Ognjen Topic: Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!
Who is Ognjen Topic?
Ognjen Topic is a Serbian-American Muay Thai Champion in multiple leagues. He’s well known for his recent appearances on Lion Fight and ONE Championship. With ONE’s recent acquisition by Amazon, expect to hear the Ognjen’s name more frequently as the sport of Muay Thai continues to find its way into the American mainstream.
What this article covers:
- Who is Ognjen Topic?
- How Old is Ognjen Topic?
- Ognjen Topic Fight List
- Ognjen Topic's Best Fight of All Time
- Ognjen Topic Record
Ognjen was born in the mid 1980s in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During that time, there was an intense ethnic conflict happening between Ognjen’s people, the Serbs, and the Croats. Bosnia was in the middle of a civil war that included biological warfare like chemical weapons used in the service of ethnic cleansing. Children and families in the minority were often subjected to prison camps, not unlike what the Jewish people experienced during the Holocaust.
The political climate made it impossible for the Topic family to stay where the were in Bosnia, so they moved to Serbia to find a safe place. From their ethnic homeland of Serbia, Ognjen’s father was able to freely leave the country, forced to work in America to provide financial means for his family's escape. While working for his family overseas, Topic’s father won a lottery for a green card and brought his family to live with him in the United States.
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When the moved to the United States in 1995, Ognjen was only nine years old. Although he was lucky to escape with his whole family, Ognjen has noted in interviews that many of his fellow Serbs were not so fortunate. He was young when he left, but there’s no denying the heavy, lifelong impact of growing up in an ethnic civil war until the age of nine.
Ognjen’s mindset was not built in a place of peace, but a place of war. In some roundabout way, he perhaps owes his intense drive to push himself to victory to the setting in which he was forced to grow up. With that mindset, Topic immediately began to watch boxing matches in the United States. At that time, boxing was one of the only combat sports available to be easily accessed by the public. It was enough to get him interested in beginning his own journey with martial arts.
Although the young Ognjen now wanted to be a prizefighter at age nine, his parents wanted something different for him. They left a place of war to provide for their children, and fighting is a tough existence. His parents knew that America offers far easier paths to wealth than the one a boxer takes. They insisted he focused on education first.
Five years later, and after much focus on education, Ognjen convinced his parents to let him begin martial arts with taekwondo at the age of 14. Although it’s normal in the softer, point-sparring incarnation of taekwondo, Ognjen had his black belt in under three years. Still, something was off. Ognjen describes feeling as if his martial arts experience still wasn’t real, because he wasn’t competing 100 percent like a boxer or a kickboxer does.
A year after receiving his black belt in the kick-based Korean art of taekwondo, Topic saw his first Muay Thai match on TV and became so inspired that he got in his car and went looking for a Muay Thai gym. This story might sound unbelievable, but he found one: Ognjen has now been training at North Jersey Muay Thai for almost half his life.
At first, Topic was forced to join in secret because his parents would not approve. He essentially lied to them, promising to follow their wishes that he focus on education while also competing (and winning) behind their backs! He managed to walk the line of academics and combat sports, and attended William Paterson University for graphic design. He found some success in that career as well, and is also a practicing graphic designer today.
Ognjen managed to keep this competition career a secret for over seven years, until a family member saw some of his amateur highlights on YouTube and took it to the family. His father was furious at the lie and it created a rift that kept the two from talking for months. Eventually, both his parents resumed normal activity but continued to pretend that it wasn’t happening.
The parents that loved their family enough to relocate continents during war-time also loved their son enough to overcome this rift. When he went pro, the headstrong fighter gave his parents an ultimatum that amounted to “accept this or lose me”. They made the obvious choice and have supported Ognjen since that time.
As a Muay Thai Fighter, Ognjen had gone on to do incredible things. He’s one of the most decorated Muay Thai fighters, if not the most decorated, to ever call America home. He’s become the Lightweight World Champion of Lion Fight Muay Thai, won the WKA North American Lightweight Kickboxing title, and the IKF World Title at Lightweight and won many accolades along the way.
He’s competed against some modern legends of the sport on his way to over fifty matches, including Paowarit Sasiprapa and Saenchai. After meeting the later in competition and traveling to Thailand to train, Topic’s home gym is now Saenchai’s Muay Thai Gym in Bangkok, Thailand.
When he’s not competing internationally or training hard, Ognjen also works to spread his knowledge of the sport through others online. He’s chosen to team up with Dynamic striking to bring you some awesome video content and improve your striking game.
How Old is Ognjen Topic?
Ognjen Topic was born on the 1st of February in 1986. He is 36 years old as of February 2022.
Ognjen Topic Family
Ognjen’s family is from Bosnia originally, but they were forced to relocate in the late 1980s due to civil war and ethnic conflict between Serbians and Croatians. To accomplish this relocation, Topic’s father was forced to first relocate his family to Serbia before moving to the United States to earn money and find a way to bring them safely over. He accomplished this when Ognjen was nine, and the family lives together in New Jersey to this day.
Not much has been published about Ognjen Topic’s family as an adult. He maintains a private life, preferring to focus on the sport when interviewed.
How Much is Ognjen Topic Worth?
Ognjen Topic’s net worth is not public information.
How Tall is Ognjen Topic?
Ognjen Topic is 5’8” tall, which is fairly tall and lanky for a Lightweight Muay Thai fighter.
How Much Does Ognjen Topic Weigh?
Ognjen Topic competes most often as a Lightweight in Muay Thai, which has smaller weight classes than MMA or other combat sports. In Muay Thai, Ognjen weighs in with a limit of 134 pounds.
Ognjen Topic Fight List
Ognjen’s fights have been all over the world and in many different leagues. Muay Thai is still a growing sport, and there haven’t been many leagues that raised eyebrows with western audiences to date. Still, there have been some. The WBC has hosted Muay Thai fights, as has Amazon’s new investment, ONE Championship. There’s also a dedicated Muay Thai league called Lion Fight, of which Ognjen is the raining champion.
In addition, he recently began to fight in the Thai “Stadium” system, a self-contained circuit of some of the best Thai fighters in the world representing their associations against each other for the title of Stadium Champion. Check out a list of all his Muay Thai accomplishments:
Siam Omnoi Stadium
- 2022 Omnoi Stadium Lightweight Champion (one time, current)
World Kickboxing Association
- WKA North American Lightweight Champion
Friday Night Fights
- Friday Night Fights Lightweight World Champion
- Most "Fight of the Night" honors in Friday Night Fights history
International Kickboxing Federation
- IKF World Lightweight Champion
Muay Thai Grand Prix
- Muay Thai Grand Prix Lightweight World Champion
WBC Muaythai
- WBC Muay Thai North American Super Featherweight Champion
Lion Fight
- Lion Fight Lightweight World Champion
New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame
- Fighter of the Year (2012)
Ognjen Topic's Best Fight of All Time
For a fighter like Ognjen Topic, it’s hard to pin down one amazing moment in a career full of highlights. Luckily, he’s talked openly about the subject. His favorite victory of all was winning the WBC North American Super Featherweight Championship because of its importance to his teammates and coaches. He mentioned in an interview that their expectations and hopes going into this fight were at maximum capacity. This is a testament to the selfless attitude of Topic, who trains for those around him as well as himself.
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Who Did Ognjen Topic Lose To?
In his most recent match of April of 2019, Topic faced off against Saemapetch Fairtex at ONE Championship’s “Roots of Honor '' event. He was looking to rebound from a string of losses in ONE, but was unable to do so. Although he came on strong towards the end of the fight and landed some powerful elbow strikes, he still got outpointed in a unanimous decision.
Ognjen Topic Record
Ognjen Topic has an overall professional Muay Thai Record of 39-25-3
Ognjen Topic Injuries
Although grappling injuries are quite normal, Ognjen Topic has not been public with any major problems that have cost him time away from training.
Is Ognjen Topic Retired?
Ognjen Topic is not retired from professional Muay Thai. He continues to appear on various promotions, including Lion Fight, ONE Championship, and in the Thai Stadiums, Omnoi & Lumpinee in Bangkok.
Aside from his intense training schedule and his international competitions, Ognjen also slows himself down long enough to record some technique so others can learn from this Muay Thai Champion. He recently got together with Dynamic Striking to release his eloquently titled, “Perfecting Kicks through Efficiency and Combinations”. In this volume, you’ll learn how to use your legs more effectively for striking. Ognjen got his start in taekwondo and continued to develop his kicks as a championship muay thai fighter both here and in Thailand; don’t miss out on a chance to bring his world-level instruction into your living room today!
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