Career
On April 25, 2014, Istrate challenged Jérôme Le Banner for his ISKA K-1 World Super heavyweight title. He lost the fight by second round knockout. [1]
On October 24, 2015, Istrate participated in the Venum Victory World Series 95 kg elimination tournament in Panama. He defeated Lucas Alsina by unanimous decision in the semifinals and Rafael Da Souza by technical knockout in the third round to earn a place in the main VVWS tournament. [2] Istrate faced Igor Bugaenko in the semifinals of the main tournament happening on November 28, 2015. He lost by unanimous decision. [3]
On May 14, 2016, Istrate defeated Davide Longoni by decision at La Notte dei Campioni event. [4]
Istrate faced Bas Vorstenbosch in the quarterfinals round of the 2016 A1 World Combat Cup on November 5, 2016. He lost the fight by decision. [5]
Istrate faced Costin Mincu in the opening round of the 2019 Tatneft Cup +80 kg tournament, held on June 11, 2019. He won the fight by first round knockout. [6] Advancing to the tournament quarterfinals, Istrate faced Valeriy Bizyaev on July 19, 2019. He won the fight by decision after scoring a knockdown in the first round. [7]
On October 9, 2021, Istrate took part in a 4-man tournament at Road to ONE: Muay Thai Grand Prix. In the semifinals he defeated Jürgen Dolch by first-round knockout with a series of punches. In the final he lost to Rhys Brudenell by first-round knockout. [8]
On February 25, 2023, Istrate faced Niknam Haghparast at Mix Fight Events 52 as the quarterfinal of a Road to ONE tournament. He won the fight by unanimous decision. [9] The semifinals and final of the tournament were scheduled to take place at Evolution FIght on July 29, 2023. In the semifinals Istrate defeated Pavlos Kochliaridis by unanimous decision. In the final he faced Yuri Farcas who stopped him with low kicks in the first round. [10]
On September 10, 2023, Istrate took part in the revived K-1 World Grand Prix for the 30th anniversary of the K-1 promotion at K-1 World GP 2023: ReBOOT～K-1 ReBIRTH～. In the quarterfinals he faced Mahmoud Sattari who he defeated by first round knockout. [11] In the semifinals he defeated Sina Karimian by unanimous decision in a foul riddled bout. [12] He reached the final of the tournament where he faced Liu Ce. He lost the fight by first round knockout due to low kicks. [13] [14]
On June 29, 2024, Istrate took part in the K-1 World GP 2024 in Sarajevo for a chance to qualify for the 2024 K-1 World GP Final. In the quarterfinals he faced Nidal Bchiri, after three rounds the bout was judged a draw and an extension round was announced. Istrate as a protest to the result left the ring, leaving Bchiri the winner by default. [15]
Istrate was invited for a 2024 K-1 World GP Final qualifier bout against Sina Karimian at K-1 World GP 2024 in Osaka on October 5, 2024. The fight ended in the first round after Karimian was declared unable to continue following a blow to the back of the head. [16] After review the bout declared a no contest according to the rules. Istrate was up on points as he had scored a knockdown before the stoppage and was therefore picked as the qualified fighter for the upcoming K-1 World Grand Prix 2024 Final. [17]
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Shota Yamaguchi
Sina Karimian 
Nidal Bchiri
Liu Ce 
Yuri Farcaș
Pavlos Kochliaridis
Bruno Suzano
Rhys Brudenell 
Jürgen Dolch
Tomáš Hron 
Maxim Bolotov
Petr Romankevich
Fabio Kwasi 
Valeriy Bizyaev 
Miran Fabjan
Milan Dasić
Davide Longoni
Rafael Da Souza
Lucas Alsina
Roman Kryklia 
Jérôme Le Banner 
Joel Ritschard