| Born: | 1978 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 70 kg. (154 pounds) |
| Height: | 1.82 m. (5′ 11 ¾”) |
| Marital status: | Living with girlfriend |
| Fights: | 61 (pro) |
| Titles: |
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My life as a fighter started as a Taekwondo athlete at age 12. I had tried several other sports prior to that, but having a father, Mihajlo Misic, with a 7th dan black belt i karate, I was gentically predisposed to martial arts. A couple of years later I joined Bergen Kickboxing Club, a club I have stayed with ever since. I immediately enjoyed the competitive aspect of the sport, and won my fist title, the Norwegian Cup, in 1994. I was hungry, and my goal was to be the best kickboxer in Norway. In the Norwegian Championships the following year I got injured, and as many young athletes before me, I started training again too soon. I didn’t recover fully until 1998, and I slowly started preparing for the Nordic Championships in 1999. After 5 excruciating rounds I defeated the Dane Søren Engelbrecht, and I could lift my first real trophy. Despite this, it would be another two years before I made my real break.
In 2001 I won my first Norwegian Championship and I was picked for the national team. I fought in the World Championships, but was defeated in the early rounds by a former world champion.
Later the same year, an englishman named Trevor Ambrose walked into my gym. Trevor was
5 times world kickboxing champion and had fought over 500 matches, and had recently moved to Norway. Together with my regular coach and mentor, former world champion Bård Trones, he started coacing me, and I soon found myself ready for the next step. In the winter of 2002 I made my debut as a professional. In the summer of the following year, I was given the chance to challenge the reigning European Champion Paul Cummings at his home ground in Belfast. I was in the shape of my life, and after going the full 10 rounds I could raise my arms in victory. My first professional title was secured.
In the autumn of the same year I decided to go back to amateur status and participate in the world championships in Paris to get more experience and hopefully a gold medal. It ended in disaster with a cracked spleen and 8 months off. I went from king of the hill to invalid in a couple of days, an experience I would rather have been without.
In the spring of 2004 I was back yet again and with a vengance. I was given the offer to challenge the world title in WFKKO held by Marty Wilson. I grabbed the chance and won the match.
A few months later I received an offer for another titlematch, this time 12 rounds against John Orchard, a man I had sparred with many times and whom I knew was really good, perhaps the best I had met so far. The fight was set in Bournemouth, Trevor’s home town and I really wanted to show my best fighting. But yet again, my lucky star had gone on vacation. After pushing hard for 3 rounds, I managed to kick John’s elbow, thus breaking two bones in my foot.
Another few months without training made even more determined and focused on my dream of becoming the best. In October 2005 I was ready for a third comeback at home ground in Bergen. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out quite the way I had planned it. I lost on TKO against a fighter I under normal circumstances should have no problems beating. My home fans were shocked, and I decided to pack my bags and head to Thailand to start over. I spent three months in Thailand, and developed a liking for the thaiboxing and kickboxing low-kick style of fighting. During my stay I fought three professional matches and won all three. This gave me new confidence and I returned to Norway in January 2006 as a new person and fighter. Most important of all, I knew the feeling of winning fights again.
After winning seven out of seven full contact kickboxing matches during the first half of 2006, I was given the opportunity to represent Norway in the K1-max North-Europe qualification tournament taking place in Stockholm, Sweden in November. The winner would receive 5000 Euros and be given the opportunity to fight in Japan the following year.
My opponent would be the 36- year old experienced Swedish thaiboxer Joachim Karlsson, a former thaiboxing world championship silver medalist. The 24th of November and with 10,000 spectators I entered the ring for my first K1 fight.
I had decided to attack aggressively and move fast in and out. Because the sweed had his background from thaiboxing, I expected him to be more stagnant in style, and to use this to my advantage.
This tactic worked great for the first two rounds, and I felt I stood a good chance of winning. But in the third and final round the many hits I had taken to my legs made their presence with a vengance, and I had great difficulty with simply standing straight. 2 minutes into the final round I could not continue, and the referee stopped the match. Victory to Sweden.
Despite the loss I was pleased with my own effort and my debut in the K1 circus. I hadn’t lost my hope and dream of one day to fight with the best in Japan.
In June 2007 I was invited to a tournament in Bulgaria where the rules would be K1 style. I won this tournament and was reassured that the future for me as a fighter would lie in kickboxing low kick, thaiboxing and K1. Regular kickboxing was from this point a closed chapter.
As I write this bio (September 2007), I have just returned from a week-long stay in Breda at the gym of The King of Fighting, Ramon Dekkers. I learned that to become a world class fighter, you have to train with world class fighter, and there is nowhere better to do this than in Holland. For a long time the idea of moving down there to fight full time has matured in my mind. At this point in my life the choice isn’t really that difficult. I have to move.
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