Pat Miletich - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Patrick Jay Miletich (ˈmɪlɨtitʃ; born March 9, 1968) is a retired American mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

and a current sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16

UFC 16

UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998 in New Orleans, Louisiana...

tournament champion.

He is the founder of Miletich Fighting Systems

Miletich Fighting Systems

Miletich Fighting Systems is a mixed martial arts training organization. It is recognized as an excellent training camp. It has been the training camp for fighters such as Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, Jens Pulver, Robbie Lawler, and Jeremy Horn...

, which has trained over 90 televised fighters and no less than 11 MMA world champions, such as former UFC Welterweight Champion and Hall of Famer Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes (fighter)

Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...

, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia

Tim Sylvia

Timothy Deane Sylvia is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter, professional wrestler, and former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion. He trains as a member of the Miletich Fighting Systems camp and is part of their MFSE group...

, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver

Jens Pulver

Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American mixed martial artist . He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show, which aired on Spike TV. He was formerly signed as a featherweight with World Extreme Cagefighting , which is...

, as well as former Elite XC middleweight

Middleweight (MMA)

The middleweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Strikeforce's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb...

champion Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler

Robert Glen "Robbie" Lawler is an American mixed martial artist Lawler was the EliteXC middleweight champion before EliteXC filed for bankruptcy. Lawler has recently signed with Strikeforce. He is a member of Team Hughes fighting out of H.I.T...

Early life

Miletich was born in Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

, the youngest of 5 children to Croatian

Croats

Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

parents. Two of his brothers are deceased. Miletich wrestled

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

and played football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

at Bettendorf High School

Bettendorf High School

Bettendorf High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa. Roughly 100 instructors teach more than 1500 students using a four-period block daily schedule with 85 minute blocks, BHS also offers classes as 40 minutes skinny's which meet all year for 40 minutes each...

. As a senior in 1986, Miletich shared the Bettendorf High School wrestling room with another future MMA champion Mark Kerr who was a freshman just beginning his wrestling career. Miletich is believed to have begun wrestling at age six. Miletich said he wanted to be a world champion in something and wrestling was something he was good at. Although Miletich originally planned to pursue football after graduating high school, he eventually chose to wrestle in junior college. Shortly thereafter, his mother became ill with heart problems, and he left school to care for her. Miletich has stated in past interviews that he actually began fighting to help pay her bills.

Mixed martial arts career

Miletich started his MMA training at age 26. Prior to this age, Miletich trained in a karate School in Davenport, Iowa where he learned much of what he knows about karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

. Miletich was largely influenced in his boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

aspirations by his uncle, Johnny "Miller" Miletich. Johnny Miletich was a member of the U.S. boxing squad at the 1932 Olympics

1932 Summer Olympics

The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...

in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

and also fought professionally. Miletich trained with coach Alvino Peña at the Davenport Boxing Club. A friend from Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

got him into a Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie is a Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. and a former mixed martial arts competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship . He is member of the Gracie family of Brazil. He is the son of Robson Gracie, grandson of Carlos Gracie, nephew of Carlos...

seminar. After training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

for a year, the same friend then got him into the Battle of the Masters, a MMA tournament held in Chicago in 1995.

He continued fighting at smaller events and enjoyed success. He was undefeated through 15 fights before losing to Matt Hume

Matt Hume

Matt Hume is an American mixed martial artist. He currently trains fighters for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and DREAM.The son of a policeman, Hume's father briefly trained with Bruce Lee...

. Three fights later Miletich fought in UFC 16
UFC 16
UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998 in New Orleans, Louisiana...

and won the first UFC lightweight

Lightweight (MMA)

The lightweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:* The UFC & Strikeforce lightweight division with upper limit at 155 lb...

tournament. At UFC 17.5: Ultimate Brazil
UFC Brazil
UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in São Paulo, Brazil on October 16th, 1998...

, Miletich defeated Mikey Burnett

Mikey Burnett

Michael Wayne Burnett is a former American mixed martial artist who was a member of the legendary fight team the Lion's Den...

to become the first UFC lightweight (under 200 lbs) champion. The UFC changed the weight class limits again in 2001, and Miletich became the champion of the new welterweight

Welterweight (MMA)

The welterweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*The UFC's & Strikeforce's welterweight division, which groups competitors within 156 to 170 lb...

division.

In his fifth title defense (and first as a welterweight) at UFC 31
UFC 31
UFC 31: Locked and Loaded was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 4, 2001...

he lost to Carlos Newton

Carlos Newton

Carlos Newton is a Canadian mixed martial artist and former UFC Welterweight Champion. He is considered one of the true pioneers in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Known as the "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizations including UFC, Pride FC, IFL, K-1, Shooto and most...

by submission. This was his first defeat in the UFC. His next fight was a KO win over Shonie Carter

Shonie Carter

Mearion Shonie Bickhem III , better known as Shonie Carter, is an American mixed martial artist. He is a former World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion, an Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, and a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show...

at UFC 32
UFC 32
UFC 32: Showdown in the Meadowlands was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 29, 2001...

. After this fight, Miletich moved up to the middleweight

Middleweight (MMA)

The middleweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Strikeforce's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb...

division. This was partly due to encouragement by UFC management and because his teammate, Matt Hughes, defeated Carlos Newton to win the UFC welterweight championship. Miletich returned to fight at his new weight at UFC 36
UFC 36
UFC 36: Worlds Collide was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the MGM Grand Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on March 22, 2002...

, but quickly lost to Matt Lindland

Matt Lindland

Matthew James Lindland is an American mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for the Oregon House of Representatives, District 52 seat on May 20, 2008....

. Miletich decided to take some time away from professional fighting and recover from numerous chronic injuries. Miletich was scheduled to fight Frank Trigg

Frank Trigg

Dewey Franklin Trigg III is an American mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler and co-host of MMAWeekly radio show and TAGG radio show...

at WFA
World Fighting Alliance
The World Fighting Alliance was a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.Originally owned and organized by MMA Legend and trainer John Lewis and nightclub operator and "Club Rubber" promoter John Huntington along with Lawyer Louis Palazzo , the WFA began promoting events after...

3 but pulled out due to injury. He returned in September 2006 to fight Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie

in an International Fight League (IFL)

International Fight League

The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006 and closed on July 31, 2008...

superfight, and was submitted with a guillotine choke

Guillotine choke

The guillotine choke is a chokehold in martial arts and wrestling applied from in front of the opponent. The choke involves using the arms to encircle the opponent's neck in a fashion similar to a guillotine. The technique is either a type of tracheal compression restraint that prevents air flow...

in the first round. Miletich spoke briefly after the fight about re-aggravating his old neck injury before the Gracie fight. Miletich's last fight was in December 2008 where he scored a 2nd round KO over Thomas Denny

Thomas Denny (fighter)

Thomas Denny is an American mixed martial artist. He competes in the Welterweight division, and is the former King of the Cage Welterweight Champion....

that was televised on the HDNet

HDNet

HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...

network.

Miletich holds a third degree black belt

Black belt (martial arts)

In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...

in Shuri-ryu karate

Shuri-ryu

karate, is an eclectic martial arts system developed by Robert Trias , the first person to teach karate in the mainland United States, who opened the first dojo in 1946 in Phoenix, Arizona. Later in 1948 he formed the first karate association in the U.S., The United States Karate Association...

. He has also trained with Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Sergio Monteiro and was awarded his BJJ black belt by Oswaldo Alves.

Personal life

Miletich is married and has two daughters. He also operated a Mixed Martial Arts Academy in his hometown of Bettendorf, Iowa

Bettendorf, Iowa

Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with...

Law enforcement/Military training

Miletich has trained local, state and federal law enforcement and military groups from all armed forces branches, including special forces groups attached to those branches for over 15 years. He has also written and designed defensive tactics and combatives courses for other combatives companies.

Miletich was the primary subject matter of L. Jon Wertheim

L. Jon Wertheim

L. Jon Wertheim is a sports journalist and author. He has been a full-time staff member for Sports Illustrated since 1997 and has covered tennis, the NBA, sports business and mixed martial arts...

's "Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC", which detailed Miletich's biography as well as his fighting camp (Miletich Fighting Systems).

Commentary

Miletich began providing color commentary for Strikeforce

Strikeforce

Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...

on April 11, 2009 for their debut on Showtime. He has remained providing commentary since. He has also been a guest commentator on the ESPN 2 program MMA Live

Championships and accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
- UFC Welterweight Championship (1 Time, First)
- UFC 16 Lightweight Tournament Winner
- UFC Viewer's Choice Award
  UFC 45
  UFC 45: Revolution was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on 21 November 2003, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut...

National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum
- George Tragos Award

Mixed martial arts record

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Thomas Denny

Thomas Denny (fighter)

Thomas Denny is an American mixed martial artist. He competes in the Welterweight division, and is the former King of the Cage Welterweight Champion....

|KO (Punches

Punch (strike)

A punch is a striking blow with the fist. It is the most commonly used attack in hand to hand combat. It is used in some martial arts and combat sports, most notably boxing where it is the only type of technique allowed...

)
|Adrenaline MMA 2: Miletich vs. Denny

Adrenaline MMA 2: Miletich vs. Denny

Adrenaline MMA: Miletich vs. Denny, was a mixed martial arts event held by Adrenaline MMA on December 11, 2008, at the I Wireless Center in Moline, Illinois.-Results:...

Moline, Illinois

Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...