If there was one man on this planet best suited to give a thorough and experience driven analysis of the match-up, it would undoubtedly be fellow pioneer of the sport, Pat Miletich.

Aside from taking Matt Hughes under his wing and guiding the Illinois born and raised country boy to a pair of UFC welterweight championships before the pair split ways in 2007, “The Croatian Sensation” has the benefit of having been one of the last opponents for the forty-two year old Gracie to square off with (Miletich wound up on the losing end of a picture perfect guillotine choke at the hands of Renzo during the duo’s 2006 IFL meeting).

That’s why FiveOuncesofPain.com made it a point to catch up with Pat to gather his thoughts on the upcoming tussle between two of the greatest fighters in the modern history of mixed martial arts.

“I think the fight with Renzo can be a dangerous fight for Matt,” explained Miletich. “Renzo is much stronger than he looks. He has very good grip strength. Renzo has a really powerful grip, and of course he has really good submissions.”

Of course Pat knows from experience just how surprisingly lethal Renzo’s submission arsenal can be, but one thing to take note of is the founder of Miletich Fighting Systems’ utmost respect for Gracie in the stand up department.

“He didn’t do it with me very much, but with most of the other guys Renzo is more than willing to stand and trade with you,” said Miletich. “Matt’s not a guy that is the greatest boxer in the world. He does hit hard, but he’s not a super technical striker.”

In no surprise, Miletich seems to be expecting more of a chess match between a pair of “thinking man’s fighters”.

“I think there are some traps that Renzo might lay for him in that fight,” said Pat. “Renzo’s a smart guy and Matt’s a smart guy, so it’s a really cool match-up.”

Of course there’s the one sided beatdown that Hughes put on Royce Gracie not so long ago to consider, but Miletich believes that you shouldn’t read too much into that bout, explaining, “Renzo’s a totally different fighter than Royce. Renzo is, in my mind – no disrespect to Royce – five times the fighter Royce is.

“Quite frankly, Renzo doesn’t give a s*** who he fights. He’ll fight, because he’s a fighter. That’s just the way he is. With Renzo, you throw a name in front of him and he says, ‘Sure. I’ll fight him. No problem’. That’s just the way he is.”

While not going as far to offer up a prediction on the upcoming match-up between two men he has a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for, Miletich came as close as he would to making a pick during the conversation when pointing to one deciding factor that could pose the potential to be the deal sealer in the bout.

“I think Matt just needs to basically out-muscle Renzo and wear him out,” said Miletich in closing. “I know that Matt’s endurance will probably be better than Renzo’s, and that’s where the fight could be won.”

At forty-one years young, “The Croation Sensation” is part of an exclusive and prestigious club of mixed martial arts pioneers that seemingly hasn’t lost a step based on his last outing. If anything, much like fellow UFC legends Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, Miletich may have found the fountain of youth as the founder of Miletich Fighting Systems looks as good now as he ever has before during his career inside of the cage.

Much like Miletich, fellow all-time Octagon great Frank Shamrock has also managed to keep himself relevant and fresh in a sport that has a tendency to leave those that can’t seem to evolve in it’s rubble.

FiveOuncesofPain.com recently had a chance to catch up with Miletich to discover that there is no other man he would rather throw down with than the previously noted Shamrock. Apparently the bout has been verbally agreed to, but according to Miletich, it’s in Frank’s hands as to whether it takes place or not.

Cory Brady for FiveOuncesofPain.com: Is there any word on when we will see Pat Miletich back in action?

Pat Miletich: We were hoping to put together a fight in March, but now it looks like that may not happen. We might have to wait for April or May. Who knows if it will ever happen. Frank Shamrock and I have verbally agreed to fight each other, but from what I understand he’s being difficult in the negotiations. For whatever reason he may have, I think it’s too bad because I think it’s the type of fight that would draw a lot of attention. It would be two guys that were UFC champions and have done a lot for that organization, and now they’re involved with Strikeforce. I think it just made sense. But for whatever reason I think he’s having trouble pulling the trigger. He may be nervous about getting slapped around, but that’s the way it sits right now. Hopefully I can find someone else to fight if he doesn’t want to do it. I want to get in there before Summer.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Have you signed with Strikeforce?

Pat Miletich: Frank and I – or from what I understand, I think Frank is too – but we’re both free agents right now. Whether it’s against Frank or whoever… I plan on fighting at least by April.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: But is the plan to fight for Strikeforce, or has that not really been fully determined at this point?

Pat Miletich: That’s who I would like to fight for. Frank and I both work for them, so it would make sense. I get along with Scott Coker and all of the people at Showtime and Strikeforce very well. I think Showtime and Strikeforce are very good companies. They treat their people very well, which says a lot to me. So yeah, that’s where I would like to end up, but we’ll see what happens.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Now you said that Frank’s being a little difficult in the negotiations; Do you think that’s due to him not wanting to fight you for whatever reason?

Pat Miletich: I think it could be. I think he knows what is most likely going to happen. We’ve rolled before so I have a sense for what he’s got. Obviously I’ve watched him fight for years and he’s a talented guy, but I don’t think he has anything to hurt me with. Maybe he knows that.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Do you think it may be a situation where he might not feel confident that he could get you to the ground and may not want to stand up with you?

Pat Miletich: He definitely doesn’t have the power to hurt me, he’s not going to submit me, he can’t out-box me, and he definitely can’t take me down. Maybe he’ll pull off something like he did in the Renzo Gracie fight so he can get out alive. Who knows.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: But if he steps up to the plate, do you still have a strong desire to fight Frank?

Pat Miletich: There was talk of Frank and I fighting when we were both champions in the UFC, but then he had contract negotiation problems and he left. So yeah, I think it would be a really fun fight.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: If, for whatever reason, you don’t end up fighting Frank, is there someone else you would like to match up with?

Pat Miletich: I would prefer to fight at 170 pounds, but I’d fight Frank anywhere. I don’t care what the weight is. It doesn’t matter. But I think I’d like to try to snag something from somebody at 170 pounds. I look at the 170 pound rankings and I see a lot of guys that I can beat.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: With that being said, what are your thoughts on Nick Diaz?

Pat Miletich: A lot of people have a different view of him because they only see him on TV, but when Nick and Nate see me, we’re very cordial with each other. I like both of them. I really like their attitude. I know a lot of people think it’s disrespectful but that’s what they do to get themselves pumped up for their fights. I love watching them. Nick Diaz is pretty fun to watch. He really is. He’s a creative and very talented kid. But yeah, I would definitely like to step in the cage with him. If he gives me a shot, that would be a blast. I think the crowd would love that fight too.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Would you ever fight Robbie Lawler under the right circumstances, or is that just absolutely off limits in your mind?

Pat Miletich: To me, Robbie’s like my little brother. We had the same wrestling coaches in high school. So the guys that took care of me my whole high school career, Paul Castro and Frank Freeman, were also Robbie’s coaches. Paul Castro called me when Rob was like sixteen and said, “Hey, I have a kid with a lot of ability and a lot of talent. He’s a really smart kid, but maybe he’s not surrounded by the best people”. So he asked, “Can he come over and start working out with you guys”, and I knew who Rob was. I’d watched him play football and wrestle, so I said, ‘Absolutely’. He started training with me when he was sixteen, so to me, that completely 100% would never happen. I couldn’t do anything to Rob to hurt him.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: I remember seeing you in his corner during a local fight in Iowa when Robbie was like seventeen where he knocked some kid out; I’d imagine that would be a little bit like fighting an adopted son in some ways…

Pat Miletich: And I really don’t want to get hit by Rob Lawler (laughs).

FiveOuncesofPain.com: Right, that would never be a fun thing. But I know you’ve been in training for the last month or two for this possible fight with Shamrock; How do you feel right now compared to say, ten years ago? Honestly?

Pat Miletich: You know what, I train smarter now. I know what to do and when to do it. I’m doing a little bit of sparring and grappling, but for the most part I’m just doing strength stuff right now. I’m using the heavy clubs, the kettle bells, medicine ball, squats, cleans, and all of that sort of stuff. I’m getting my body really physically strong again. I run maybe once or twice a week, but nothing really hard right now because I really want to develop my power. But I feel very strong, and I feel good.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: So you’re feeling confident at fighting at 170 pounds then. You fought your last fight against Thomas Denny at 170, right?

Pat Miletich: Yeah. In that fight I made it my goal to not get hit one time, and I didn’t get hit once. I think he may have slapped me a couple of times while I was on top of him, but I made it my goal to not get one time in the entire fight, and I did it. It’s fun to set goals like that. If you can go into a fight and say, ‘He’s not going to hit me once’, and then you do it during a fight that lasts seven minutes or whatever it was; That’s not bad.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: It seemed like you looked better in that fight than you had in a long time leading up to that one. Do you think you discovered something post 2006 that you were lacking before?

Pat Miletich: I just decided to be mean to people again. I made it my intention to finish people the way I did in the beginning of my career. I was so worried about winning safely before – so I wouldn’t get cut from the UFC and things like that – so I was basically fighting way too reserved. In my Muay Thai/Kickboxing and early MMA career, I pretty much finished all of my fights in pretty violent fashion, so I just decided to start being mean to people again.

FiveOuncesofPain.com: I know you’ve done a lot of work in law enforcement and military training over the last fourteen years helping to develop self defense programs with different law enforcement and military training companies; Are you still actively involved in that work.

Pat Miletich: I’ve finally decided to just do it on my own. I’ve launched that at PatMiletich.com. You can check out the Law Enforcement/Military page over there to keep updated on when the big trainings are coming.

My name is Mike Camp and I’m going to tell you about my journey from common UFC fan, to MMA businessman, to hopefully the pinnacle of the sport; a world title.

I better start at the beginning: I’m not sure exactly when I watched the very first UFC initially, but it was relatively soon after the event and I was hooked. It was like the Kumite in real life and I loved it.

I recall how my buddy Dave Stone and I would re-enact the tapes and try to learn the techniques. We eventually broke a window grappling in the house and my future wife, Laryssa, gave us an ultimatum that changed our lives from that point forward.

She told us that we had better find somewhere else to wrestle because it wasn’t happening in the house any further.

This is the point in my life where I looked up Pat Miletich in the local yellow pages and asked him if he offered training. Needless to say I was overjoyed when he told me that he did. Pat told Dave and I to come by the next day and check out a beginner’s class to see what we thought of it. That’s alI had to hear, we were at the front door of his “gym” the next day.

Like all great teams, Pat started from humble beginnings. He rented a racquetball court at a local health club and matted it up so he and his loyal brawlers could train. It was maybe 900 square feet, but we loved it. Pat told us the first month was free (to see if we liked it), that we needed a cup and mouthpiece and gave us a beginner’s class schedule.

We were hooked after the very first class where UFC veteran and genuine bad mofo Jeremy Horn showed us the ins and outs of the head/arm choke. You know,the same submission he handed an up and coming fighter by the name of Chuck Liddell his first professional defeat with? It was nothing short of awesome!

We were there as often as humanly possible following that lesson in humility.

Fast forward a couple of months and I’m facing a job transfer/promotion to Indianapolis, Indiana. I didn’t want to give up training in mixed martial arts so I asked Pat if he could refer me to anyone out where I had recently relocated, and he handily coughed up the contact information for Jason Godsey (UFC 19 & 22).

That was that, we moved to Indianapolis, Dave Stone in tow, and I contacted Godsey. He was super cool and gave us the address to where he was training…….. in his barn!

We had no heat and very little padding, but again, it was great. Chris Lytle rolled there, Alex Stiebling and Ian Freeman came by to roll from time to time. It goes without saying that we got beat up a lot. Whether I was catching a beatdown from some of the baddest dudes in the business or not, I enjoyed every minute of it, and was getting nothing but better because of it.

I was so hooked on the sport that I bought every PRIDE tape I could find, ordered every UFC I could, subscribed to FCFighter monthly and Ultimate Athlete.

By this time, I had asked Laryssa to marry me but was in no hurry to complete the job. Again, she forced my hand. She arranged for us to be wed in Vegas in the Octagon before UFC 36: Worlds Collide (appropriate title?).

It was a virtual who’s who of MMA. Pat was there, and even stood as my best man. John McCarthy initiated the ceremony with his trademark slogan,”Let’s get it on!”. Laryssa and I were the first, and as far as I know, the only couple to be wed in the UFC. Pretty freaking awesome right?

We ended up meeting countless people, and the whole experience was absolutely amazing outside of Pat’s loss to Matt Lindland, which definitely put a slight damper on things.

Little did I know that when I returned to Indianapolis my fandemonium would turn into a business career, but I’ll fill you in on that next week.

To be continued….

On last night’s episode of ESPN’s E:60, the founder of Miletich Fighting Systems made his current feelings about the UFC president quite clear.

“He’s done a lot of great things for the sport, without a doubt,” the UFC veteran was quoted as saying. “I just have seen the wreckage around him a lot.

“Dana has never told me anything that ended up being the truth, besides the fact that his intention was to crush other people’s lives and businesses.”

The recent statement made by Miletich shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone familiar with the past court case between the UFC and the IFL.

Below are some excerpts from Pat Miletich’s sworn statement given in the case held during 2006, according to public records.

8. In or around late Januray 2006, I recieved a call from Mr. White. During the conversation, Mr. White stated that he respected me both as a trainer and fighter, but then proceeded to express in a rather irate manner his feelings about the IFL and abruptly stated that “he was going to fucking crush these [the IFL] guys”. Mr. White further made it clear to me that he was livid about losing Keith Evans to the IFL.

9. During this conversation I expressed to Mr. White my opinion (based on numerous conversations with individuals in the MMA industry) that a lot of people involved in MMA industry didn’t very much care for him or the way Zuffa conducted its business and treated the individuals who fought at UFC events. In response, Mr. White stated that it “wasn’t his fucking job to be liked”. Mr. White further told me that he had spoken with the Fertittas (who own Zuffa), and they had given their “permission” to go after the IFL.

10. Mr. White further threatened me during the conversation, and implicitly the livelihoods of the fighters I train, stating that “when the dust settles, anyone associated with the IFL would not be associated with the UFC”. I took this for what it was — a threat to me and to my fighters who count on me to represent them and obtain opportunities to for them to fight in the MMA industry. Because of the virtual monopoly that Zuffa has in the MMA industry, Mr. White clearly knew that cutting me and my fighters off from the UFC would have a devastating economic impact.

11. Mr. White further told me during this conversation that he had been on the phone all day calling everyone he dealt with in the MMA industry and told me that, after speaking with all of them, none would be doing business with the IFL. My understanding from his comment was that he had made the same threats to everyone else he knew in the MMA industry that he had just made to me during our conversation. I attempted to tell Mr. White to calm down and tried to be rational with him. I expressed to Mr. White my opinion that the IFL was going to help the MMA industry and ultimately would increase the UFC’s presence throughout the world. I further attempted to dissuade Mr. White from doing anything irrational with respect to the IFL (i.e., the lawsuit) and told him that I felt going after the IFL for no reason would be very bad for the entire MMA industry. Clearly, Mr. White could care less what I thought.

12. Following my conversation with Mr. White, Ken Shamrock, another world-renowned MMA fighter, called me and told me that Mr. White had just “raised hell” with him about his being associated with the IFL. As I understand it, Mr. White had made similar threats to Mr. Shamrock whom I believe at the time had an agreement with the IFL to coach one of its teams. I further understand that Mr. White made the same or similar threats to Randy Couture, perhaps one of the most legendary MMA fighters in the world and a former UFC World Champion. I further understand that Mr. White called a current UFC World Champion, Matt Hughes, to inquire of him whether he had any involvement in the IFL.

13. Knowing Mr. White the way I do, I can honestly say that Zuffa’s intent is bringing this litigation has nothing to do with protecting any confidential information. Rather, I believe this litigation is about one thing and one thing only — stamping out legitimate and, indeed, healthy, competition.

Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sports and Event Programming Ken Hershman made the announcement official during a Thursday press conference in Los Angeles to promote Stikeforce’s April 11 debut on the premium cable network.

“I am very excited to be part of the Showtime team,” Miletich is quoted in a press release. “I know Scott Coker very well and he and his Strikeforce outfit have been putting on quality fights for a long time. Strikeforce and Showtime are a terrific match and I am looking forward to contributing in every way that I can.”

During the press conference, Showtime also confirmed that play-by-play announcers Gus Johnson and Mauro Ranallo along with color commentators Frank Shamrock and Stephen Quadros would be returning to the broadcast team.

With Shamrock scheduled to headline the April 11 event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. against Nick Diaz, Miletich is slated to make his Showtime broadcast debut alongside both Johnson and Ranallo. Miletich is expected to serve the color commentator for Showtime championship MMA events any time that Shamrock is slated to compete.

Johnson is currently a play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports and was also hired by Showtime as its lead announcer for its boxing telecasts. After having called MMA for CBS’ Saturday Night Fights franchise, the Shamrock vs. Diaz card will mark his debut calling MMA fights on Showtime. When Johnson is calling fights, Ranallo will serve in what has become known as “the Max Kellerman role.”

Ranallo will slide over into the play-by-play role whenever Johnson is unavailable to call a Strikeforce championship MMA events. He is also expected to handle play-by-play duties on an exclusive basis once the network brings back what was previously known as its ShoXC series. Developed as a platform to bring exposure to up-and-coming talent, the ShoXC brand is expected to be renamed. Quadros will once again serve as Ranallo’s broadcast partner during the events.

However, one of the most intriguing matchups on the docket for next month is a welterweight encounter between King of the Cage and EliteXC veteran Thomas “Wildman” Denny and one of the greatest welterweights ever to compete in MMA, Pat Miletich.

Miletich was the first-ever welterweight champion in the history of the UFC and has compiled a 28-7-2 pro record over the course of a career that dates back to 1995.

A former standout high school athlete, Miletich took up fighting as a way to help support his mother, who was in poor health at the time. Through the years, the 40-year old has recorded notable victories over the likes of Mikey Burnett, Shonie Carter, John Alessio, Jorge Patino, and Chris Brennan.

During the peak of his fighting career, Miletich made the decision to start his own training center and curriculum known both as the Miletich Fighting Systems. Over the years, MFS has produced world champions such as Rich Franklin, Jens Pulver, Robbie Lawler, Matt Hughes, and Tim Sylvia. The MFS system will go down in history as one of the first philosophies to utilize cross-training methods in MMA.

After focusing most of his time on preparing his fighters, Miletich ended a four-year hiatus from competitive fighting on On Sept. 23, 2006. And Miletich did not take an easy fight in his comeback, opting to face fellow all-time great Renzo Gracie during an IFL event in Miletich’s home base of Moline, Illinois.

Still not fully healed from neck injuries that had forced him to leave active competition, Miletich was first to tap in the first round after getting caught in a standing guillotine. Miletich has not competed since the loss but will be returning on Thursday, Dec. 11 to headline against Denny in the main event of Adrenaline MMA’s second-ever show. Miletich’s anticipated return, which will once again emanate from Moline, will be televised live on HDNet.

During a recent break from training, Miletich took time out to speak about his upcoming return with FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Sam Caplan: First let me say that it’s great to hear that you’ll be competing again. I also wanted to know how your neck is doing?

Pat Miletich: My neck is real solid. I’ve been sparring real hard and it’s been been holding up quite well, actually. I’ve had some procedures performed by several doctors and it’s holding up well.

Sam Caplan:  I spoke with your manager, Monte Cox, earlier today and Monte said you’re in incredible shape. He said normally 170 is a tough cut for you but that you’re working so hard that you’re having trouble keeping weight on.

Pat Miletich: You know, once my metabolism sped up the weight just started coming off and I’ve just been trying to eat a lot to actually keep my weight up (laughs).

Sam Caplan: So are you actually going to be able to enjoy your Thanksgiving and not have to watch your weight?

Pat Miletich: I’m going to eat a lot for Thanksgiving. I’m going to try and eat smart but we’re going to have a two and a half hour practice on Thursday morning — the whole team. And I should have worked off enough weight to sit down and have a nice Thanksgiving dinner with the family.

Sam Caplan: How long had you been considering coming back to fight?

Pat Miletich: Basically, the day after I fought Renzo, to be honest with you. We’ll see how this fight goes with Thomas Denny. Thomas is a tough guy but if I get through this fight okay and win against Thomas (then) I’d love to do that again with Renzo.

Sam Caplan: When you lost to Renzo, did you tap from the choke, or the tension being applied to your neck?

Pat Miletich: Well, I had re-injured the neck about ten days away from the fight and at that point there had just been so much publicity and TV stuff that I went ahead and did it. I thought that I’d be fine and I thought that I’d be able to stop his takedowns without a problem and just keep wearing him out and hitting him with shots. And you know, he was smart about it. Once he realized he wasn’t going to take me down he jumped for the guillotine and got it and did a good job. The neck, I was fine for awhile, and then the neck just wore out. It got tired and it just sunk in eventually.

I didn’t want to go to the ground either because the core muscles that tie into your legs all the way into your abdomen, I had injured those muscles as well. So my core was destroyed and I couldn’t even pull guard if I had wanted to (laughs). But I just had to stand there and try to ride out the clock. It was a weird situation; it was a combination of a couple of injuries and Renzo Gracie having an incredible guillotine. It wasn’t a good combo.

Sam Caplan: You haven’t competed for two years since that fight and I wanted to know if you consider the time away a brief retirement or simply a hiatus?

Pat Miletich: I had other things going on, to be honest with you. I’m not done competing. I enjoy it too much. I love it a lot. I love the adrenaline and the crowd and everything else. It’s too fun to just walk away from it. I want to be able to say when I’m done that it was my body was telling me (to retire). I guess I am just hard headed and I’ll keep running my head into a brick wall until it’s time to quit.

Sam Caplan: Renzo has a new documentary out entitled Renzo Gracie: Legacy and it’s really amazing. Your IFL fight with him was depicted during the course of the film and there was also a brief scene at your gym leading up the fight. During the scene, you compare Renzo to his cousins and you talked about how he never ducked opponents like some of his relatives. Could I get you to elaborate on that?

Pat Miletich: Well, my thing is no disrespect to any of the Gracies on the other side of the family. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here; you wouldn’t have a job and I wouldn’t have been fighting. I’d be doing who knows what? So all the respect to those guys; Royce and Rickson and that whole side of the family — Royler and everybody.

But Renzo is a guy that… he really treats everybody with a lot of respect. He’s a warrior and he’s fought anybody and everybody that has come up against him. He never turns down a fight. And that really earns my respect, just the way he carries himself and the way he’ll fight anybody. He’s a warrior so I have a lot of respect for him.

Sam Caplan: You stated in this interview that if things go well against Thomas Denny that you’d be interested in a rematch with Renzo. If you’re able to get past Denny, how active would you like to be after Dec. 11?

Pat Miletich: We’ll see how I feel. We’ll see how everything goes with Thomas and we’ll take one fight at a time. I look at the top ten rankings and I think there’s quite a few of those guys that I can beat right now (laughs). We’ll see how I can do against Thomas but I feel very confident in my skills.

Sam Caplan: Are there any names in the top ten that you feel you can beat that you’d like to identify on the record?

Pat Miletich: Nah, no reason for that. But I can see some guys that have a lot weaknesses in their games and I think I would do quite well with many of them.

Sam Caplan: You’ve always been known as a no-nonsense type of guy. Your opponent on Dec. 11, Thomas Denny, is a showman and is one part pro fighter and another part pro wrestler. I know that Nick Diaz had a real problem with Denny wearing pink trunks and painting his toenails during their July 26 CBS bout in Stockton. What do you think of Denny as an opponent?

Pat Miletich: I think Thomas is a well-rounded guy. I think he’s tough and he’s had some wars. Everybody is an individual. If he wants to dye his hair and paint his nails, then more power to him. But for me, I’ve always just been a guy, who, I’ll always make my money by winning fights. And that was really important to me. I wasn’t a guy who trash talked people and tried to make a show out of it. I just wanted to go out and win a fight and keep it simple.

Thomas and I get along well. He’s a nice guy. He’s fun to talk to and stuff. I have no problem with him doing whatever he does. Hell, if it sells more tickets, then great. So more power to him.

Sam Caplan: What attracted you to Thomas Denny stylistically as an opponent because he can be very dangerous? What made you want to take this fight?

Pat Miletich: Monte told me that was who I was fighting and so I said ‘okay’ (laughs). You know, that wasn’t somebody that I asked for or anything like that at all. As far as Thomas’ style goes, I mean he’s a pretty unpredictable guy. He’ll throw high kicks and back elbows and then the next thing you know he’s shooting for a takedown. He’s pretty well-rounded and he’s not afraid to take the fight anywhere so I am definitely going to have to be on my toes with him.

Sam Caplan: MFS has a lot of top guys such as Tim Sylvia, Ben Rothwell, L.C. Davis, and Drew McFedries. Can you talk about some of the next generation of fighters that are coming up through the program?

Pat Miletich: Obviously our first generation of champions and pay-per-view guys were a bunch of studs. They were great fighters but I really honestly think that this second generation of guys are better and more well-rounded.

L.C. Davis is a great wrestler who has improved his ground game immensely and can strike like a professional boxer.

Romiro “Junior” Hernandez is probably the best boxer that I’ve ever seen in MMA and his ground game is ridiculously good.

Ben Rothwell is finally starting to figure things out. He’s a young guy that already has a lot of fights under his belt. He’s changed his style a lot and is looking a lot better.

Mike Ciesnolevicz’s ground game is way better than before, even when he was already submitting everyone and his standup skills have really come a long way also.

And Ryan McGivern, the guy is just a machine. After this next fight he plans on dropping to 170 and I’ll tell you what, that’s a scary ’70 pounder. When he goes down to 170 he’s going to be throwing some people around.

Sam Caplan: A lot of people consider Anderson Silva to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today. Do you agree with that assessment?

Pat Miletich: I would say it’s probably between he, Georges St. Pierre, and Fedor. Fedor is a sick, scary guy. He’s super impressive. Georges is an incredible athlete and very well-rounded. Anderson has been fighting for a long, long time. He’s been around forever.

In his fight vs. Cote, a lot of people were complaining about the way he was dancing around and moving and stuff like that. But you know, that just shows how good he is, to be honest with you. How he was just moving and confusing Cote and having fun with him out there. There are not a whole lot of guys that can do that with Cote and to me, that was just very impressive.

Sam Caplan: Brock Lesnar recently defeated Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title and I wanted to get your thoughts on the fight since you know Lesnar better than most being that he has spent some time at MFS in the past. Are you surprised that Brock is the heavyweight champ so soon?

Pat Miletich: I think every logical thinking person who knows MMA was betting Lesnar would win. Brock is an incredible athlete that moves incredibly well for a big man. You can tell he is still has a lot to learn, but his pure physical size, strength, wrestling ability and speed made it a very tough matchup for Randy. I have learned not to bet against Randy, but Couture not having the ability to out-wrestle someone makes it a very tough fight.

Having said this I feel he has been thrown into deep water a bit to soon. Big Nog, Fedor, Josh Barnett, Andre Arlovski, Rothwell, etc… all would be likely to beat Brock at this point in his carreer. If I were a top ranked heavyweight I would jump in line now though, as I think he’s going to be tough to beat with more experience.

Sam Caplan:  Since the IFL shut down, it seems like your profile with the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts has increased. Can you talk about what your day-to-day responsibilities are with the organization?

Pat Miletich: My focus is obviously help be a link between Mike Lynch and Dave Szady, who are the executives for the company, that are the head of the company. I’m there to assist them with relationships with the promoters and the fighters and help advise them as an experienced person in the MMA world what route I think is best for the organization. Them being above me in the company, the decision is ultimately going to be their’s whether they think I am correct or not in my judgments on things.

They’re great guys that care a lot about the sport. They’re big fans of the sport and I think the WAMMA belt represents more than just a belt. It represents the fighters’ freedom, a fighter’s solidarity, and a fighter’s right to be known as the true number one guy in the world. As fans and athletes, people need to understand and grasp that huge idea that the WAMMA belt stands and realize that that’s going to give fighters that freedom that they deserve and not be held down in organizations and by organizations almost as captives.

WEC 36 Fallout

Big ups to Mike Brown for taking care of business with Urijah Faber but I’ll still take Faber in a rematch any day of the week. Everything Brown is good at, Faber is just that much better. I don’t want to say Brown got lucky because we know he has power and we know that he is very good, but had Faber not thrown that silly elbow would we even be talking about Mike Brown today? My guess is no. Faber got way too overconfident with that elbow and jumped directly into a solid right hand. My guess is that next time Faber will be more cautious, as well he should be. An immediate rematch seems very likely and I’ll bet on Faber again for sure.

Paulo Filho lost himself a spot in the world’s top MMA organization last night. The performance that he put on was one of the most horrendous performances in the history of MMA. The fact that Filho weighed in seven pounds over showed that he clearly did not care about making weight for the fight. I mean, coming in two pounds or one pound overweight is understandable. But seven pounds? It doesn’t get much more unprofessional. And the unprofessionalism carried over into the fight as well. Whether it be personal demons, drugs, whatever, Filho needs to get himself together and do it quick or he’s not going to be relevant much longer in MMA. For someone with as much talent as he possesses it is a crying shame that he clearly doesn’t give a rat’s ass.

Leonard Garcia is very legit at 145 lbs. At 155 he was overpowered and outsized but 145 lbs. looks to be perfect for him. He has fast hands, good boxing, knockout power, a decent ground game, and most important of all: gameness. He’s made a strong case for a shot at the title at 145 lbs. with wins over Hiroyuki Takaya and Pulver.

Jake Rosholt, as good as he is, needs big time work on his standup. I fear for him in the UFC’s middleweight division. Even though it’s not their strongest division, it is a division which will give someone as one dimensional as Rosholt some major problems. Rosholt looked great in his wrestling and ground game last night, don’t get me wrong. But his standup, specifically his standup defense, was atrocious. The UFC, who is likely banking on Rosholt to become a future star, will have to be very careful with who they match him up with. Beating Osterneck was a very solid win for him, but the damage he took during the fight must be minimized in the future.

In other news this week…

TUF 8 is awful

I’ve been harping on how terrible this show is for the past few seasons for a long, long time now as have many other people. But peeing in fruit and letting the other team eat it and then retaliating by masturbating onto sushi? That’s just downright ridiculous. The show has officially jumped the shark if it hadn’t already done so. The show has been terrible and stale for a long time now but it officially reached a new low with last night’s episode. Poor showing on Dana White’s part to even be involved in putting that product on television and putting his seal of approval on it. When there’s piss, sperm, and the threat of feces involved it’s time to take a step back and ask how this show stooped so low.

ProElite is auctioning itself off

And using banner ads on MMA websites to do so. Does it get much more tacky? It’s like an infomercial. “You too can own your very own KIMBO SLICE! Or Frank Shamrock! Highest bidder wins, wins, wins!” Not to mention the fact that it’s a total dick move to all the fighters that their contracts will be held up in some ridiculous auction. Guys like Dave Herman, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Eddie Alvarez, etc. are being held in limbo when they could be out actively searching for employment, getting paid, and looking for better opportunities. The company is a complete and total joke and this stunt is just one more incident in a long line of stupid, stupd incidents. Here’s to hoping these fighters somehow find a way to get out of the contracts or that someone with some sense buys the company and its assets.

Denis Kang signs a four-fight deal with the UFC

This is a very strong addition to the UFC’s middleweight division even if Kang has lost some fights recently. He’s still young, he’s still a very explosive fighter, and has a lot of fights left in him. His first fight, however, will most likely be a tough one as the UFC’s middleweight division, while not their best, is still very competitive. Even a fight againt someone like Jason MacDonald could be a dangerous fight for Kang. Nice addition to the weight class, though, for sure. Kang is skilled, has the look, and is a commodity for foreign expansion. Solid move by the UFC to nab him.

Pat Miletich returns at Adrenaline MMA 2

Okay, first of all, who thought Adrenaline MMA 2 would be a good idea? Anyone? I can’t think of a single person who has been all “Man, I really wish Adrenaline would run another show.” You know why? Because the first Adrenaline show was terrible. Now, that being said, can anyone imagine a good reason for Pat Miletich to get back into the sport right now? I certainly can’t, especially not against Thomas Denny who can be a dangerous opponent if given an opening. I’m not one to tell a legend when he should hang up the gloves but this is dicey. Let’s just say that I’d much rather see Miletich coaching up and coming athletes rather than getting back into fighting himself.

Kerr was announced as a late replacement by YAMMA last week but his availability was immediately called into question after the New Jersey Athletic Control Board stated it had not approved Kerr for the bout and had no intention of doing so long as he was under suspension in the state of Connecticut.

However, when contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) on Tuesday, a representative for the NJACB indicated that Kerr has since been taken off the suspended list in Connecticut and is scheduled to face Taktarov on Friday, pending his ability to pass final medicals.

The NJACB also stated that former UFC competitor Ron Waterman has also be submitted and approved (pending final medicals) as an alternate for YAMMA’s single night, eight-man heavyweight tournament. It is uncertain as to whether Waterman will be an alternate-in-waiting or if he’ll compete in an alternate reserve fight.

The current scheduled tournament field consists of Ricco Rodriguez, George Bush, Chris Tuschscherer, Marcelo Pereria, Olexey Oleinik, Sherman Pendergarst, Tony Sylvester, and former IFO light heavyweight champion Travis Wiuff.

A second “Master’s Superfight” featuring Eric “Butterbean” Esch and UFC 1 competitor Pat Smith is planned as well.

Fighting in the main event will be light heavyweights Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Vernon “Tiger” White. Since his ugly UFC 74 submission win over David Heath, Sobral has picked up a submission victory over Rodney Faverus at the inaugural Platinum Fighting Promotions event last month in the Philippines. White, on the other hand, is coming off of consecutive TKO losses to Mike Whitehead and Marcelo Tigre.

Also on the main card, former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez will take on Mike Kyle, who will make his return after being suspended for illegally kneeing (and then continuing an assault on) Brian Olsen at WEC 20. Ricco, who also won in December at the PFP’s Philippines event, might have his hands full with the powerful, knockout-loving Kyle.

Mark Kerr looks to pick up his second win in as many fights under the WCO banner, this time against against Rick Roufus, a legendary kickboxer who will be making his MMA debut. If you haven’t seen Roufus fight Michael McDonald (both of their fights were cool), you’re missing out.

Tickets are still available for those in – or traveling to – the San Diego and run from $23.50 to $153.50. According to MMAJunkie, WCO executives have stated that a portion of the event’s ticket sales will benefit those families devastated by the recent wildfires in the area.

Here’s the January 12th WCO “The Return” card in its entirety:

• Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Vernon White
• Ricco Rodriguez vs. Mike Kyle
• Mark Kerr vs. Rick Roufus
• Jimmy Ambriz vs. Wesley “Cabbage” Correira
• Joe Riggs vs. Gustavo Machado
• David Loiseau vs. Leopoldo Serao
• Tiki Ghosn vs. J.J. Ambrose
• Virgil Zwicker vs. David Mejia
• Fabio Costa vs. Carlos Fuentes
• Georgi Karakahyan vs. Armando Sanchez
• Tony Sylvester vs. Cain Velasquez