#87: Living to Fight with Ognjen Topic

Ognjen Topic is a Serbian-born American Muay Thai kickboxer. He was born into an ethnic Serb family in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His family fled the Bosnian War, first finding refuge in Serbia. The family emigrated to the United States when Ognjen was nine years old. He has been training at North Jersey Muay Thai (NJMT) since 2005. In 2008, Ognjen began training and fighting out of Eminent Air Gym in Bangkok, Thailand. Eminent Air is ranked one of the 10 best gyms in the country. Ognjen has divided his time primarily training at NJMT while spending months each year at Eminent Air. There, he can gain a competitive advantage while preparing to compete on large televised promotions such as MAX Muay Thai, Ch. 8 (Highest rated show in Thailand). He has also fought in Lumpini, Radjadamnern, Aswindam, Jitmuangnon, Theprasit and many more stadiums, including one in China.   Back in the USA, Ognjen is a full-time instructor who holds class while training for big fights, such as on the Lion Fight show. Ognjen Topic is a three-time world champion in Muay Thai. Topic is also a former Lion Fight World Champion, having earned the title in 2013. He was named "Professional Rookie of the Year" at the Muay Thai Authority Awards in 2011. He is also a World Boxing Council (WBC) North American Super Featherweight Champion and World Kickboxing Association (WKA) North American Lightweight Champion. Ranked No. 1 in the USA (Super Featherweight Division) He is The Current WKA North American Champion (Lightweight Division) and The Current WBC North American Champion (Super Featherweight Division). He was voted 2011 North American professional rookie of the year by Muay Thai Authority and 2011 professional fighter of the month by the WKA (World Kickboxing Association) and 2011 Breakthrough fighter of the year by Muay Thai is Life website. He was awarded New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame 2012 Fighter of the Year and The Most “Fight of the Night” by Friday Night Fights in its history He is also The LogoLounge Award Winner & featured in books 9, 11 & 12 and is the winner of GD USA Magazine Award and The Davey Award.       Links:     Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog   Reach out to Jayson directly at [email protected]   Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/   Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam   Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com       Mentioned In The Episode:     Website: https://www.topicfight.com/   https://topiccreative.com/about   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topicfight/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/topicfight   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopicFight/       Timestamps:     01:48- What was it like to escape Bosnia?     02:39 - Life Lessons from Ognjen's Father.   03:50 - Ognjen's Design Career.     06:42 - What makes Ognjen different from the rest?     11:40 - Biggest Life lessons learnt as a fighter.     16:49 - How to deal with losses?     19:40 - Mindset of a Champion.     22:09 - How can new Talented fighters get noticed?     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices