Joe was a 1995 state high school champion (52-0) and three-time all-state wrestler at East Kentwood where he set a then national single-season record for takedowns (487).
He was an All-American at the University of Michigan and a two-time conference runner-up, and then turned to Greco-Roman wrestling where he won four Greco-Roman U.S. national titles, two Pan American Championships and in 2006 became the fourth American to win a Greco-Roman World Championship – he won gold at 132 pounds in Guangzhou, China – and was named USA Wrestling’s Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year.
An MMA world champion, as well, he was the first fighter to hold championships in multiple weight classes (Bellator Featherweight and Bantamweight). He was also the first athlete to win a world championship in both wrestling and the MMA.
Once promoted in MMA as “The Baddest Man on the Planet,” he is also in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.