Milan Jovanović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Јовановић; born February 5, 1970) is a former WPA and GPC world

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

champion and a

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

competitor. He is sometimes known by the nickname Ribcracker. He is also a writer and blogger.

Sporting career

Jovanović started powerlifting in 1998 and won nine Serbian

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

al championships in a row. He achieved his major success in powerlifting at the international level by winning the 2000 WPA world title in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and the 2003 WPC world title in

Wien Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

when he finished first overall with 936 lbs in squat. In 2003 Jovanović entered his first Strongman competition, which was held in his native Niš, Serbia. He achieved his major success at the international level in 2005 when he finished fifth overall in the United Strongman Series competition. In 2006 he was injured and retired from competition. In September 2010 he made a successful return, taking part at the GPC worlds RAW competition held in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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Personal bests

* Bench press - 628 pounds (285 kg) * Squat - 1000 pounds (430 kg) * Deadlift - 794 pounds (361 kg)

Bodyguarding career

After injury he moved to the United States and became a bodyguard in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, working for celebrities including

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. ( ; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former professional Boxing, boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading actor, leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. In a Mickey Rourke filmogra ...

and

Kimbo Slice Kevin Ferguson (February 8, 1974 – June 6, 2016), better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian-American mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and actor. Originally a bare-knuckle boxer, he became noted for his role in mutual combat stre ...

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, and

Jenna Jameson Jenna Marie Massoli (born April 9, 1974), known professionally as Jenna Jameson (), is an American businesswoman, writer, television personality, and former pornographic film actress. She has been named the world's most famous adult entertainm ...

. According to

Bas Rutten Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. As a kickboxer, he fought 16 times, winning the first 14 matches by knockout, 13 in the first round ...

, Jovanović was also Slice's strength coach.

Writing career

His blog on b92.net is the most visited blog in Serbia. Milan Strongman Jovanovic publishing his texts in Serbian issue of Playboy and newspaper

Kurir ''Kurir'' is daily tabloid newspaper published in Belgrade, Serbia. History The first issue of ''Kurir'' appeared at newsstands on 6 May 2003. While Kurir's history is relatively short, it is also a checkered one. It goes back to the state of ...

Personal life

Jovanović has three sons and holds a master's degree in electronics at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering

University of Niš The University of Niš () is a public university in Serbia. It was founded in 1965. As of the 2018-19 school year, it consists of 13 faculties with 1,492 academic staff and around 20,500 students. It has a university library "Nikola Tesla"; th ...

. He also appeared in several supporting roles in a couple of movies, namely The Parade, The Sisters an
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IMDb's database on Milan Jovanovic
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Acting career

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Milan 1970 births Living people Serbian powerlifters Serbian male bloggers Serbian strength athletes Sportspeople from Niš Sportspeople from Miami Serbian emigrants to the United States Male powerlifters