Photo courtesy of the UFC Professional heavyweight fighter and Escanaba native Josh Parisian reacts after knocking out Chad Johnson in the first round of Dana White’s Contender Series Tuesday night in Las Vegas. After the victory, Parisian was rewarded with a four-fight contract with the UFC, fulfilling his dream in his third attempt at making it to the highest level of mixed-martial arts fighting.

LAS VEGAS — It’s been a long road to glory for Escanaba native Josh Parisian.

In his third attempt, the 31-year-old professional heavyweight fighter earned a contract with the UFC after knocking out Chad Johnson in the first round Tuesday night during Dana White’s Contender Series in Las Vegas.

Parisian had already won by knockout in the first round of the same event in 2018 and competed in Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” but he had never earned a contract with the UFC.

Until now.

“I was really surprised even though I had a really good finish and a first-round knockout,” Parisian said in a phone interview Thursday. “I already had a first-round knockout and I didn’t get signed the first time I was on the show, so even though I had a really good knockout, I was still unsure if I would get a contract.”

Parisian won the fight — which was televised on ESPN — by using his aggressive striking style.

“I broke his nose with an elbow, and then he was pretty much knocked out, but I had to keep punching until the ref jumped in,” Parisian explained. “I just kept hitting him until eventually the fight was stopped.”

Once it was stopped, the feeling of excitement set in. Sort of.

“Instantly I felt great, but I felt at the same time it was just so overwhelming that it hasn’t really set in yet,” Parisian admitted. “Even a couple days later I’m still like, ‘This is crazy.'”

Parisian is now on a four-fight contract with the UFC, which consists of a mixed-martial arts fighting style.

But his road to glory didn’t come without obstacles.

The 2008 Escanaba High School graduate admitted he was very disappointed when he didn’t earn a contract after knocking out Greg Rebello during the Contender Series in 2018.

“I was really disappointed,” he said. “(My knockout) is also the only spinning back-fist knockout over 170 pounds ever in the UFC or any major organization. That was a tough guy (I faced). … I think he was like the No. 1 guy in Rhode Island or one of those other states over there, so I thought for sure I would get it, and then I got sent to the Ultimate Fighter. I ended up fighting Michel Batista, who took third in the 2008 Beijing Olympics for wrestling. I got taken down over 13 times and I just couldn’t create space to strike, and I’m mostly a striker. He just wrestled against me, so I didn’t get into the UFC from the Ultimate Fighter show either, which is just a reality TV show. Then I got another chance on the contender, so it was my third chance of getting in and I got it.”

In his own words, Parisian wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“I had a lot of roadblocks and a lot of things that didn’t go my way, but it feels good to know that I persevered and I just kept pushing forward. … I didn’t want to take no for an answer,” he said. “Even through all those roadblocks I just kept moving forward, and that’s a good feeling to know that I accomplished that. It wasn’t an easy path, but I earned it.”

His road to fighting was unconventional, too. Unlike most professional athletes, Parisian basically didn’t play sports in high school. He played football for one year when he was a sophomore or a junior, noting he only got in the game one time during a blowout. But that was it.

So how did he get into fighting?

Of all things, it started in a public speaking class.

“I was in a public speaking class at Bay (College), and one of the guys sitting next to me (Jim Pryal) did his public speaking on UFC. I never heard of it and didn’t even know it was a thing. I just thought it was so interesting, and after he got done doing his public speaking assignment he sat back down and I just asked him some questions about it,” Parisian explained. “At the time, they were allowed to go in the Escanaba wrestling room and he invited me to come. I loved it so much and it just made me feel so good about myself and gave me some confidence that I was there every day.

“It eventually got to a point where it just wasn’t enough for me and I just wanted to get more of it. I wanted to be really wrapped up in it, so I moved downstate to live with my uncle, and he let me work for his construction company while I trained. I never intended on fighting, I just wanted to train and I liked doing it. But then I got talked into taking a fight, and then I won a bunch of fights in a row, and then my goals changed. I was like, ‘I have a real shot at this.’ Eventually, it led me to the UFC over 10 years.”

Parisian, who boasts a career pro record of 13-3, still lives downstate in Southfield and has been a full-time fighter for two years. The only heavyweight fighter in the state of Michigan also just recently became the father of a little girl.

But no matter where life has taken him, his love for his hometown has always remained constant.

“I love Escanaba,” he said. “They didn’t announce me out of Escanaba (during Tuesday night’s fight), even though I asked them to do that. At every other fight, I’ve asked to be announced out of Escanaba because I love my hometown and I take a lot of pride in it.”