Mike Straka is an American television and radio host, author and producer. He is the co-host and producer on Fighting Words with Mike Straka and Mike Madlab Iurata on TheMadLabMMa.com Previously Straka hosted The Straka and Krempel Show on WWBA Big 8 Radio, Sportstalkflorida.com, and the MMAVERICKS podcast on BLEAV networks, He is the author of ''Rowdy Rousey'', and was host of the "MMA Noise" YouTube channel. Straka was co-host and producer on
Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The channel was o ...
's primetime MMA news magazine show, ''MMA Uncensored Live'' and he was the creator and the host of "TapouT Radio" on Sirius XM Sports. He served as the in-cage post fight interview correspondent for World Series of Fighting and as UFC correspondent for Fight Now TV. Straka also hosted ''Fighting Words with Mike Straka'' on Mark Cuban's
HDNet
AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...
which featured interviews with
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
athletes and was the creator and host of Fox Fight Game, one of the first mainstream news programs covering Mixed Martial Arts on Fox News.
Straka is a regular contributor to ''FIGHT! Magazine'', and wrote a book on MMA, based on interviews from his television show, ''Fighting Words'', which was published by
Triumph Books
Triumph Books is a Chicago-based sports book publisher. The company is well known for its "instant books", such as its illustrated tribute to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, which was released 10 days after his death in a crash in the 2001 Daytona ...
. Straka was also a senior producer for FUSE TV'S "Fuse News" and has interviewed and produced several television pieces on well-known artists, including Sinead O'Connor, Zedd, Sam Smith, Naughty Boy, Wiz Khalifa, R Kelly,
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
, Armin Van Buuren, Jeff Bhasker and more.
Straka was a vice president and executive producer at FOX News Digital, and also served as an on-air commentator on Hollywood and celebrity topics, as well as sports, for the cable net and on FOXNews.com. He created and produced ''Strategy Room''. Straka hosted and was executive producer of FOX Fight Game, a mixed martial arts (MMA) features and news program, and was a columnist on FOXNews.com. Mike has interviewed some of the world's most famous artists in film and television.
Acting career
Mike Straka played a ring side fight commentator in Nic Sasso's Haymaker (2021) and previously played "Young Minetta" in the film ''
Analyze This
''Analyze This'' is a 1999 American mafia comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan, and Peter Tolan. The plot follows a crisis-stricken mafioso (Robert De Niro) who solicits the assi ...
'' and appeared as "Johnny" off-Broadway in ''
Tony n' Tina's Wedding
''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' is an "environmental/immersive theatre" event based on a traditional Italian-American wedding and reception, with warm and intrusive stereotypes exaggerated for comic effect. Audience members are treated as guests at ...
''. Straka appeared in several television commercials in the 1990s, including The Olive Garden, Papa Gino's Pizza, Healthy Choice Pasta Sauce, The Powerpuff Girls and Target.
Early years
Straka was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Barnegat Township. He graduated from
Monsignor Donovan High School
Donovan Catholic High School, (formerly Monsignor Donovan High School) located in Toms River, New Jersey, Toms River, is the only Catholic school, Roman Catholic Secondary education in the United States, high school in Ocean County, New Jersey, ...
(
Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
and wrestled for The Scarlet Knights, and moved to New York City to begin his career, where he starred in commercials, daytime soaps and the Off-Broadway play Tony N' Tina's Wedding.
He started his career as a CBS page, ushering audiences through the West 57th Street studios to see talk shows like
Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Riviera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, political commentator, and former television host. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He gained publicity with the liv ...
and
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
, and giving tours and answering phones throughout the building. After a year as a page, he was hired by
CBS News Radio
CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
to be a desk assistant. He joined
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
Channel just prior to the network launch in 1996, and served as a tape operator, writer, associate producer, producer, and director of operations and special projects for FOXNews.com, and ended his career there in 2010 as Vice President and Executive Producer for FOX News Digital.Mike Straka official website
Mike is also a proprietor in the pizza business.