Promoted from the FanPosts by Kid Nate.

After a spectacular UFC debut last summer at UFC 84 where he stopped the ultra-tough WIilson Gouveia with strikes in the 2nd round, 25 year-old Croatian prospect Goran Reljic (8-0, 1-0 UFC) had made a huge statement, and many were expecting big things from the former Mirko Cro Cop training partner.  Also a purple belt in BJJ under Roger Gracie at Gracie Barra UK, Reljic was expecting to drop down to middleweight for his next fight against Thales Leites at UFC 90 in November, despited already being quite large for a light heavyweight.

Unfortunately, a series of disc injuries in his lower back plagued the young Croatian and forced him out of the Leites fight, and then out of training completely.  Now, without having competed in nearly a year and with questions about his status often popping up on the MMA blogosphere, MMA Junkie has a new interview with Reljic's manager, Zoran Saric, where he discusses his fighter's progress and expected UFC return: 

"Since then we had been trying different (forms of) rehabilitation to solve his back problems," Relic's manager, Zoran Saric, said. "Three months ago, doctors in Croatia decided to do lower back/disc surgery. Everything went well, and Goran started light training for a month."

Assuming the light training continues successfully, Reljic will then be sent to a neurologist for another evaluation before he's cleared to train at 100 percent.

Reljic remains under contract to the UFC, and Saric said the organization remains patient.

"Goran is such a talent, and it'd be a shame if we didn't see him fighting again," Saric said. "So Goran is coming back soon stronger and better than ever."

I for one became an instant fan of Reljic after his showing against Gouveia last summer, and was eager to see the kid in the Octagon again.  Perhaps the most notable thing about the Gouveia fight was that, despite training with Cro Cop, Reljic was mainly known for his submission skills thanks to his Roger Gracie training.  Despite that, he went toe-to-toe with the heavy-handed Brazilian and took some huge shots, before cracking Gouveia on the temple and finishing him off.

I'm excited to see how Reljic fares at 185, as he'll be absolutely huge, and with his varied skill-set, he'll present a lot of problems for many UFC middleweights.