Sakara made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2002, and compiled a record of 13–3 before being signed by the UFC.

Sakara was scheduled to face Rousimar Palhares on December 5, 2009 at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, but 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. Sakara was then forced off the card with an injury and replaced by Joe Vedepo.

His bout with Rivera had been 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.

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.

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 84 kg (185 pounds) 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.

On November 27, 2015, it was announced that Sakara signed 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.

Sakara challenged Rafael Carvalho for the Bellator Middleweight Championship on December 9, 2017 at Bellator 190. He lost via knockout in the first round.

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.