Issue 132
September 2015
Stipe Miocic balances fighting in the Octagon with fighting fires, but he’s not going to let his dream of UFC gold go up in flames.
Stipe Miocic is adamant that he should be the next contender for the heavyweight championship of the world. And after he lit up former K-1 striker Mark Hunt on the feet and pummeled his face on the ground at UFC Fight Night 65, few could argue with his claim to be next in line to take on Fabricio Werdum for his Octagon crown.
“I want a title shot, man. I want that title shot,” he tells Fighters Only. “I’ve put my time in. I’m asking for it, so let’s see if the UFC hook it up.”
But while the Croatian-American’s title-chasing rivals – Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos, both of whom have beaten the champion – were at UFC 188 in Mexico City to generate some buzz about a potential rematch with ’Vai Cavalo,’ the Croatian-American was back in Ohio. He watched the fight surrounded by friends at a barbecue. He’d rather his fists did the talking.
Although he’s one of the world’s best heavyweights, he’s also a regular guy who’s an avid Cleveland Cavaliers fan and part-time fireman. And while he may have gone to bed that night dreaming about the belt, when he wakes up at the crack of dawn it’s not the thought of an early morning training session at his gym in Independence that lights his fire.
Instead, he makes his way to the Oakwood Village Fire Department. In place of gloves and shin guards, the 32-year-old zips up his protective jacket and throws on a helmet. He hops into the station’s big yellow truck and roars down State Route 48. Yup, thinking about that title will have to wait because his job protecting the community as a firefighter and paramedic is his duty for the day.
Fighting is Miocic’s passion, but he’s quick to stress to Fighters Only that continuing to serve his community and keeping his role as a firefighter and paramedic is important to him. It’s something he’s always wanted to do, and even during fight camps he finds the time to fit in the job of protecting the residents of Oakwood and Valley View.
“I’m always going to be a firefighter, I will never give that up,” he says. “I wanted to be a firefighter or a police officer, I wanted to be some sort of civil servant. When fighting came along, at first I didn’t know if I wanted to fight. I didn’t want to earn my money getting punched in the face and everything like that, but it all worked out and I love what I do and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
His role saving people’s lives is a huge juxtaposition to his other vocation, where he’s rewarded for hurting his fellow man. But maybe that’s how the quiet Ohio native stays so level-headed. The contrast provides him with something of a karmic balance, or so he tells himself.
“People ask me about that, and yes it does. Honestly it’s a total 180 because they drown each other out,” he says with a chuckle.
But as well as providing the yin to his combat sports yang, his time with the department has helped him to develop skills he can translate to his other career. “Being in a medical quad or the fire truck heading to a call out, you never know what’s going to happen. You just have to make sure you don’t get tunnel vision and that you concentrate on the task at hand, like in a fight,” he says.
“But, knock on wood, I’ve never had to use my medical background or firefighting skills in the gym with the guys yet.”
Ballin’ and Wrasslin’
While he attended Cleveland State University, Miocic wrestled for the NCAA Division I team. When he arrived, fresh-faced as a new recruit, big things were expected of him. During his time on the mats in 2003 he came into his own and started to push for the prestigious All-American status, he wrestled his way to a national ranking of 17 and managed to secure his spot in the 2003 NCAA Division I championships. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep his hot streak going and crashed out early.
He hung up the wrestling boots in exchange for a baseball mitt. As third baseman he led Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, to the TranSouth Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championship in his senior year, hitting .344 with 14 doubles, four triples and seven home runs. He dreamed of being drafted to the MLB, but it didn’t work out for him.
“I didn’t get picked up and none of the scouts liked me so baseball didn’t pan out, it just wasn’t on my cards. But I’ve helped guys train and I still like to play and be around the game,” he says. “It gave me something to do at college and it kept me out of trouble. I’m not a troublemaker at all, I’m just saying. I wasn’t going out and getting drunk all the time because I was tired from training but I still met a lot of good people on the way.”
With his dream of playing in the major leagues over, Miocic found his way back to the mat. His wrestling experience set him up perfectly for his transition to full-blown mixed martial arts, but he discovered the sport almost by accident.
“We had a gym, so I used to train people in the back of it, I was like a personal trainer,” he explains. “The owner of the gym asked me if I wanted to train for a fight and I said, ‘For sure,’ so I started training with him and I never left the gym. I lived in there.”
Baseball’s loss was MMA’s gain, and over the next few years he would shoot up the amateur and pro ranks with an evolved skillset that developed beyond just grappling to include heavy, fight-finishing hands.
Croatian Nation
Miocic’s parents, Kathy and Bojan, are Croatian immigrants who settled in America. He’s proud of his roots and has embraced his European bloodline, which allowed him to seek out an MMA legend to help sharpen his hands further. He reached out to his motherland’s most famous combat sports export and the most feared striker in the history of the heavyweight division, Mirko Cro Cop. The pair first trained together ahead of Miocic’s December fight with Dos Santos and formed a strong friendship.
“Being Croatian is one of the reasons I got to meet him, and it was amazing. It was a lifelong dream to meet him and to train with him. We talked a lot and we had a great training session and a great sparring session. He’s just a great person.
“He’s a great individual and he really helped me a lot for the fight and getting to train with a man like that was great. He’s a legend and it would be great to be mentioned in the same sentence as him,” Miocic says, with his usual air of humility.
But he’s already surpassed his mentor in the modern MMA landscape. While Cro Cop has recently returned to the Octagon to settle old scores, his successor only has eyes for the very top of the division. And if he gets his wish and is next in line to fight for the UFC strap, he’ll get his chance to eclipse anything his idol achieved in his illustrious career.
STIPE MIOCIC'S HIGHLIGHT REEL
Vs. Fabio Maldonado, TUF Brazil 3 Finale
Earning ‘Performance of the Night’ honors, Miocic not only filled his bank account, he also filled the Brazilian’s face with punches to take out the normally iron-chinned brawler after just 35 seconds of the opening round and snap his three-fight win streak.
Vs. Mark Hunt, UFC Fight Night 65
Total domination. In Miocic’s latest outing he scored another TKO over a man renowned for his granite chin. He dismantled the K-1 veteran on the feet and then finished him on the mat, leaving him bloodied and battered in a ball in the fifth and final round.
Vs. Junior dos Santos, UFC on Fox 13
Who can forget this slugfest? The decision might not have gone his way, but you could call it Miocic’s coming out party because he hung in there for 25 minutes against one of the toughest fighters in the division. The Croatian-American put himself under the spotlight with crisp boxing, a good chin and unwavering determination.
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