underwent lower back surgery three months ago. Now, Reljic has begun light training and simply needs to be cleared by doctors before he can resume full training in anticipation of his Octagon return.

“He is such a talent that it’d be a shame if we don’t see him fighting again. Goran is coming back soon stronger and better than ever,” said Saric.

No date or opponent has yet been rumored for Reljic’s return to the Octagon.

A crash that almost killed two young men on the 15th of October at round 3am could have had disastrous consequences when the two young men, both from Privlaka, spun and crashed into the sea.

Thankfully both men survived, due to the brave actions of Goran Reljica, the Croatian ultimate fighter, who resides in the immediate vicinity of the town in question.

When he heard the crash, Goran jumped out of bed, still in his underwear and jumped into the sea.

He swam to the car, proceeded to brake the windshield of the vehicle and pull both men to land. Several eyes witness accounts confirm the story and so does Goran himself who doesn’t want any praise or recognition for the good deed.

“The only satisfaction I get is that both young men are alive and healthy, I don’t need any praise, I simply did what anyone one would have done in that situation” said Reljic

Reljic was scheduled to fight on the 25th October however a back injury forced him out of his fight with Brazilian Thales Leites. Even with his back injury Raljic did not hesitate to help and rescue the two young man from the sinking car.

MMAFrenzy.com (http://mmafrenzy.com) today confirmed the injury with Reljic’s manager, Zoran Saric.

A native of Croatia, Reljic is undefeated in eight professional bouts, including an impressive second-round TKO of Wilson Gouveia in his UFC debut at UFC 84 in May.

A replacement has not yet been determined.

UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote” takes place on October 25th at the Allstate Arena in Chiago, Illinois and includes Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote, Diego Sanchez vs. Thiago Alves, Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior dos Santos, and Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin.

“Known primarily for his ground game thanks to an unbeaten record that saw him five of his first seven bouts by submission, Zagreb, Croatia’s Reljic (8-0) instead showed a vicious standup attack in his UFC debut at UFC 84 in May as he stopped light heavyweight contender Wilson Gouveia in the second round. On October 25th, Reljic will drop down to middleweight to take on Rio De Janeiro, Brazil’s Thales Leites (13-1), who is on a four fight winning streak, with UFC victories over Pete Sell, Floyd Sword, Ryan Jensen, and most recently, Nate Marquardt.

A five year veteran with a pro MMA record of 23-10-1, Gresham, Oregon’s Horwich will
finally make his long-awaited UFC debut this October, and with wins over Octagon vets Josh Burkman, Jason MacDonald, Vernon White, and Benji Radach already under his belt, this 29-year old battler should fit right in. Standing across from him on fight night though will be a formidable foe in Almeida (9-3), one of the sport’s best ground fighters and winner of seven of his last eight bouts, with victories coming over the likes of Nate Marquardt, Ryo Chonan, and Kazuo Misaki.”

For more on UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote” check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

The trio of bouts were recently reported by Five Ounces of Pain, MMA Junkie, and MMA Weekly.

Jason Lambert (23-8) started his UFC career with three straight victories but has since dropped three of his last four bouts including back-to-back losses to Wilson Gouveia and Luiz Cane. He will make his middleweight debut at UFC 88 on September 6th in Atlanta against Jason Day (17-6), who dispatched Alan Belcher via first-round TKO in his UFC debut in April but was stopped by Michael Bisping via first-round TKO at UFC 85 in June.

Alessio Sakara (12-7) has gone just 3-4 in the UFC, posting victories over Elvis Sinosic, Victor Valimaki, and James Lee. Sakara made his middleweight debut against Chris Leben at UFC 82, losing via first-round TKO. He will take on Joe Vedepo (7-1) on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 15 on September 17th in Omaha, Nebraska. In his last fight, Vedepo, who has never gone the distance in his professional career, won the Midwest Cage Championship middleweight title with a late third-round verbal submission victory over Brian Green in June.

Thales Leites (13-1) has won four straight bouts in the UFC following his UFC debut loss to Martin Kampmann in late-2006. Leites posted victories over Pete Sell, Floyd Sword, and Ryan Jensen then defeated former middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt via split decision at UFC 85 in June. Goran Reljic (8-0) is undefeated in his professional career, including a UFC debut victory over Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84 in May. Reljic, the 2007 European Gracie Jiu Jitsu champion, will drop down from light heavyweight to the 185-pound middleweight division to take on Leites at UFC 90 on October 25th in Chicago.

For the latest UFC 90 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

(Pictured: Jason Day)

UFC 84 “Ill Will” took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 24th.

Tested by the NSAC were BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, Lyoto Machida, Rousimar Palhares, Ivan Salaverry, Rameau Sokodjou, Rich Clementi, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Shane Carwin, Thiago Silva, Goran Reljic, and Dong Hyun Kim.

For more UFC 84 coverage CLICK HERE.

Ten of the event’s twenty-two fighters received a medical suspension.

• Sean Sherk (defeated by BJ Penn via TKO) – Right cheek laceration; Suspended until July 9th with no contact until June 24th.
• Keith Jardine (defeated by Wanderlei Silva via KO) – Nasal fracture; Must have fracture cleared by doctor or no contest until November 21st. Minimum suspension until July 24th with no contact until July 9th.
• Goran Reljic (defeated Wilson Gouveia via TKO) – Suspended until June 24th with no contact until June 15th
• Wilson Gouveia (defeated by Goran Reljic via TKO) – Nasal fractures, sinus fractures, broken ribs; Must have injuries cleared by doctor or no contest until November 21st. Minimum suspension until July 24th with no contact until July 9th.
• Tito Ortiz (defeatd by Lyoto Machida via unanimous decision) – Left hand/wrist injury and right eyelid laceration; Must have injuries cleared by doctor or no contest until November 21st. Minimum supension until July 9th with no contact until June 24th.
• Antonio Mendes (defeated by Thiago Silva via submission – strikes) – Suspended until June 24th with no contact until June 15th.
• Kazuhiro Nakamura (defeated by Rameau Sokoudjou via TKO) – Nasal fracture; Must have fracture cleared by doctor or no contest until November November 21st. Minimum supension until July 9th with no contact until June 24th.
• Terry Etim (defeated by Rich Clementi via unanimous decision) – Right cheek laceration; Suspended until June 24th with no contact until June 15th.
• Jason Tan (defeated by Cong Hyun Kim via TKO) – Nasal fracture; Must have fracture cleared by doctor or no contest until November 21st. Minimum suspension until July 9th with no contact until June 24th.
• Christian Wellisch (defeated by Shane Carwin via TKO) -  Suspended until June 8th with no contact until June 1st..

For more UFC 84 coverage CLICK HERE.

The 11-bout pay-per-event took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 24th.

The tested fighters were BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, Lyoto Machida, Rousimar Palhares, Ivan Salaverry, Rameau Sokodjou, Rich Clementi, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Shane Carwin, Thiago Silva, Goran Reljic, and Dong Hyun Kim.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for results of the drug tests as soon as they are released.

Each of the event’s winning fighters, excluding Wanderlei Silva, received a win bonus equal to their “to show” salary. Silva did not have a win bonus and instead received a flat salary.

The top paid fighters for the event were UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn ($250,000), Tito Ortiz ($210,000), Silva ($150,000), Lyoto Machida ($100,000), and Rameau Sokoudjou ($80,000).

UFC 84 FIGHTER SALARIES

• BJ Penn ($250,000) def. Sean Sherk ($35,000)
• Wanderlei Silva (150,000) def. Keith Jardine ($10,000)
• Goran Reljic ($6,000) def. Wilson Gouveia ($18,000)
• Lyoto Machida ($100,000) def. Tito Ortiz ($210,000)
• Thiago Silva ($50,000) def. Antonio Mendes ($4,000)
• Rousimar Palhares ($10,000) def. Ivan Salaverry ($20,000)
• Rameau Sokoudjou ($80,000) def. Kazuhiro Nakamura ($20,000)
• Rich Clementi ($40,000) def. Terry Etim ($10,000)
• Yoshiyuki Yoshida ($12,000) def. Jon Koppenhaver ($8,000)
• Dong Hyun Kim ($40,000) def. Jason Tan ($3,000)
• Shane Carwin ($12,000) def. Christian Wellisch ($10,000)

Remember, the official salaries reported to the athletic commission do not include bonuses, sponsorhips, or fees.

The official payroll for the event was $1.098 million.

For more on UFC 84 click here.

• Rob Yundt will take on Alessio Sakara at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.
• At UFC 87 Heath Herring will fill in for an injured Mark Coleman and take on Brock Lesnar, Clay Guida will face Mac Danzig, Jason MacDonald takes on Demian Maia, and Manny Gamburyan will be in action against an opponent to be announced.
• Adrenaline MMA has inked a deal with HDNet to air the promotion’s first three events on the network.
• Jeremy Lang has replaced Eric Schambari against Tim McKenzie and Danny Castillo has replaced Richard Crunkilton against Donald Cerrone on the WEC 34 fight card, which is takes place on June 1st.
• Ryan Ford will take on UFC veteran Drew Fickett at MFC 17 for the promotion’s vacant welterweight championship.
• DREAM has announced the official pairings for the second round of the promtion’s middleweight tournament. The matchups are Kazushi Sakuraba versus Melvin Manhoef, Jason “Mayhem” Miller versus Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Gegard Mousasi versus Dong Sik Yoon, and Zelg Galesic versus Taiei Kin.
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueria will fight Vernon White at Affliction’s debut event, “Banned”, on July 19th.
• ESPN The Magazine featuring Kimbo Slice on the cover is on newstands now.
• EliteXC President Gary Shaw revealed this week that the promotion is likely going to introduce a heavyweight title in 2008.
• MMA veteran Matt Lindland won the Republican primary for the Oregon House of Representatives by a 14-point margin and will not take on Democratic nominee Suzanne VanOrman in the November 4th general election.
• EliteXC will stage a ShoXC event in San Diego, California on June 27th. Hector Lombard will make his debut with the promotion at the event, Cyrille Diabate will face Jamie Fletcher in a main card bout, and King of the Cage middleweight champion Keith Berry will look to defend his title against Reggie Orr.
• UFC 88 will take place on September 6th at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.