Goran Reljić

Goran Reljić (born 20 March 1984) is a Croatian mixed martial artist and bare knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor who began his career in 2004 and most recently competed in 2020, he has fought for the UFC, RIZIN, and KSW.

Goran Reljić
Born	(1984-03-20) 20 March 1984 (age 41) Zadar, SFR Yugoslavia (present day Croatia)
Other names	Ghost
Nationality	Croatian
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)
Division	Middleweight (2009–2010) Light Heavyweight (2004–2008, 2010–present) Heavyweight (2012)
Reach	81 in (206 cm)
Style	Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Stance	Southpaw
Fighting out of	Zadar, Croatia
Team	Renbukai Training Center
Rank	Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Adem Redžović
Years active	2004–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total	32
Wins	21
By knockout	7
By submission	7
By decision	7
Losses	11
By knockout	4
By decision	7
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Mixed martial arts career

Reljić made his professional MMA debut on April 4, 2004 against Bojan Spalević. Reljić won the fight via submission (armbar) in the first round. His second fight was against Andrej Bregar in Trbovlje, Slovenia. Reljić won the fight via submission (arm-triangle choke).

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Reljić made his UFC debut at light heavyweight against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84, where he won in the second round by TKO. He then dropped down to middleweight.^[1]

His next fight was slated to be at UFC 90 against Thales Leites, but Reljić sustained a serious back injury and was replaced by Drew McFedries. He would not return to active competition for nearly two years.

Reljić finally made his return and faced CB Dollaway on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110, where he would be making his middleweight debut.^[2] Reljić lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Reljić faced Kendall Grove on July 3, 2010 at UFC 116 and lost via split decision. One judge scored the fight 29–28 for Reljić, while the other two judges scored it 30–27 and 29–28 for Grove.^[3][4]

Reljić returned to the light heavyweight division and faced Krzysztof Soszynski on November 13, 2010 at UFC 122.^[5] After losing the fight via unanimous decision, Reljić was released from the promotion.^[6]

Post-UFC

In his first post UFC fight, Reljić faced Goran Šćepanović on October 7, 2011 at BEFN 6, where he won by TKO in the first round.

Reljić then faced Rogent Lloret in a heavyweight bout on March 24, 2012 at Strength and Honor Championship in Geneve Switzerland. Reljić won the fight by TKO in the first round.

Reljić fought Jan Błachowicz in a main fight on KSW 22 for light heavyweight world title. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Reljić then faced Nikolay Osokin at Draka 13 on August 30, 2013. Reljić won the fight via TKO (body kick) in the first round.

Reljić returned to KSW on March 22, 2014 against Karol Celinski at KSW 26. Reljić won the fight via unanimous decision.^[7]

In his debut for the Rizin Fighting Federation, Reljić faced Vadim Nemkov on December 29, 2015. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Absolute Championship Berkut

Reljić faced Nikola Dipchikov at ACA 109: Strus vs. Haratyk on August 20, 2020. He lost the bout via first round TKO.

Reljić faced Carlos Eduardo on April 23, 2021 at ACA 122. He won the bout via split decision.^[8]

Reljić faced Davrbek Isakov at ACA 133 on December 4, 2021. He won the bout via TKO in second round.^[9]

Reljić faced Vojtech Garba at RFA 3 on July 23, 2022. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.^[10]

Reljić faced Stepan Gorshechnikov on April 8, 2023 at ACA 155, losing the bout via TKO stoppage in the first round.^[11]

Reljić faced Alexey Efremov on November 24, 2023 at ACA 166, losing the bout after retiring from the bout after the first round.^[12]

Bare knuckle boxing career

He made his debut in a bare knuckle boxing becoming UBBADA world light heavyweight champion at BKB 7 event in Liverpool on September 9, 2017, defeating Ricky Nelder via unanimous decision.^[13]

On next event he defended title against Jimmy McCrory on November 4, 2017. Fight was declared no contest because McCrory's jaw appears to be broken after a clash of heads.^[14][15]

Bare knuckle boxing record

2 Wins, 0 Losses, 0 Draws, 2 NC
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time	Notes
2018-06-09	NC	Danny Macintosh	BKB 11, O2 Arena, London, England, United Kingdom	NC	1	N/A	Retains UBBADA World Light Heavyweight Championship after Macintosh's corner indicated to ref their fighter couldn't continue due to an arm injury.[16]
2018-03-24	Win	Kevin Thompson	BKB 10 Liverpool	TKO	2	2:00	Defended UBBADA World Light Heavyweight Championship. TKO due to a doctor stoppage.
2017-11-04	NC	Jimmy McCrory	BKB 8 Coventry	NC	1	N/A	Retains UBBADA World Light Heavyweight Championship. NC due to a clash of the heads.
2017-09-09	Win	Ricky Nelder	BKB 7 Liverpool	UD	5	2:00	Wins UBBADA World Light Heavyweight Championship.

Championships and accomplishments

• Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki
  • KSW Light Heavyweight World Championship (One time)
  • Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Jan Błachowicz
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Wilson Gouveia
  • UFC.com Awards
    • 2008: Ranked #9 Fight of the Year vs. Wilson Gouveia^[17]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

33 matches	21 wins	12 losses
By knockout	7	5
By submission	7	0
By decision	7	7

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	21–12	Alexey Efremov	TKO (retirement)	ACA 166: Magomedov vs. Dolgov	November 24, 2023	1	5:00	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Loss	21–11	Stepan Gorshechnikov	TKO (punches)	ACA 155: Karginov vs. Silva	April 8, 2023	1	1:56	Minsk, Belarus
Loss	21–10	Vojtech Garba	Decision (unanimous)	RFA 3	July 23, 2022	3	5:00	Ostrava, Czech Republic
Win	21–9	Davrbek Isakov	TKO (punches)	ACA 133: Bimarzaev vs. Lima	December 4, 2021	2	1:25	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Win	20–9	Carlos Eduardo	Decision (split)	ACA 122: Johnson vs. Poberezhets	April 23, 2021	3	5:00	Minsk, Belarus
Loss	19–9	Nikola Dipchikov	TKO (punches)	ACA 109: Strus vs. Haratyk	August 20, 2020	1	2:38	Łódź, Poland
Win	19–8	Miro Jurković	Decision (split)	Serbian Battle Championship 28	June 19, 2020	3	5:00	Odžaci, Serbia
Win	18–8	Pedro Brum	KO (punch)	Serbian Battle Championship 27	March 14, 2020	2	0:24	Vrbas, Serbia
Win	17–8	Anđelko Kitić	Submission (rear-naked choke)	Trieste Fight Night 2	December 8, 2018	1	3:50	Trieste, Italy
Win	16–8	Daniel Dörrer	Submission (armbar)	Mannheimer Hafenkeilerei 6	December 9, 2017	1	3:50	Mannheim, Germany
Loss	15–8	Mattia Schiavolin	Decision (unanimous)	Superior FC 15	October 29, 2016	5	5:00	Rüsselsheim, Germany	For the Superior FC Middleweight Championship.
Loss	15–7	Kazbek Saidaliev	Decision (unanimous)	Akhmat Fight Show 23: Grand Prix Akhmat 2016	June 11, 2016	3	5:00	Grozny, Russia
Loss	15–6	Vadim Nemkov	TKO (punches)	Rizin WGP 2015: Part 1 - Saraba	December 29, 2015	1	2:58	Saitama, Japan	Rizin FF World Grand-Prix Quarterfinal.
Loss	15–5	Tomasz Narkun	KO (punches)	KSW 32: Road to Wembley	October 31, 2015	1	1:55	London, England	Lost the KSW Light Heavyweight Championship.
Win	15–4	Attila Végh	Decision (split)	KSW 31: Materla vs. Drwal	May 23, 2015	3	5:00	Gdańsk, Poland	Won the vacant KSW Light Heavyweight Championship.
Win	14–4	Tomasz Narkun	Decision (majority)[18][19]	KSW 29: Reload	December 6, 2014	3	5:00	Kraków, Poland	KSW Light Heavyweight title eliminator.
Win	13–4	Karol Celinski	Decision (unanimous)	KSW 26: Materla vs. Silva 3	March 22, 2014	3	5:00	Warsaw, Poland
Win	12–4	Nikolay Osokin	TKO (body kick)	Draka 13	August 30, 2013	1	0:47	Vladivostok, Russia
Loss	11–4	Jan Błachowicz	Decision (unanimous)	KSW 22: Pride Time	March 16, 2013	3	5:00	Warsaw, Poland	For the KSW Light Heavyweight Championship. Fight of the Night.
Win	11–3	Gadji Magomedov	Decision (unanimous)	Draka 8	August 11, 2012	4	3:00	Nakhodka, Russia
Win	10–3	Rogent Lloret	TKO (punches)	S&HC 5	March 24, 2012	1	3:02	Geneva, Switzerland	Heavyweight bout.
Win	9–3	Goran Šćepanović	TKO (punches)	Bilic-Eric Security Fight Night 6	October 7, 2011	1	1:31	Zagreb, Croatia
Loss	8–3	Krzysztof Soszynski	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 122	November 13, 2010	3	5:00	Oberhausen, Germany	Return to Light Heavyweight.
Loss	8–2	Kendall Grove	Decision (split)	UFC 116	July 3, 2010	3	5:00	Nevada, United States
Loss	8–1	C.B. Dollaway	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 110	February 21, 2010	3	5:00	Sydney, Australia	Middleweight debut.
Win	8–0	Wilson Gouveia	TKO (punches)	UFC 84	May 24, 2008	2	3:15	Nevada, United States	Fight of the Night.
Win	7–0	Waldemar Golinski	Decision (unanimous)	BE 2 - Boxing Explosion 2	August 2, 2007	2	5:00	Celje, Slovenia
Win	6–0	Tomek Smykowski	Submission (armbar)	CF - The Real Deal	May 5, 2007	1	4:51	Maribor, Slovenia
Win	5–0	Petr Kelner	Submission (armbar)	Ultimate Fight - Challenge 1	December 9, 2006	2	3:47	Samobor, Croatia
Win	4–0	Bojan Mihajlović	Submission (kimura)	NS 3 - Noc Skorpiona 3	February 18, 2006	1	2:51	Šibenik, Croatia
Win	3–0	Nenad Đurić	TKO (punches)	NS 1 - Noc Skorpiona 1	April 29, 2005	2	0:54	Zadar, Croatia
Win	2–0	Andrej Bregar	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	Trboulje 1 - Croatia vs. Slovenia	November 5, 2004	1	1:52	Ljubljana, Slovenia
Win	1–0	Bojan Spalević	Submission (armbar)	UFD - Ultimate Fight Dubravc	April 4, 2004	1	4:20	Zagreb, Croatia