For as many fighters that praise Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for taking care of their own, there are just as many that are none-too pleased with the promotion. The latest example of an "unhappy" employee is Cole Miller, who recently took the world's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion to task in an interview with Sherdog after he lost out on a payday following the cancelation of his bout at the ill-fated UFC Fight Night 97 event last month.
To hear "Magrinho" tell it, the way he has been treated over the last few months makes him want to outright quit the fight game altogether and find employment elsewhere ... even if it means working at a local Starbucks.
"It’s crap. I had a full training camp for nine weeks. I was away from my family. I was on the way to the airport. That’s when the hurricanes were going on down here, so I called ahead myself, transferred my flight to Atlanta instead of here in Fort Lauderdale to make sure I made my flight and wouldn’t miss my flight. I drove all night, got into Georgia at four in the morning, woke up at eight in the morning, was on my way to he airport and I got the text saying that the whole event was canceled. That sucks. I got less than a third of my show money. So, nine weeks away from my family and I profited around $500. So that worked out pretty good for me. Instead of getting re-booked two weeks later, I get re-booked two months later. So now I have to do a second training camp to get paid for one. So that’s what it feels like. I’m here and I don’t even want to be here right now. It doesn’t want to make me fight harder for my family, it makes me want to fight less. It makes me want to quit and go get a job at Starbucks or something. I was ready to start taking out contenders, thinking I have 10 or 12 more fights in me, ready to fight until I’m 36 years old. Now, I don’t even want to do it. I don’t want to do this training camp, I don’t even want to do this session, straight up. I don’t want to be here. Right now, I’m just like anybody else who’s going to work on Monday, they don’t want to and just punch the clock. This is the last fight on my contract, so, to renegotiate a new contract, there is a lot of work...you know, I don’t even think they want me fighting for them. That’s just by the way I feel like I’ve been treated. That’s not how you take care of your people. They will probably let me go even if I win. Which is, whatever. I requested a meeting not too long ago to go in and meet them (new owners) in person and I was denied. They wouldn’t even see me. That’s just the icing on top of it. So, don’t care."
Not everyone can be the golden boy, I suppose.
Miller joins the likes of Jose Aldo, Fabricio Werdum, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Anderson Silva who have all expressed their displeasure with UFC. Miller -- who has competed a whopping 19 times inside the Octagon — is set to face Mizuto Hirota on the undercard of UFC on FOX 22 on Dec. 17, 2016, in Sacramento, California.
And judging by his recent outburst, it could potentially be his final fight for the promotion he’s called home for nearly one decade.
Get the latest gear
