An upstart, Luke Zachrich trained for two years under the tutelage of Severn and Jorge Gurgel's team, before accepting a last-minute offer to compete in an amateur bout in early 2006.
25 Facts About Luke Zachrich
1.
2.
On September 29,2006, Luke Zachrich fought Jason Zazelenchuk at King of the Cage: Detonator, winning the fight by a quick rear-naked choke in the first round.
3.
Luke Zachrich took on Patrick Schultz in the preliminary round, taking Schultz out with a quick first round rear-naked choke.
4.
Luke Zachrich returned to the regional circuit soon after his Ultimate Fighter elimination, and his next fight was quickly put in place for the Full Contact Fight Series 28 event on September 6,2008, where he took on regional journeyman Michael Musslewhite.
5.
Luke Zachrich faced JR Hines at ICF: Sacrifice on May 16,2009.
6.
Luke Zachrich took the fight to the ground early on and submitted Hines with a keylock in the first round, and with the victory, garnered the attention of Indiana based organization, MMA Big Show, who announced that they had signed him to a multi-fight deal on October 21,2009.
7.
Luke Zachrich was given Byron Sutton as his first opponent, and the two were expected to compete at the promotion's New Dawn event on January 9,2010 the fight would be taken off the card by the promoter shortly after it was announced for undisclosed reasons.
8.
Luke Zachrich made his first and only appearance for the promotion at Bellator 16, and was matched-up against World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Eric Schambari in the middleweight tournament quarter-finals on April 29,2010.
9.
Luke Zachrich was released from the promotion shortly after the bout.
10.
Luke Zachrich faced Nick Kraus for the inaugural Ultimate Victory Challenge middleweight title at UVC 20: Clash at the Coliseum on August 4,2012, winning the bout by unanimous decision.
11.
Luke Zachrich made his next appearance for UVC against Marcus Finch at UVC 23 on May 10,2013.
12.
Luke Zachrich faced off against Justin Gamble at AAMMA 34: Proving Ground 2 on August 10,2013, winning the fight by a straight armbar forty-five seconds into the first round.
13.
Luke Zachrich was tabbed to face UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti at UVC 27 on February 8,2014, but the fight would be postponed a month to March 15,2014.
14.
When Josh Samman had to pull out of his scheduled bout against Caio Magalhaes due to an injury, Luke Zachrich was signed to a multi-fight contract and stepped up as a short-notice replacement for Samman at UFC on Fox 11 on April 19,2014.
15.
Luke Zachrich lost the bout by TKO in just forty-four seconds, after being dropped by heavy body shots from Magalhaes.
16.
Luke Zachrich would earn his first UFC victory with a dominant unanimous decision verdict over Vasconcelos, effectively outworking his Brazilian counterpart on the feet and showing improved takedown defense.
17.
Luke Zachrich then faced touted promotional newcomer and expert Judoka practitioner Dan Kelly at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Bisping on November 7,2014.
18.
Luke Zachrich would be a significant betting favorite coming into the bout he was outboxed on the feet and towards the end of the first round, was taken down by Kelly and subsequently submitted with a kimura.
19.
Luke Zachrich announced on Twitter on August 1,2015, that he had successfully recovered from a lingering back injury and was in the process of returning to active MMA competition.
20.
However, on October 19,2015, it was confirmed that Luke Zachrich was released from the promotion and has since retired from mixed martial arts.
21.
Less than two months later, Luke Zachrich booked another boxing match and won a unanimous decision against Bill Yates on March 4,2016.
22.
Luke Zachrich has not competed in any amateur or professional boxing bouts since his decision victory over Yates.
23.
Luke Zachrich holds an undergraduate degree in applied sciences from Bowling Green State University.
24.
On top of competing in mixed martial arts, Luke Zachrich revealed in an interview with MMA Junkie that he remotely manages three Mellow Mushroom restaurants, and plans on opening and managing more in the future.
25.
In 2017, Luke Zachrich started a new position as a sales representative for the Columbus, Ohio branch of Stryker Corporation, a Fortune 500 medical technologies firm originally based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.