Branko Cikatić

Towards the end of his sports career, Cikatić tried his hand at acting, playing a villain in a 1997 B-movie Skyscraper, starring Anna Nicole Smith. In 2018, Cikatić had a pulmonary embolism and whilst in hospital acquired an infection causing sepsis and was later diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's disease. He died on 22 March 2020.

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 disqualified after holding the ring ropes when Kerr attempted a takedown, refusing to let go when directed by the referee, running away through the ring ropes, and 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.

He surprised the martial arts world by taking the 1993 K-1 Grand Prix tournament by storm, 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.

Branko Cikatić (4 October 1954 – 22 March 2020) was a Croatian heavyweight kickboxer, the first Croatian-born fighter to achieve international success. He was the first K-1 World Grand Prix Champion. The tournament was held on April 30, 1993 in Japan.