Kent local, Sinisa “The Sniper” Jovic, has participated in martial arts since he was 7 years old. He started out in karate, boxing and Sambo, a martial art with Soviet origins. Now, at 24, he’s become the 2025 U.S. national kickboxing champion, earning himself a spot on the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO) USA National Team.
The National Kickboxing Championship took place at the Arnold Sports Festival at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on March 2, where Jovic defeated Terri Wise in three rounds to take home the title.
Now he’ll be representing the USA at the WAKO Senior & Masters World Championships in Abu Dhabi, November 21-30.
Jovic was born in High Point, North Carolina, where he lived until his family moved back to their home country of Serbia when he was a year old. The family moved between the U.S. and Serbia while Jovic was young, permanently settling in the Akron/Kent area when he was 9, because they had relatives living there.
Getting bullied at school was one of the reasons he liked taking martial arts at a young age.
“When I was in the states, I was getting bullied because of my name, and because I was Serbian, they thought I was Russian,” Jovic said. “Then, when I moved to Serbia, I was getting bullied because they thought I was American. No matter where I went, I was getting bullied.”
He said the hardships of living in Serbia, as well as a family virtue passed down by his grandfather, are what gave him the drive to persist at martial arts throughout the years.
“I had a good life, but I definitely had tough times, especially when I moved back to Serbia. It’s more of a wartorn country. Sometimes we didn’t have anything to eat. Sometimes we didn’t have any electricity,” Jovic said. “My mom always told me what she got from her father, my grandfather: no matter what you have, or what you do in life, be grateful for all of it, whether it’s the smallest thing in the world, like mopping a floor or washing dishes, or if it’s the biggest thing in the world, put 100% of your love and your soul into it, and then it will never feel like an obligation or a job. It’ll always feel like something you love and want to do.”
Jovic’s dad, Nebojsa Jovic, who was also involved in sports like Sambo, soccer and gymnastics, said one of the reasons he and Jovic’s mother, Branka, put Jovic and his brother, Dragan, in martial arts is because it was a better option than having the kids sitting at home all day.
“We always push our kids to play sports. It’s nice to be out of the house and doing something,” Nebojsa Jovic said. “Life in the United States is very busy for parents and it’s hard to manage everything. It’s not going to be good for the kids to spend a lot of time in front of the TV and a lot of time in the house, and that’s how everything started. So we took the kids and signed them up for the karate school. He found out that he likes all these things about karate; he likes moving from one level to the next level. That’s how he got to this point right now.”
Jovic trains at Rising Dragon MMA & Fitness in Bedford Heights under the instruction of Tiawan Howard, as well as trains at Top Level Martial Arts in Cuyahoga Falls.
“He was chasing [the championship] for 5 years, and the fifth year he brought it home,” Howard said. “It was awesome. He didn’t just kind of go out there and win; he went out there and dominated. The combos were flowing, the front kicks were coming out, everything he was throwing was good: he was controlling the tempo. I’ve never seen him fight like that in competition until that moment. I expect to see more of that.”
What Howard sees in Jovic at the gym is obsession for the sport and an unrelenting work ethic that he believes is the reason for the young fighter’s accomplishments.
Howard is optimistic about Jovic’s performance at the world championship in November.
“As long as he stays focused on the task at hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if he brings home a gold or a silver at Worlds,” Howard said.
Jovic is proud to be a part of the Portage County community and is thankful for all who were involved in his success.
“I’d like to thank my family, my coaches, Kent State and Portage County for bringing me up, because I went to school here – I went to Kent State,” Jovic said. “Portage County and Kent is such a great community. I go to the festivals and stuff around here and I just love it. The people here are great and I think that this will bring some good attention to the community and Portage County.”
