Branko Cikatić

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Branko "The Tiger" Cikatić (born October 3, 1954) is a Croatian kickboxer, best known as the winner of the first K-1 Grand Prix tournament held on April 30, 1993 in Japan.

Cikatić surprised the martial arts world by storming the 1993 K-1 Grand Prix tournament, knocking out all three of his opponents in one evening, including Ernesto Hoost in the final match. To date, Cikatić is the oldest winner of the K-1 Grand Prix at 38 years and 208 days.

He extended his athletic resume to include mixed martial arts in 1998, fighting in the Pride Fighting Championships. His PRIDE debut was fought against Ralph White under K-1 rules format. Cikatić lost via disqualification after kicking the head of the downed White. Cikatić returned at Pride 2, fighting under MMA rules and facing Mark Kerr. He was again diqualified after delivering several illegal elbows to the back of Kerr's head. His next fight at Pride 7 ended in a submission loss to Maurice Smith by forearm choke.

Towards the end of his sports career, Cikatić tried his hand at acting, playing the lead villain role in a 1997 B-movie Skyscraper, starring Anna Nicole Smith.

[edit] External links

• K-1sport.de - Complete Fighters Profile of Branko Cikatic
• Branko Cikatić at the Internet Movie Database
• Cikatić's MMA Record