Jeff Blatnick

Jeff Blatnick
Weight	+100 kg (220 lb)
Born	July 26, 1957 (1957-07-26) Niskayuna, New York, U.S.
Died	October 24, 2012(2012-10-24) (aged 55)
High school	Niskayuna High School
State championships	1
College	Springfield College
Olympic team	United States
Olympic medal	Gold
Medal record Men's Greco-Roman wrestling Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles +100 kg

Jeffrey Carl "Jeff" Blatnick (July 26, 1957 – October 24, 2012) was an American super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler and sports commentator. He won NCAA Division II heavyweight wrestling championships in 1978 and 1979 and won the Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1984 after battling back from cancer.

As a commentator, Blatnick worked UFC 4 through UFC 32 for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He also served as the UFC commissioner and was instrumental in helping the UFC get regulated by the athletic commissions, which kept the sport of mixed martial arts alive during its dark ages in the United States at the time. Blatnick is among the people credited with giving the sport of mixed martial arts its name.

He was born in Niskayuna, New York, and was most recently an MMA judge for the New Jersey athletic commission.

Blatnick began his career wrestling in 1973 at Niskayuna High School in Niskayuna, New York. While wrestling for Niskayuna, Blatnick became the state heavyweight champion in 1975. After graduating from Niskayuna, he attended and wrestled for Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was a three-time All-American. After winning national titles in NCAA Division II, he qualified for the 1980 Olympic team, but did not get a chance to compete because the USA boycotted the games. In the summers of 1980–81 he worked as a bouncer at the Thirsty Whale in Minocqua, Wisconsin. In 1982, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, prompting the removal of his spleen and appendix.

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