Patrick Jay Miletich (; born March 9, 1966) is a retired American mixed martial artist and former sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner. Miletich is also known as a highly successful trainer and coach, having founded Miletich Fighting Systems. This camp is considered one of the most successful in MMA history and has produced several world champions. On July 6, 2014, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. 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 also played high school football in Bettendorf Bulldogs and was an All-State nose guard in his senior year. As a senior in 1983-84, Miletich shared the Bettendorf High School wrestling room with future MMA champion Mark Kerr, who was a freshman just beginning his wrestling career. 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. When his mother developed heart problems, 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 Early career Miletich started his MMA training at 26. Before this, Miletich trained at Tarpein's Dojo in, Davenport, IA 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