Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) was a
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 ...
(MMA) training organization. It was recognized as an excellent training camp.
It has been the training camp for fighters such as
Matt Hughes,
Tim Sylvia
Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best kno ...
,
Jens Pulver
Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on ''The Ultimate ...
,
Robbie Lawler
Robert Lawler (born March 20, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist who has been competing since 2001. He is the former UFC Welterweight Champion, former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in Strikeforc ...
, and
Jeremy Horn
Jeremy Graham Horn (born August 25, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist. Horn is best known for fighting in smaller American promotions, he has also competed in some of the premiere mixed martial arts organizations around the world, inclu ...
. MFS is widely regarded as one of the most successful MMA camps of all time.
Organization and structure
MFS traces its roots to 1997, when fighter
Pat Miletich
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 ...
established one of the early MMA training schools at his Bettendorf, Iowa gym, ''Ultimate Fitness''.
The MFS Elite team has produced over 80 television and pay per view level athletes and 14 world champions in various organizations. In The UFC alone, 5 of this system's top students have become world champions in weight classes ranging from lightweight to heavyweight. Miletich himself, was the UFC's first ever lightweight champion (170 and below at the time).
According to the
Las Vegas Sun
The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily Subscription business model, subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays ...
, MFS has been defunct since 2008.
IFL fight team
Miletich Fighting Systems was one of the camps participating in the
International Fight League
The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008. . The
Quad City Silverbacks
The Quad Cities Silverbacks was an International Fight League team based in the Quad Cities region of the United States. Coached by former UFC Welterweight Champion and founder of the very successful Miletich Fighting Systems camp, Pat Miletich ...
were coached by former
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
Lightweight Champion and Miletech Fighting Systems founder
Pat Miletich
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 ...
. The Silverbacks were the first IFL team champions of the first 2 seasons. The IFL ceased to operate as a fighting league on July 31, 2008.
Notable fighters
Listed are some of the notable MMA fighters who have been produced by the Miletich camp.
*
Andre Roberts
*
Sam Hoger
Samuel Earl Hoger (; born June 28, 1980) is an American retired mixed martial artist, poker player, and an actor, most notable for appearing on the first season of ''The Ultimate Fighter'', a reality television series produced by the Ultimate Fi ...
*
Barb Honchak
Barbara Marie Honchak (born August 30, 1979) is a retired American professional female mixed martial artist. She is the first Invicta FC Flyweight Champion. She has four wins in the Invicta FC promotion and holds notable victories over Vanessa ...
*
Bart Palaszewski
*
Ben Rothwell
Ben Rothwell (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a Heavyweight. He most notably had a 17 bout stint in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and competed for the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL where he h ...
*
Brad Imes
Bradley Imes "Brad" Smith (born March 13, 1977), better known as Brad Imes, is a retired American mixed martial artist. He appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 2, and has competed as a Heavyweight in the UFC, WEC, IFL, PFC, Titan FC, and King of th ...
*
Corey Hill
Corey Cornelius Hill (October 3, 1978 – May 15, 2015) was an American mixed martial artist. In high school in Florida he won state wrestling championships on multiple occasions and was a two-time national finalist college wrestler.
Mixed marti ...
*
Dave Menne
David Jeremy Menne (born July 29, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS.
Background
Menne was born in Minneapolis, M ...
*
Drew McFedries
Michael Andrew "Drewbie" McFedries (born July 27, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial artist. McFedries formerly competed for the UFC, Titan FC and Shooto.
Background
McFedries was born in Ames, Iowa and raised in Bettendorf, Iowa. His mo ...
*
Giovanni LaCognata Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
*
Ian Freeman
Ian William Freeman (born 11 October 1966) is a retired English mixed martial artist who was the Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion and the final Cage Rage British Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the first British person to fight in ...
*
Jason Black
Jason Douglas Black (born August 15, 1972) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight and welterweight divisions. He is a veteran of the King of the Cage, UFC, and PRIDE Fighting Championships organizations, a ...
*
Jason Reinhardt
Jason Reinhardt (born October 31, 1969) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2011, Reinhardt fought in the UFC and King of the Cage.
Mixed martial arts career Early career
After compiling a 1-0 amate ...
*
Jason Pierce
Jason Andrew Pierce (born 19 November 1965 in Rugby) is an English musician. Currently the frontman and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized, he previously co-fronted the alternative rock band Spacemen 3 with Peter Kember from 1982 ...
*
Jens Pulver
Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on ''The Ultimate ...
*
Jeremy Horn
Jeremy Graham Horn (born August 25, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist. Horn is best known for fighting in smaller American promotions, he has also competed in some of the premiere mixed martial arts organizations around the world, inclu ...
*
Josh Neer
Joshua Martin Neer (born March 24, 1983) is an American bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2003, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL, and Shark Fights. Ne ...
*
Justin Eilers
Justin Mark Eilers (June 28, 1978 – December 25, 2008)[Eilers Shot Dead](_blank)
– Sherdog.com ...
*
LC Davis
La Carvas Rashad Davis (born October 28, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2006, Davis has also formerly competed for the Quad Cities ...
*
LaVerne Clark
LaVerne Clark is an American mixed martial artist and a former professional boxer. Clark is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Maximum Fighting Championship and World Fighting Alliance. Clark holds a professional record of 27–21 ...
*
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...
*
Matt Hughes
*
Mike Ciesnolevicz
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...
*
Mike Whitehead
Michael Joe Whitehead (born June 29, 1981) is a former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight weight classes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, IFL, Affliction, and Strikeforce.
Mixed martia ...
*
Robbie Lawler
Robert Lawler (born March 20, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist who has been competing since 2001. He is the former UFC Welterweight Champion, former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in Strikeforc ...
*
Rory Markham
Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", ...
*
Spencer Fisher
Spencer William Fisher (born May 9, 1976) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2002–2012, he is best known for his 17-fight tenure with the UFC, winning "Fight of the Night" honors three times.
Backgroun ...
*
Tim Sylvia
Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best kno ...
*
Tony Fryklund
Anthony James Fryklund (born March 26, 1971) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor from 1997 until 2013, he competed for the UFC, the WEC, Bellator, S ...
References
External links
Pat Miletich, Miletich Fighting System EliteMiletich FS on the GymDB
{{MMA Team List
1997 establishments in Iowa
International Fight League
Mixed martial arts training facilities
Sports in the Quad Cities