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BIOGRAPHY

Alessio Sakara
	BIOGRAPHY | GALLERY | GOSSIP

Alessio "Legionarius" Sakara, born September 2, 1981 in Rome, Italy, is an Italian mixed martial arts fighter, currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight division.

When Sakara was five, he began to play football (soccer) as a midfielder. Sakara began training in boxing after realizing that, in order to be a football player on a professional level, he needed to know how to defend himself in case of a confrontation on the field.

After two years of training, Sakara competed in his first boxing tournament and won. Several years after turning professional in boxing, a friend showed him a video of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Sakara drew inspiration. To supplement his training, he traveled to Brazil where he met Roberto Almeida Meneguetti, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. The two athletes cross-trained together, with Sakara teaching Meneguetti boxing and Meneguetti teaching Sakara Jiu-Jitsu.

Sakara has amassed a 15-5-1 record, with one no contest ruling, in mixed martial arts and has participated in five UFC events. His last fight was at UFC 70 in Manchester, England, where he defeated the Canadian fighter Victor Valimaki via TKO. He is scheduled to fight Houston Alexander at UFC 75 on September 8, 2007 in London, England.