Migliarese began his martial arts journey in 1988 at Maxercise in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Steve Maxwell when he was 12 years old.

He suffered injuries, breaking his nose, shoulder, collarbone, all of the ribs on the right side of his body, all of the fingers on his right hand and his pelvis, as well as damage to his internal organs.

Given a clean bill of health in early 1994, he returned as one of Royce's training partners for UFC 2 in Denver, Colorado.

[3] That year at the Arnolds Classic/Gracie Worlds Migliarese won what would be his most well known match against UFC fighter Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

Introduced to yoga at the grade school level, Migliarese immediately took to the ancient system of breathing and postures and continued his practice regularly.

In 1997, he traveled to Mysore, India to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and asked for permission to teach Series I and II, which was the custom of the time, prior to current certifications.