Stipe Miocic

Stipe Miocic (born August 19, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist.

He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two time UFC Heavyweight Champion.

As of November 14, 2023, he is #4 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Having successfully defended his title four times during his two title reigns, he holds the record for most wins in heavyweight title fights along with the longest title defense streak in the heavyweight division, at three consecutive defenses.

Miocic holds the record for fight-night bonus awards, with nine, the most in the UFC heavyweight division's history and he is widely regarded as the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time.

Prior to his MMA career, Miocic was a Golden Gloves boxing champion and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State University.

He was born and raised in Euclid, Ohio, on August 19, 1982, the son of Croatian immigrants Kathy and Bojan Miocic (Miočić, ; ).

His father originates from Rtina, while his mother is from Cetingrad, Croatia.

His parents separated when he was still a child and he continued to live with his mother, initially with grandparents, and later lived with his stepfather and younger half-brother Jonathan.

Since childhood, his mother encouraged his involvement in sports.

Miocic played baseball and American football and wrestled while at Eastlake North High School.

He received interest from Major League Baseball teams during his collegiate years at Cleveland State University and Trevecca Nazarene University.

He also played Division II baseball at Coker College his junior year of college.

While wrestling in the 197 lbs weight class for Cleveland State Vikings, Miocic competed in the 2003 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Kansas City.

As a member of Jeff Forehand's baseball team, he hit .344 with seven home runs in his senior year and helped the Trojans win the 2005 TranSouth Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles.

He graduated from Trevecca Nazarene University.

He majored in marketing and communications at CSU.

During his school days, in 2005, he was brought as a training partner to wrestle with Dan Bobish in Strong Style MMA Training Centre, in Independence, Ohio.

Miocic at the time trained various sports (wrestling and baseball), to once again come train with them after finishing his paramedic education at Cuyahoga Community College.

He initially trained in mixed martial arts but soon changed to boxing.

His coach Marcus Marinelli recalled that although he trained only for several months he was beating boxers with much more experience.

In MMA he quickly achieved a 5-0 amateur record with all five wins coming by first-round stoppage.

After this he decided to take a foray into amateur boxing bouts.

He won the Cleveland Golden Gloves and made it to the nationals, winning his first two bouts in the quarter-finals before being eliminated in a decision loss to future world title contender Bryant Jennings.

His record in Golden Gloves boxing matches stands 4-1, with 2 victories by knockout.

After only eight months of training with a background of being a Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing champion and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State, Miocic began his MMA career by winning his first six professional fights by knockout.

He initially fought for NAAFS (an Ohio-based MMA promotion), where he won the NAAFS Heavyweight Championship.

On June 14, 2011, it was announced that Miocic had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC.

Miocic made his UFC debut against Joey Beltran on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136 and won the fight via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, and 29–28).

Miocic faced Phil De Fries on February 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger.

Miocic won the fight via first-round KO, and in the process won a "Knockout of the Night" award.

Miocic faced promotional newcomer Shane del Rosario on May 26, 2012, at UFC 146.

He won via TKO (elbows) in the second round.

Miocic faced Stefan Struve on September 29, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 5.

He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

The performance earned both participants "Fight of the Night" honors.

Miocic was scheduled to face returning veteran Soa Palelei on June 15, 2013, at UFC 161.

After an injury to UFC 161 headliner Renan Barao, the card was slightly reshuffled.

Miocic was paired with Roy Nelson.

Miocic, as a significant betting underdog, defeated Nelson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–27).