Pat Miletich

Early life

Miletich, the youngest of five children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, to second generation Croatian immigrant parents. Two of his brothers are deceased. Miletich started wrestling at the age of five, continuing at Bettendorf High School. Miletich shared the Bettendorf High School wrestling room with future MMA champion Mark Kerr. He 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.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Miletich started his MMA training at 26. with Grand Master Nick Tarpein, where he learned much of what he knows about karate, and was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the very first time. With Miletich's wrestling background, Jiu-Jitsu came naturally to him. When Miletich coupled BJJ with his strong foundation in boxing/karate, he realized where his fighting career should go; MMA. After learning the foundations of BJJ in Tarpein's Dojo, Miletich decided to branch out and learn BJJ full-time. A friend from Chicago got him into a Renzo Gracie seminar.

After training in jiu-jitsu for a year, the same friend then got him into the Battle of the Masters, an MMA tournament held in Chicago in 1995. Miletich continued fighting at smaller events and enjoyed success. He was undefeated through 15 fights before losing to Matt Hume.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Three fights later Miletich fought in UFC 16 and won the first UFC Welterweight tournament.

Welterweight champion

At UFC 17.5: Ultimate Brazil, Miletich defeated Mikey Burnett to become the first UFC Welterweight Champion. In his fifth title defense at UFC 31 he suffered his first UFC loss as he lost the championship to Carlos Newton by submission. According to Miletich, he had a rematch clause in his contract but it was bypassed by the organization as Miletich's camp already had multiple high-ranked fighters in the welterweight division.

His next fight was a KO win over Shonie Carter at UFC 32.

Move up to middleweight

After the fight with Carter, Miletich moved up to the Middleweight division. This was also 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, but quickly lost to Matt Lindland. Miletich decided to take some time away from professional fighting and recover from numerous chronic injuries. Miletich was scheduled to fight Frank Trigg at WFA 3 but pulled out due to injury. He returned in September 2006 to fight Renzo Gracie in an IFL superfight, and submitted to a guillotine choke 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 second-round KO over Thomas Denny that was televised on the HDNet network.

Over a decade since his last mixed martial arts bout, Miletich was originally scheduled to face Michael Nunn in a kickboxing match on April 18, 2020. However, the bout was rescheduled to July 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Miletich lost to Nunn via split decision.

Return

After a near fifteen year hiatus, Miletich returned to face rival Mike Jackson on October 14, 2023 at Caged Aggression 36. Despite finding initial success against his younger foe, Miletich succumbed to fatigue, and lost via technical knockout after his corner stopped the fight before the start of the third round.

Coaching

Miletich founded Miletich Fighting Systems, a mixed martial arts academy in his hometown of Bettendorf, Iowa. MFS has trained over 90 televised fighters and 11 MMA world champions, including former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes, former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver, and former EliteXC Middleweight Champion and former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler.

Law enforcement/military training

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

Miletich is also the co-founder of Fire Horse combatives which trains LEO and military personnel.

Miletich was the primary subject matter of L. Jon Wertheim's "Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC", which detailed Miletich's biography and his fighting camp (Miletich Fighting Systems).

Commentary

Miletich began providing color commentary for Strikeforce on April 11, 2009, for its debut on Showtime and did so regularly until that promotion's demise in 2012.

Miletich was color commentary for ESPN's MMA Live and Legacy Fighting Alliance on UFC Fight Pass. On January 12, 2021 Pat Miletich was fired from his commentary position at Legacy Fighting Alliance for being present in Washington D.C. at the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, although he had no involvement.

Personal life

Miletich is married and has three daughters. He is a Freemason.

Miletich was arrested on June 29, 2020, in Moline, Illinois and was charged with DUI. This was Miletich's second DUI arrest, his first coming in September 2018, a charge to which he pleaded guilty in March 2019.

Championships and accomplishments

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Hall of Fame (Pioneer Wing, Class of 2014)
  • UFC Welterweight Championship (One time, first)
    • Four successful title defenses
  • UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner
  • UFC Viewers Choice Award
  • UFC Encyclopedia Awards
    • Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Shonie Carter
    • Submission of the Night (One time) vs. John Alessio
• Sherdog
  • Mixed Martial Arts Hall of Fame
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • George Tragos Award (2011)
• Resurrection Fighting Alliance & AXS TV
  • Lifetime Achievement Award

Mixed martial arts record

| ko-wins= 7 | ko-losses= 4 | sub-wins= 16 | sub-losses= 3 | dec-wins= 6 | dec-losses= 1 | dq-wins= | dq-losses= | other-wins=

| | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Thomas Denny | KO (punches) | Adrenaline MMA 2 | | Moline, Illinois, United States | |- | Loss | Renzo Gracie | Submission (guillotine choke) | IFL 9 | | Moline, Illinois, United States | |- | Loss | Matt Lindland | TKO (punches) | UFC 36 | | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

| | East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States | |- | Loss | Carlos Newton | Submission (bulldog choke) | UFC 31 | | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States

| | Tokyo, Japan

| | Yokohama, Japan | |- | Win | John Alessio | Submission (armbar) | UFC 26 | | Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States

| | Rome, Georgia, United States

| | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | André Pederneiras | TKO (doctor stoppage) | UFC 21 | | Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States

| | Ottumwa, Iowa, United States | |- | Loss | Jutaro Nakao | Technical Submission (triangle choke) | SuperBrawl 11 | | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

| | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

| | São Paulo, Brazil

| | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Al Buck, Jr. | Submission (choke) | Midwest Shootfighting 1 | | Clinton, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Chris Brennan | Submission (shoulder choke)

| |- | Win | Chris Brennan | Decision (unanimous) | EC - Extreme Challenge Trials | | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Draw | Chris Brennan | Draw (majority) | Extreme Challenge 9 | | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Chuck Kim | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Extreme Challenge 7 | | Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States | |- | Loss | Matt Hume | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Extreme Fighting 4 | | Des Moines, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Chad Cox | TKO (submission to punch) | Extreme Challenge 3 | | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Paul Kimbro | Submission (armbar) | Extreme Challenge 2 | | Des Moines, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Jason Nicholson | Decision (unanimous) | SuperBrawl 3 | | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |- | Win | Earl Loucks | Submission (americana) | Extreme Challenge 1 | | Des Moines, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Pat Assalone | Submission (armbar) | Brawl at the Ballpark 1 | | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Matt Andersen | TKO (submission to punches) | Gladiators 1 | | Davenport, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | Yasunori Matsumoto | TKO (doctor stoppage) | QCU 2 | | Moline, Illinois, United States | |- | Win | Andrey Dudko | Submission (rear-naked choke) | |- | Win | Bob Gholson | KO (punches) | |- | Win | Rick Graveson | Submission (rear-naked choke) | |- | Win | Rick Graveson | Submission (rear-naked choke) | |- | Win | Ed McLennan | Submission (armbar) | |- | Win | Kevin Marino | Submission (rear-naked choke) | |- | Win | Angelo Rivera | Submission (rear-naked choke) | |- | Win | Yasunori Matsumoto | Submission (rear-naked choke) |

Professional boxing record

|ko-wins= |ko-losses= |dec-wins=1 |dec-losses= |dq-wins= |dq-losses=

References

References

1. "What It Was Like to Spar At Miletich Fighting Systems Back in the Glory Days - Part 1". Fightland.
2. (6 July 2014). "Pat Miletich Inducted Into the UFC Hall of Fame". Cage Pages.
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4. (March 4, 2019). "MOTW #7: Pat Miletich".
5. (October 11, 2013). "RFA 10: Pat Miletich to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award".
6. Sariahmed, Lotfi. (2007-07-17). "411Mania Exclusive Interview with Pat Miletich". 411mania.com.
7. Fowlkes, Ben. (2011-01-16). "My First Fight: Pat Miletich". mmafighting.com.
8. (March 22, 2018). "JRE MMA Show #18 with Pat Miletich".
9. Nolan King. (June 10, 2020). "Pat Miletich, Michael Nunn set for July showdown – and it's happening outdoors". mmajunkie.com.
10. Doxsie, Don. "Nunn prevails in steamy Clash of Legends".
11. (2023-07-24). "UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich to fight Mike Jackson in fully sanctioned pro MMA grudge match".
12. (2023-10-15). "Caged Aggression 36 results: Pat Miletich dominates Mike Jackson for two rounds, quits on stool".
13. Chuck Mindenhall. (March 13, 2014). "The Eagles of Bettendorf". mmafighting.com.
14. (August 7, 2016). "EP 96: Pat Miletich, Richard Perez, Coach Wink, Damien Brown + UFC Utah".
15. Raimondi, Marc. (12 January 2021). "UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich says he lost job for being at riot". ESPN.
16. Helwani, Ariel. (21 October 2013). "The MMA Hour with Rousimar Palhares, Mark Munoz, Pat Miletich, Jon Fitch, Javier Mendez, Garry Cook, Dave Meltzer". MMA Fighting.
17. Daniels, Steph. (14 March 2013). "Pat Miletich on GSP/Diaz, politics, Fallon Fox and more". Bloody Elbow.
18. "Freemasons Victoria". freemasonsvic.net.au.
19. Damon Martin. (July 6, 2020). "UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich arrested on DUI charges in Illinois". MMAFighting.com.
20. link. (5 March 2012. Fighttimes.com (21 November 2003). Retrieved on 2012-08-30.)
21. Gerbasi, Thomas. (2011-10-17). "UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship". DK.
22. Gerbasi, Thomas. (2011-10-17). "UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship". DK.
23. "Imagining an MMA Hall of Fame: Best of the Rest". Sherdog.
24. "RFA and AXS TV to honor Pat Miletich".