Joey Beltran came back to the UFC with a new body but the same old fighting spirit. After losing his return fight in July, the newly shaped light-heavyweight had his back against the wall at UFC on FX 6, but responded with one of his best octagon performances.

Battering Pokrajac on the inside for three rounds, Beltran pounded his way to a unanimous decision victory by a series of 30-27 scores.

Beltran continually moved forward during the fight, damaging Pokrajac from the clinch before occasionally switching levels and threatening with the takedown. His strategic shifts had Pokrajac struggling to figure things out, and he could never really get his offense going.

Much to his credit, Pokrajac did take plenty of rights, lefts and kicks along the way and did stay standing. According to FightMetric, he was out-struck by Beltran 206-63.

"He's like me, but from Croatia," a smiling Beltran said after the win.

Beltran had been winless in his last three UFC fights over two tenures with the company. The victory makes him 15-8 overall.

Pokrajac had come into the fight as a favorite of nearly 3-to-1 but looked flat despite coming off a loss in his last bout. The defeat dropped his record to 25-10.