September 21, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic set aside some time to spar with UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic in Cleveland.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic's visit to the United States began in Cleveland, Ohio, where the fourth largest Croatian community in the United States lives.

However, what Croatians know most about Cleveland is that it is home to UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic, a mixed martial artist, part-time firefighter, and the son of Croatian immigrants. 

It is only fitting, then, that the Croatian president made sure she set aside some time for a one-off training session with a top sparring partner - Cleveland's most famous Croat - Stipe Miocic, reports HRT.

Thus, Miocic hosted the Croatian president at the gym where he has spent the last 20 years training and introduced her to his family members and his team.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Stipe Miocic even exchanged gifts! The president was given boxing gloves with Stipe’s signature, while Kolinda gifted the UFC champ a Croatian football jersey featuring Stipe’s name. 

Stipe Miocic demonstrated some martial arts moves to the president, who proved to be a very enthusiastic student.

The training was followed by Croatian and American journalists, to whom both the President and Stipe Miocic spoke about the beauties of Croatia. The president asked Stipe Miocic to tell the Croatian youth the importance of sports and healthy living.

Finally, Kolinda and Stipe faced off - and the extraordinary effort by the Croatian president sent Stipe to the ground! 

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Društvo pobjednika! ??? @stipemiocic

A post shared by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (@predsjednicarh) on Sep 20, 2019 at 11:00am PDT

The president then went on to visit the Cleveland Clinic, one of America's best hospitals, headed by Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic from Zagreb.

You can view all the videos on HRT here. 

Recall, the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP) is hosting their fourth annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio from Sept. 19 to 22, 2019. The ACAP conference will bring together professionals from all facets of the U.S. and international professional community—such as diplomats, scientists, artists, engineers, medical professionals, attorneys, journalists, business executives, social media specialists, accountants, and a delegation from Croatia’s Chamber of Commerce.

Her Excellency Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia, gave the keynote address at the gala dinner on Friday, Sept. 20.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.