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==