Alessio Sakara

Mixed martial arts career Early career Sakara made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2002, and compiled a record of 13–3 before being signed by the UFC. The bout was ruled a no contest due to an inside leg kick to Sakara's groin.

Sakara next fought Elvis Sinosic at UFC 57 on February 4, 2006. He won the bout via a unanimous decision despite having a point deducted due to an illegal elbow.

Sakara was submitted in his next bout at UFC 60 by decorated grappling specialist and former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion Dean Lister.

Sakara was next expected to face Wilson Gouveia at UFC 65 on November 18, 2006. However, Gouveia withdrew from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Drew McFedries. Sakara lost the bout via first-round TKO.

Sakara rebounded from these losses when he fought Victor Valimaki at UFC 70 on April 21, 2007. He won via TKO at 1:44 of the first round.

At UFC 75 on September 8, 2007, Sakara lost for the third time in four fights, losing via first round TKO to Houston Alexander.

Sakara was part of UFC 80 on January 19, 2008, where he won via TKO in the first round against veteran James Lee.

Move down to middleweight Following his victory over Lee, Sakara announced that he would be moving down to the Middleweight division. He made his middleweight debut against former WEC Middleweight Champion Chris Leben at UFC 82 on March 1, 2008.

At UFC Fight Night 15, Sakara defeated Joe Vedepo via KO in the first round with a head kick, which earned him Knockout of the Night honors.

Sakara was then expected to face Jake Rosholt at UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7, 2009, but the bout was cancelled when Sakara had to pull out due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Dan Miller.

Sakara was then scheduled to face Rousimar Palhares at UFC 99 on June 13, 2009. However, for unknown reasons the bout was moved to take place at UFC 101 on August 8, 2009. Eventually, Palhares ended up withdrawing from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by former title challenger Thales Leites. Sakara won the bout via split decision.

The bout with Palhares was re-booked to take place on December 5, 2009, at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, but Sakara had to withdraw after suffering an undisclosed injury while training. He was replaced by Lucio Linhares.

Sakara defeated James Irvin via first-round TKO on March 21, 2010, at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones.

Sakara was forced to pull out of his fight with Nate Marquardt on July 3, 2010 at UFC 116 due to the death of his father.

Sakara was then scheduled to face Jorge Rivera on August 28, 2010 at UFC 118, but Rivera pulled out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Gerald Harris In turn, Sakara was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by Joe Vedepo.

His bout with Rivera was then rescheduled and was expected to take place on November 13, 2010, at UFC 122, but the fight was cancelled, Sakara intended on competing despite experiencing flu-like symptoms, but the bout was terminated due to Sakara vomiting backstage.

Sakara was expected to face Maiquel Falcão on March 3, 2011 at the UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann event. However, Falcão was injured while training and replaced by Rafael Natal. Then in early February, Natal pulled out of the bout due to a knee injury, and was replaced by promotional newcomer Chris Weidman. Sakara lost a unanimous decision after getting repeatedly taken down and controlled by Weidman's wrestling.

The bout between Sakara and Rivera was rescheduled again for August 6, 2011 at UFC 133, but Sakara was forced out of the bout after tearing the ACL in his knee while training and was replaced by Costas Philippou.

Sakara faced Brian Stann on April 14, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva. He lost the fight via KO in the first round.

Sakara lost to Patrick Côté due to disqualification on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154 after rocking Côte with elbows, only to get caught up in the moment and land multiple blows to the back of Côté's head. Sakara's team immediately appealed the result, but the Quebec commission denied the appeal.

In late November 2012, Sakara signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC.

A rematch was briefly linked with Côté for March 16, 2013 at UFC 158. However, Sakara was forced out of the bout with a kidney illness.

Sakara was slated to face Tom Watson at UFC Fight Night 30. However, Watson was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Magnus Cedenblad. Subsequently in early October, Cedenblad was forced out of the Sakara bout with an injury and replaced by newcomer Nico Musoke. Sakara lost the fight by submission due to an armbar in the first round and was released from the promotion shortly after.

Final Fight Championship After a nine-month delay, on July 24, 2014, Sakara signed a three-fight deal with the European promotion Final Fight Championship. During the press conference he stated that his UFC career was compromised because he had enormous trouble cutting weight at and that he will continue his career in the Light Heavyweight division.

Sakara's Final Fight Championship debut took place on December 6, 2014 against Maciej Browarski. The fight was stopped in the first round when Sakara wasn't able to continue after getting injured from tearing his bicep. First Browarski was awarded the victory via TKO (injury), the result was later overturned to a No Contest by the Croatian MMA Federation.

In his next fight, Sakara faced off against Lebanon's Dib Akil. Following the opening seconds of the round, in which Akil threw wild hooks that unsuccessfully landed, Sakara took Akil to the ground and piled up punches until the TKO stoppage.

Bellator MMA On November 27, 2015, it was announced that Sakara signed a three-fight contract with Bellator MMA.

Sakara made his promotional debut against Brian Rogers at Bellators first event in Sakara's native Italy on April 16, 2016 at Bellator 152. He won via knockout in the second round.

On September 21, 2016, it was announced that Sakara would be facing Joey Beltran in the co-main event of Bellator 168 on December 10, 2016. He won via knockout in the first round.

Bellator title shot Sakara challenged Rafael Carvalho for the Bellator Middleweight Championship on December 9, 2017 at Bellator 190. He lost via knockout in the first round.

Post title shot reign Sakara headlined Bellator 211 against Kent Kauppinen on December 1, 2018. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Sakara faced Canaan Grigsby at Bellator Milan on October 12, 2019. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Sakara was scheduled to face Darwin Rodriguez at Bellator Milan 3 on October 3, 2020. However, Sakara ended up withdrawing from the bout due to an undisclosed injury.

On July 10, 2021, it was announced that he was no longer under contract with Bellator. However, in early 2023 news surfaced that Sakara was still under contract with Bellator.

Bare-knuckle boxing In February 2023, it was announced that Sakara had signed a multi-fight contract with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. He won the fight by knockout in the second round.

Sakara competed for the BKFC Cruiserweight Championship against current champion Chris Camozzi on October 25, 2025 at BKFC 83. He won the championship by split decision.

Personal life Sakara has two sons from a previous marriage. Recognizable for his many tattoos, Sakara has the words "Senatus Populusque Romanus" on his forearm, a common marking of soldiers of the Roman Empire, as well as several other tattoos that are a tribute to his ethnic background and love of Roman history. His surname comes from Saqqara, which was a Roman colony in Egypt.

Autobiography In May 2020, a book in Italian about Sakara – Ogni giorno in battaglia. La mentalità del legionario – was published .

Championships and accomplishments Ultimate Fighting Championship Knockout of the Night (One time) 2009: Ranked #7 Upset of the Year Italy Chinese Kung Fu Association Italian Heavyweight Pro Sanshou Champion World Chinese Kung Fu Association (World Pro Sanshou Championship) Silver Medal in Pro Sanshou: Heavyweight Class

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship BKFC Cruiserweight World Champion (One time, Current)

Mixed martial arts record Win

Prince McLean TKO (shoulder injury) Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 8

Biloxi, Mississippi, United States Win

Canaan Grigsby TKO (punches) Bellator 230

Milan, Italy Loss

Kent Kauppinen KO (punch) Bellator 211

Genoa, Italy Win

Jamie Sloane TKO (punches) Bellator 203

Rome, Italy Loss

Rafael Carvalho KO (elbow) Bellator 190

Florence, Italy Win

Joey Beltran TKO (punches) Bellator 168

Florence, Italy Win

Brian Rogers KO (punches) Bellator 152

Turin, Italy Win

Dib Akil TKO (punches) Final Fight Championship 19

Linz, Austria NC

Maciej Browarski NC (overturned) Final Fight Championship 16

Vienna, Austria Loss

Nico Musoke Submission (armbar) UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz

Manchester, England Loss

Patrick Côté DQ (punches to back of head) UFC 154

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Loss

Brian Stann KO (punches) UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva

Stockholm, Sweden Loss

Chris Weidman Decision (unanimous) UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann

Louisville, Kentucky, United States Win

James Irvin TKO (punch) UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones

Broomfield, Colorado, United States Win

Thales Leites Decision (split) UFC 101

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Win

Joe Vedepo KO (head kick) UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Neer

Omaha, Nebraska, United States Loss

Chris Leben TKO (punches) UFC 82

Columbus, Ohio, United States Win

James Lee TKO (punches) UFC 80

Newcastle, England Loss

Houston Alexander TKO (knee and punches) UFC 75

London, England, United Kingdom Win

Victor Valimaki TKO (punches) UFC 70

Manchester, England Loss

Drew McFedries TKO (punches) UFC 65

Sacramento, California, United States Loss

Dean Lister Submission (triangle choke) UFC 60

Los Angeles, California, United States Win

Elvis Sinosic Decision (unanimous) UFC 57

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States NC

Ron Faircloth NC (Sakara kicked in the groin) UFC 55

Uncasville, Connecticut, United States Win

Frank Amaugou Decision (unanimous) King of the Ring

Milan, Italy Win

Tihamer Brunner TKO (punches) Ring Fight

Bergamo, Italy Loss

Assuério Silva Decision (unanimous) Jungle Fight 3

Manaus, Brazil Win

Eduardo Maiorino KO (punches) Real Fight 1

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Win

Yeon Jung KO (punches) WXF: X-Impact World Championships 2003

Seoul, South Korea Win

Rafael Tatu TKO (doctor stoppage) Meca 9: Meca World Vale Tudo 9

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Win

Damien Riccio Decision (unanimous) Martial Arts Day

Rome, Italy Win

David Mortelette TKO (punches) Resa Dei Conti 6

Livorno, Italy Loss

Roman Zentsov Decision (unanimous) M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 4

St. Petersburg, Russia Loss

Simon Holmes Submission (rear-naked choke) CWFC 1: Armageddon

London, England Win

Adam Woolmer Submission (kimura) CWFC 1: Armageddon

London, England Win

Mastioli Submission (armbar) Fight Night

Pomezia, Italy Win

Di Clementi KO (punches) Fight Night

Pomezia, Italy Professional boxing record

Bare knuckle record Win

Chris Camozzi Decision (split) BKFC 83

Rome, Italy Win

Erick Lozano KO BKFC Fight Night Philly: Pague vs. Petersen

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States