Marcos Rogerio de Lima on quick finish over Igor Pokrajac: ‘I saw his eyes roll back’

BARUERI, Brazil — Marcos Rogerio de Lima was one of the favorite fighters to win The Ultimate: Brazil 3 season, but came up short against season winner Antonio Carlos Junior in the semifinal. With two fights inside the Octagon, he proved his talent.

“Pezao”, who scored a 20-second knockout over Richardson Moreira as a heavyweight in May, cut down to 205 pounds to meet Igor Pokrajac at UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, Brazil, on Dec. 20, and again scored a quick TKO victory.

“I came here ready to fight three rounds, but I knew that the fight could be over at any moment if a good punch was landed,” de Lima told MMAFighting.com. “I came ready to fight three rounds, but it was over sooner.”

de Lima dropped Pokrajac with a left hook on the temple, and referee Fernando Yamasaki stopped the bout after the Brazilian landed a couple more punches on the ground. Pokrajac protested, but “Pezao” didn’t see anything wrong with the stoppage.

“I didn’t see the replay yet, but when I connected the punch and he went down, I landed two more punches and I saw his eyes roll back,” de Lima said right after the bout. “If the referee didn’t stop the fight at that moment, he would eventually stop it seconds later. Igor is an athlete, and he didn’t like it, and I wouldn’t either if I was in his position, but Fernando did the right thing.”

At 2-0 inside the Octagon since leaving the UFC’s reality show, “Pezao” believes he’s finally showing what he can do.

“It was great top come back with a win like this,” he said. “I was hoping to win the TUF: Brazil, but it’s a completely different competition. It’s not a real competition, but I think it helped me a lot, and I think I proved it in this fight.”

BARUERI, Brazil — Marcos Rogerio de Lima was one of the favorite fighters to win The Ultimate: Brazil 3 season, but came up short against season winner Antonio Carlos Junior in the semifinal. With two fights inside the Octagon, he proved his talent.

“Pezao”, who scored a 20-second knockout over Richardson Moreira as a heavyweight in May, cut down to 205 pounds to meet Igor Pokrajac at UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, Brazil, on Dec. 20, and again scored a quick TKO victory.

“I came here ready to fight three rounds, but I knew that the fight could be over at any moment if a good punch was landed,” de Lima told MMAFighting.com. “I came ready to fight three rounds, but it was over sooner.”

de Lima dropped Pokrajac with a left hook on the temple, and referee Fernando Yamasaki stopped the bout after the Brazilian landed a couple more punches on the ground. Pokrajac protested, but “Pezao” didn’t see anything wrong with the stoppage.

“I didn’t see the replay yet, but when I connected the punch and he went down, I landed two more punches and I saw his eyes roll back,” de Lima said right after the bout. “If the referee didn’t stop the fight at that moment, he would eventually stop it seconds later. Igor is an athlete, and he didn’t like it, and I wouldn’t either if I was in his position, but Fernando did the right thing.”

At 2-0 inside the Octagon since leaving the UFC’s reality show, “Pezao” believes he’s finally showing what he can do.

“It was great top come back with a win like this,” he said. “I was hoping to win the TUF: Brazil, but it’s a completely different competition. It’s not a real competition, but I think it helped me a lot, and I think I proved it in this fight.”