Igor_Jurković

Igor Jurković

Igor Jurković

Croatian kickboxer

Igor Jurković (born 15 July 1985) is a Croatian heavyweight kickboxer fighting out of Poreč, Croatia. He was 6 times Croatian national champion 2004, 2005, 2006 in Thai boxing, and kickboxing champion 2005 in full contact, 2005 and 2006 in low kick rules, and also was sparring partner of Mirko Cro Cop. He has fought in K-1 and he is under contract with Glory promotion.

Quick Facts Born, Other names ...

Since of 2 November 2015, he is ranked the #8 light heavyweight in the world by GLORY.[1]

Biography and career

Igor "The Istrian Warrior"[2] Jurković was born in the city of Poreč, Croatia. He started kickboxing after watching Mirko Filipović knocking out Mike Bernardo, and as Bernardo was falling down, a new kickboxer, decisive to continue Croatian kickbox glory was rising. Igor was six time Croatian kickboxing champion, also W.A.K.O. amateur world champion under Muay Thai rules, also winning bronze and silver medals on other W.A.K.O. championships.[3]

"Le Grand Tournoi"
He was K-1 Rules "Le Grand Tournoi" 2006 champion.[4] He had a walkthrough in quarter finals because Frédérique Bellonie, last year's champion, suffered injury before tournament. In semi finals he defeated Frédéric Sinistra and won tournament defeating Magomed Magomedov in the final. Tournament was promoted by the K-1 organisation, it was only a prize tournament, not a K-1 qualifying tournament. After that he had a break in his career because of injury sustained while falling off the motorcycle, but successfully returned to kickboxing and won few international tournaments.[5][6]

Golden Glory
In 2011 he signed for Golden Glory, and successfully passed his first test on United Glory 14 event. He knocked down Pavel Zhuravlev in the first round, in the second round he dropped Pavel and broke his nose, causing ringside doctor to stop the fight.[7] After the fight Head Kick Legend magazine ranked Jurkovic as 20. heavyweight kickboxer in August 2011.[8][9] He "sneaked" there due to a Win against Zhuravlev.

It was later announced that Jurković is scheduled to participate on K-1 World Grand Prix 2011 in Nanjing Final 16 on October 29. 2011, however the event was canceled as K-1 was suffering from financial problems.[10][11]

2012

On 10 March 2012 he made another big step defeating Freddy Kemayo on "Cro Cop Final Fight", he won in a close fight after extra round.[12][13]

He was expected to fight Ali Cenik[14] on United Glory 15, but it was later changed and he faced Zabit Samedov, losing the fight via unanimous decision after suffering first round knockdown. Later in the fight Jurković was at least equal fighter, but knockdown was enough for Samedov to take deserved victory.[15] In an interview after the fight he said that he was not ready for two tough fights in that short time.[16]

He was scheduled to fight for the championship belt of Cristian Bosch under WBC Muaythai organisation, but he gave up because he was also scheduled to fight in the Glory summer tournament that was planned to happen in Ukraine but cancelled. In an interview Jurković said that he was sorry he could not fight for the belt as he believed that he could take it easily, and that he was never into Muay Thai but he felt the belt would have suited him.[16]

Glory World Series have announced a Glory grand Slam heavyweight 16 man, one-night, single-elimination tournament event in Tokyo, Japan in December, and Igor is expected to be one of 16 participants.[17]

October 6, 2012, Brussels, Belgium, Glory 2, it was last test before Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam, and another great victory. This time against Gregory Tony. Power advantage was on Jurković's side at the very beginning of the fight, his quick distance closing and power hooks were too much for French opponent. In the second round, after a punch Gregory's hand suffered a fracture, an old injury witch reopened. But that does not diminish Jurković's victory, which was achieved with many powerful body shoots. Three knockdowns in round two and referee stops the fight.[18]

Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam
He competed in the sixteen-man 2012 Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam at Glory 4: Tokyo - 2012 Heavyweight Grand Slam in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2012. At the opening stage, he faced Anderson "Braddock" Silva and gave up ten kilograms in weight.[19] He lost via TKO when the referee stopped the bout in round one after he was floored twice.[20][21]

2013

On 19 April 2013, Jurković vs. Cătinaș lived up to the expectations of many of the kickboxing fans that were in attendance at FFC03: Jurković vs. Cătinaș in Split, Croatia. A ton of damage was dished out over the course of the fight between both fighters and Igor Jurković won on a unanimous third-round decision in a fight that could have gone either way. After the fight he said that he didn't want to disappoint public and organisation despite breaking his fist in training.[22][23][24]

After refusing to fight at Glory 9: New York, because wanted to fight in his hometown Poreč he fought Dževad Poturak at FFC06: Jurković vs. Poturak on June 14, 2013. Jurković dominated all three rounds and deservedly took unanimous decision win.[25][26][27][28][29]

He fought Jhonata Diniz at Glory 12: New York - Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City on November 23, 2013, and lost the fight by first-round TKO. He looked good at the beginning of the fight but got too aggressive when Diniz dropped him with a punch, Igor continued to fight but Diniz finished the job.[30][31][32][33][34][35]

2014

He faced Michael Duut at Glory 14 event in Zagreb, Croatia on March 8, 2014. Jurković dropped weight and fought in Glory light heavyweight division. He dropped Duut with punches two times in round one, and referee stopped the fight at 1:14.[36][37]

He defeated Jovan Kaluđerović early in round one at FFC11: Jurković vs. Kaluđerović in Osijek, Croatia on April 4, 2014, in the main event of the night. Igor was checked with right cross early in the round but recovered and dropped Jovan with punch-knee combination. Finished the fight with few liver kicks at the time of 1:47.[38][39]

He suffered quite a convincing defeat via UD at Glory 16: Denver by Artem Vakhitov in Broomfield, Colorado, United States on May 3, 2014. While focusing on leg kicks he was outclassed by Vakhitov's boxing and suffered first round knockdown. After the fight Igor said “I lost by judges’ decision, but it will not demotivate me. This is now behind me, the mach was OK, but I was not myself. I was slow and I did not have an answer to his combinations”.[40][41][42]

Before break he will once again fight at FFC13 in a main event of the evening against Luis Tavares on June 6, 2014, in Zadar, Croatia.[43]

Titles

Professional

  • 2014 FFC Light Heavyweight Champion (-95 kg) [44]
  • 2010 International Open Muay Thai Cup BiH 2010 Tournament Champion
  • 2006 K-1 Rules "Le Grand Tournoi" Champion -100 kg
  • 2005 King's Birthday WMC-S1 Championship Tournament Runner-up -90 kg

Amateur

  • 2010 Serbia Open 2010 Tournament Champion (Low-kick rules)
  • 2010 Croatian Kickboxing Championships Silver +91 kg (Low-kick rules)
  • 2007 W.A.K.O. World Championships Silver -91 kg (Low-Kick Rules)
  • 2006 W.A.K.O. European Championships Bronze -91 kg (Thai-Boxing Rules)
  • 2006 Croatian Kickboxing Championships Gold (Low-kick rules)
  • 2006 Croatian Thai-Boxing Championships Gold
  • 2005 W.A.K.O. World Championships Gold -91 kg (Thai-Boxing Rules)
  • 2005 Croatian Kickboxing Championships Gold -86 kg (Low-kick rules)
  • 2005 Croatian Kickboxing Championships Gold -86 kg (Full contact rules)
  • 2005 Croatian Muay Thai Championships Gold -86 kg
  • 2004 W.A.K.O. European Championships Bronze -86 kg (Thai-Boxing Rules)
  • 2004 Croatian Thai-Boxing Championships Gold -86 kg

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

More information Date, Result ...
More information Date, Result ...

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Fighters Rankings". gloryworldseries.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-20.
  2. [2]
    "Profile of Jurkovic on FFC official website". finalfight.hr. Retrieved 2014-03-09.
  3. [3]
    "Official WAKO results". wakoweb.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  4. [4]
    "BUAKAW at the Phoenix Muay Thai". muaythaitv.com. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  5. [5]
    "U "PINKIJU" ODRŽANA FINALA MEĐUNARODNOG TURNIRA "SRBIJA OPEN", Igoru Jurkoviću trofej "Zoran Šijan"" (in Serbian). atastars.rs. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  6. [6]
    "Jurković i Lešnik najveći dobitnici" (in Bosnian). balkaniyum.tv. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  7. [7]
    "Glory world series live results". liverkick.com. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  8. [8]
    "Kickboxing Rankings: Heavyweight Division, August 2011". headkicklegend.com. August 1, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  9. [9]
    KICKBOXING RANKINGS HEAVYWEIGHTS (in Croatian)
  10. [10]
    "Jurković na K-1 Grand Prixu: Krv, znoj i suze su mi donijele ovo!" (in Croatian). Fightsite.hr. 2011-10-15. Archived from the original on 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
  11. [11]
    "Report: K-1 Grand Prix 2011 Cancelled". bloodyelbow.com. 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  12. [12]
    ""Cro Cop Final Fight" Airs On Fight Now TV In USA". liverkick.com. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  13. [13]
    "Cro Cop Final Fight Live Results". liverkick.com. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  14. [14]
    "Jurković u Moskvi protiv Samedova" (in Croatian). fightsite.hr. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  15. [15]
    "Glory World Series Live Results". liverkick.com. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  16. [16]
    "Jurković: Morali smo odbiti Ghitu". fightsite.hr. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  17. [17]
    "Glory Announces 13 of 16 Heavyweights for Glory Grand Slam in December" (in Croatian). liverkick.com. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  18. [18]
    "GLORY 2 BRUSSELS RESULTS". gloryworldseries.com. October 7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  19. [19]
    "Glory: Igor Jurković 99.8, Anderson Silva 110 kg" (in Croatian). profightstore.hr. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
  20. [20]
    GLORY 4 Tokyo Grand Slam Tournament Match-Ups Set
  21. [21]
    DREAM 18 / GLORY 4 Tokyo Live Results
  22. [22]
    "FFC 3: Jurković neutralizirao Catinasa, Delija pregazio Laprakisa" (in Croatian). Profightstore. 19 April 2013.
  23. [23]
    "Final Fight 3: Igor Jurkovic Defeats Raul Catinas". LiverKick. 19 April 2013.
  24. [24]
    Jurković: I broke my fist in training, but I think I didn’t disappoint anyone!
  25. [25]
    "Jurković: I ditched New York to fight Poturak". Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  26. [26]
    Final Fight 06: Gerges vs. Zhuravlev on June 14th
  27. [27]
    Gerges u fantastičnom meču pobijedio Zhuravleva, Jurković nastavlja put prema vrhu FFC-a Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine(in Croatian)
  28. [28]
    Final Fight 06 Results
  29. [29]
    "FFC 6 Results: Hesdy Gerges Defeats Pavel Zhuravlev, Jurkovic Victorious Against Dzeved Poturak". Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  30. [30]
    Main Event for GLORY 12 Unveiled: Joe Schilling vs. Wayne Barrett
  31. [31]
    2 more fights confirmed for Glory 12 including Joe Schilling vs. Wayne Barrett headliner Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  32. [32]
    Glory 12: Igor Jurković doživio TKO poraz, Ristie šokirao i s dva nokauta osvojio turnir (GIF)(in Croatian)
  33. [33]
    Glory 12 Live Results and Updates
  34. [34]
    Remy Bonjasky Walks Away With Controversial Decision Over ‘Cro Cop’ at Glory 14
  35. [35]
    Glory 14 Results and Recap Archived 2015-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  36. [36]
    Otkriveno: Igor Jurković protiv Michaela Duuta na Gloryju 14 u Zagrebu! Archived 2014-01-20 at the Wayback Machine(in Croatian)
  37. [37]
    Mirko Filipović poražen kontroverznom odlukom sudaca, ostali sunarodnjaci brutalni Archived 2017-12-23 at the Wayback Machine(in Croatian)
  38. [38]
    Igor Jurković uskočio u glavnu ulogu FFC-a 11 u Osijeku!(in Croatian)
  39. [39]
    Jurković slavio nokautom, Veseli svladao Živkovića u borbi večeri Archived 2014-04-08 at the Wayback Machine(in Croatian)
  40. [40]
    UFC Veteran Pat Barry Suffers First-Round Knockout Loss to Zack Mwekassa at Glory 16
  41. [41]
    Glory 16 Results Archived 2015-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  42. [42]
    Jurković: I wasn’t myself
  43. [43]
    Jurković najavio još jednu borbu pa odmor(in Croatian)
  44. [44]
    FFC 15 kickboks: Jurković osvojio pojas prvaka, Kujundžićev poraz šokirao Žatiku(in Croatian)
  45. [45]
    “Noć boksa”: pet borbi, pet nokauta(in Croatian)
  46. [46]
    POREČAN IGOR JURKOVIĆ U PARIZU OSVOJIO NAJPRESTIŽNIJI PROFESIONALNI POZIVNI SVJETSKI KICKBOXING K-1 TURNIR(in Croatian)
  47. [47]
    PRESTIŽNI TURNIR U TAJLANDSKOM BOKSU(in Croatian)
  48. [48]
    Prvomajski kickboxing u Šibeniku(in Croatian)
  49. [49]
    PRVENSTVO HRVATSKE U THAI-KICKBOXINGU(in Croatian)
  50. [50]
    ODR®ANO HRVATSKO PRVENSTVO U LOW KICKU(in Croatian)
  51. [51]
    Izvrsni rezultati porečkih Kick boxing boraca(in Croatian)
  52. [52]
    Prvenstva u Zagrebu(in Croatian)
  53. [53]
    Održano hrvatsko prvenstvo u tri discipline kickboxinga(in Croatian)
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