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 and 2006 in Thai boxing; 2005 and 2006 in low kick rules kickboxing; and 2005 in full contact kickboxing. He was also a sparring partner of Mirko Cro Cop. He has fought in K-1 and he is under contract with Glory promotion.
Since 2 November 2015, he has been ranked the #8 light heavyweight in the world by GLORY.
Biography and career Igor "The Istrian Warrior" 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.
He was K-1 Rules "Le Grand Tournoi" 2006 champion. 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.
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. After the fight Head Kick Legend magazine ranked Jurkovic as 20. heavyweight kickboxer in August 2011.KICKBOXING RANKINGS HEAVYWEIGHTS He "sneaked" there due to a Win against Zhuravlev.
It was later announced that Jurković was scheduled to participate in K-1 World Grand Prix 2011 in Nanjing Final 16 on October 29, 2011, but the event was canceled as K-1 was suffering from financial problems.
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.
He was expected to fight Ali Cenik 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. In an interview after the fight he said that he was not ready for two tough fights in that short time.
He was scheduled to fight for the championship belt of Cristian Bosch under WBC Muaythai organization, 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.
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.
6 October 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.
He competed in the sixteen-man 2012 Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam at Glory 4: Tokyo - 2012 Heavyweight Grand Slam in Saitama, Japan on 31 December 2012. At the opening stage, he faced Anderson "Braddock" Silva and gave up ten kilograms in weight. He lost via TKO when the referee stopped the bout in round one after he was floored twice.GLORY 4 Tokyo Grand Slam Tournament Match-Ups SetDREAM 18 / GLORY 4 Tokyo Live Results
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.
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 14 June 2013. Jurković dominated all three rounds and deservedly took unanimous decision win.Final Fight 06: Gerges vs. Zhuravlev on June 14thGerges u fantastičnom meču pobijedio Zhuravleva, Jurković nastavlja put prema vrhu FFC-a Final Fight 06 Results
He fought Jhonata Diniz at Glory 12: New York - Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City on 23 November 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.Main Event for GLORY 12 Unveiled: Joe Schilling vs. Wayne Barrett2 more fights confirmed for Glory 12 including Joe Schilling vs. Wayne Barrett headliner Glory 12: Igor Jurković doživio TKO poraz, Ristie šokirao i s dva nokauta osvojio turnir (GIF)Glory 12 Live Results and UpdatesRemy Bonjasky Walks Away With Controversial Decision Over ‘Cro Cop’ at Glory 14Glory 14 Results and Recap
2014 He faced Michael Duut at Glory 14 event in Zagreb, Croatia on 8 March 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.Otkriveno: Igor Jurković protiv Michaela Duuta na Gloryju 14 u Zagrebu! Mirko Filipović poražen kontroverznom odlukom sudaca, ostali sunarodnjaci brutalni
He defeated Jovan Kaluđerović early in round one at FFC11: Jurković vs. Kaluđerović in Osijek, Croatia on 4 April 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.Igor Jurković uskočio u glavnu ulogu FFC-a 11 u Osijeku! Jurković slavio nokautom, Veseli svladao Živkovića u borbi večeri
He suffered quite a convincing defeat via UD at Glory 16: Denver by Artem Vakhitov in Broomfield, Colorado, United States on 3 May 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."UFC Veteran Pat Barry Suffers First-Round Knockout Loss to Zack Mwekassa at Glory 16Glory 16 Results
Before break he will once again fight at FFC13 in a main event of the evening against Luis Tavares on 6 June 2014, in Zadar, Croatia.Jurković najavio još jednu borbu pa odmor
Titles
Professional 2014 FFC Light Heavyweight Champion (-95 kg) FFC 15 kickboks: Jurković osvojio pojas prvaka, Kujundžićev poraz šokirao Žatiku 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 2010 2007 W.A.K.O. World Championships -91 kg 2006 W.A.K.O. European Championships -91 kg 2006 2006 2005 W.A.K.O. World Championships -91 kg 2005 2005 2005 -86 kg 2004 W.A.K.O. European Championships -86 kg 2004 -86 kg
Kickboxing record (incomplete)
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 2014-11-21 || Win ||align=left| Dennis Stolzenbach || FFC15: Poreč || Poreč, Croatia || Decision (unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 || 28–7 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2014-06-06 || Win ||align=left| Luis Tavares || FFC13: Jurković vs. Tavares || Zadar, Croatia || Decision (unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 || 27–7 |- |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2014-05-03 || Loss ||align=left| Artem Vakhitov || Glory 16: Denver || Broomfield, United States || Decision (unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 || 26–7 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2014-04-04 || Win ||align=left| Jovan Kaluđerović || FFC11: Jurković vs. Kaluđerović || Osijek, Croatia || KO (liver kick) || 1 || 1:47 || 26–6 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2014-03-08 || Win ||align=left| Michael Duut || Glory 14: Zagreb ||Zagreb, Croatia || KO || 1 || 1:14 || 25–6 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2013-11-23 || Loss ||align=left| Jhonata Diniz || Glory 12: New York ||New York City, United States || TKO (right hook) || 1 || 1:59 || 24–6 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2013-06-14 || Win ||align=left| Dževad Poturak || FFC06: Jurković vs. Poturak || Poreč, Croatia || Decision (unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 || 24–5 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2013-04-19 || Win||align=left| Raul Cătinaș || FFC03: Jurković vs. Cătinaș || Split, Croatia ||Decision (unanimous) ||3 || 3:00 || 23–5 |- |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2012-12-31 || Loss ||align=left| Anderson Silva || Glory 4: Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament, First 16 || Saitama, Japan || TKO (referee stoppage) || 1 || 1:29 || 22–5 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2012-10-06 || Win ||align=left| Grégory Tony || Glory 2: Brussels || Brussels, Belgium || TKO (ref stop/3 knockdowns) || 2 || 2:40 || 22–4 |- |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2012-03-23 || Loss ||align=left| Zabit Samedov|| United Glory 15 || Moscow, Russia || Decision (unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 || 21–4 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2012-03-10 || Win ||align=left| Freddy Kemayo || Cro Cop Final Fight || Zagreb, Croatia || Ext. R. decision (majority) || 4 || 3:00 || 21–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2011-11-05 || Win ||align=left| Tomaž Simonič || Nova Gorica Fight Night 2 || Nova Gorica, Slovenia || TKO (body shot) || 2 || N/A || 20–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2011-05-28 || Win ||align=left| Pavel Zhuravlev || United Glory 14: 2010-2011 World Series Finals || Moscow, Russia || TKO (doctor stoppage) || 2 || 0:20 || 19–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2011-04-17 || Win ||align=left| Goran Radonjić || WFC 13: Heavy Hitters || Belgrade, Serbia || Decision (unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 || 18–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2011-02-25 || Win ||align=left| Mattia Fonte Basso || Trieste Fight Night || Trieste, Italy || TKO (ref stoppage) || 3 || N/A || 17–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2010-12-09 || Win ||align=left| Vladimir Mineev || WFC 12: Proteini.si Showtime || Ljubljana, Slovenia || Ext. R. decision || 4 || 3:00 || 16–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2010-10-29 || Win ||align=left| Nermin Halilovic || Sarajevo Fight Night 2 || Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina || TKO (high kick) || 1 || N/A || 15–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2010-09-26 || Win ||align=left| Ante Verunica || Memorijal Ludviga Lutka Pavlovića, final || Ljubuski, Bosnia and Herzegovina || Decision (split) || 3 || 3:00 || 14–3 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2010-09-26 || Win ||align=left| Tihamer Brunner || Memorijal Ludviga Lutka Pavlovića, semi finals || Ljubuski, Bosnia and Herzegovina || TKO (broken elbow) || 2 || N/A || 13–3 |- |- style="background:#cfc;"