A Day in the Life of 

PAT MILETICH

 

Team Miletich Delivers

On November 21, 2003, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) celebrates its 10^th Anniversary with UFC 45: Revolution. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fans won’t be surprised to see Team Miletich, one of the most successful training camps in the sport, fielding three fighters from its stable for this event.

Born in Davenport, Iowa, Pat Miletich now resides in Bettendorf, Iowa, where he trains in Miletich Fighting Systems with such renowned MMA names as Jeremy Horn, World Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, Robbie Lawler, Tony Fryklund and Steve Rusk.

Tim Sylvia v Gan McGee

Also from Team Miletich is Tim Sylvia, who defended his World Heavyweight title at UFC 44. Pat says he was pleased with Sylvia’s performance in defeating Gan McGee, to retain the title by knockout in round one. "Tim did what he had to do. I told him, ‘When you feel that left hook land against your right side, make sure that your right hand leaves and you’ll catch him,’ and he did it perfectly."

The Sylvia v McGee fight seemed reminiscent of the Couture v Liddell match, where Couture kept his guard up and fired straight punches, whilst Liddell’s guard was down and he threw hooking punches. In UFC 44, McGee’s hands were down and he kept sending out looping strikes.

"I told Tim, ‘You’ve got to understand something: Both of you guys are so big that you’re not used to people being able to hit you very easily. This is the first time that you’re fighting somebody - and it’s the same thing for him - where you guys can reach each other. You need to understand the guy with the best defence is going to win.’ So he kinda took that to heart I think."

After Tim Sylvia’s KO victory, he called for the Japanese MMA promoters to "Bring on PRIDE" in response to some suggestions Sylvia should unify the Heavyweight Title by fighting PRIDE Champion Emelianko Fedor.

"It (Sylvia v Fedor) sounds possible. I would like to see Tim fight some other people first. I think they’re talking of sending Fujita over from PRIDE, but I would imagine Fedora and Tim will possibly happen here in the near future."

Team Miletich in Bettendorf, Iowa

Jeremy Horn was also in Tim Sylvia’s corner at UFC 44. Pat says Horn first linked up with him years ago, after Jeremy had an early bout with one of Pat’s training partners, Mark Hanson. "Jeremy decided to move out here with me after he fought Mark, who was one of the top heavyweights in the world at the time. Mark beat Jeremy, and Jeremy decided to move out from Omaha, Nebraska, and come out and be trained by me. That’s been…gee…a long time ago."

Pat’s first gym was a racquetball court in Bettendorf, Iowa. He says the owners liked taking the rental check, but didn’t like the sweat and smell coming from the court after the Team Miletich training sessions. For years Pat intended starting his own facility, eventually moving his club into the ‘several-million-dollar’ Gold’s Gym in town.

But financial problems at the gym, which did not involve Pat, eventually caused Miletich a lot of problems – both financial and otherwise. "The person who ended up purchasing the business stipulated that my facility be moved out of Gold’s Gym. We did not fit into his scheme of things, basically."

Pat has since found accommodation for his gym, but that too is only short term. "I’m in a new place now, and we’re trying to get it ready. We’re actually going to be homeless in a couple of weeks, until the new place is finished. So for about two months, we’re training at Augustana College in their wrestling room."

Team Miletich fighters train a six-day week, with the mornings comprising weightlifting, running and grappling techniques, or focus mitts/Thai-pads work. The athletes leave for a nap in the day, to return in the evenings for more intense fight training, consisting of hard sparring, wrestling takedowns, and free-fighting with sparring gear on.

Pat Miletich and other Tean Miletich legends

UFC 45: Revolution

Miletich Fighting Systems exponent Matt Hughes is set to defend his Welterweight title at UFC 45, having defeated Sean Sherk by unanimous decision in UFC 42. Pat Miletich confirms Hughes’s opponent for the upcoming event will be Frank Trigg, with contracts for the bout having been signed. "I think if Matt trains hard and gets in the shape I know he can be in, I think he’ll make short work of Trigg."

Tim Sylvia and Robbie Lawler will also be fighting on the card. Lawler recently suffered his first loss to Thai boxer Pete Spratt in UFC 42, after sustaining a savage inner-thigh injury from a Spratt shin kick.

"Robbie’s opponent is undecided at this moment, but we’ve got a few different people who are possibilities. Robbie would like to have an immediate rematch with Pete Spratt, but I would like Robbie to…I think Robbie would have no problem beating him if he stays healthy…But I’ve got some other people I’d like Robbie to fight."

Miletich Fighting Systems v BJJ

Pat Miletich has thrown down the gauntlet with a challenge of his own, stating he wants to fight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) legend Royce Gracie.

Pat originally made a name for himself as a street fighter in Iowa. But he says he didn’t instigate the brawls, though he didn’t back down either. "When I was younger, I had a few (street fights). I guess I probably had a good 200. I really don’t feel I looked for trouble – I just felt people were after me."

He later became involved in martial arts when a friend he worked with invited him to attend a free class, to see how Pat liked it at the gym where his friend was training. "The reason I got involved in MMA was I needed to pay a lot of my mum’s hospital bills. I had to leave college early, to work and to take care of my mum, because she had a lot of heart problems. So I decided to start fighting, just to be able to pay her bills."

Miletich eventually became interested in BJJ, due to the success of the Gracies, but Pat always believed ‘a good wrestler would smash these guys’. So he attended a seminar to investigate what BJJ was all about. He was then impressed by what he saw and started training in the art.

"I was supposed to be evaluated by Sergio Montiero down in Tampa, Florida, for a P-P-V show. And I wrestled with him for about half an hour, and he thought I’d be a perfect person for him to train. He kinda decided he was going to teach me everything he knew - and he knew a lot. I was really one of the first Americans who was learning that style of fighting, because the Brazilians were not openly teaching the Americans all that stuff."

Down on the Corner

Pat says it’s a lot harder being a trainer, and passively standing in one of his fighter’s corners, than being in the ring and slugging it out. "It’s a lot like watching your little brother fight. And you’re not the one in control, so it makes it tough when you can’t be the one out there in control of the fight. You’re just out there yelling like the rest of the people there."

Pat Miletich is a true mixed martial artist, being highly skilled in boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling, BJJ and the Russian art of sambo. Pat has included sambo in his fighting repertoire for the leg locks, which he says he only uses as a last resort.

"Over the years I’ve seen a lot of people lose fights, because they went for leg locks when they were on top of somebody. And then the other guy’s on top of them, and they get pounded. I’m a strong believer that you shouldn’t lose position just to end a fight. Why not keep the good position? If you have to, just keep administering punches and wear the fighter down to assure your win. I’m into percentages. I suppose if I were a basketball coach, I would yell at someone if they took a three-pointer when they could have taken a layup."

MMA v Boxing

Miletich says a lot of young kids want to learn MMA, but he’ll only teach them grappling. If they’re under twelve years, he won’t teach them submissions, because he believes some submissions have the potential to do an awful lot of damage. And he says kids that young don’t have the ability to decide which techniques are safe.

Pat adds that audiences are now demanding MMA events over just boxing or just wrestling tournaments. "As a whole, anywhere where our sport has been sanctioned by athletic commissions, boxing has died. Boxing has consistently not been able to sell out, and it’s getting smaller and smaller crowds. Because people now realise the guys in our sport are pound-for-pound the toughest in the world.

"When they talk about boxers being the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, to us and to most people who are educated about it now, boxers are not fighters - they’re boxers; we’re fighters."

UFC 18, Pat Miletich vs Jorge Patino

It Don’t Come Easy

Something that grates on Pat’s nerves is to hear people say, "I’d get in the ring any day with Mike Tyson for a million bucks", in reference to the big purse some world champion boxers earn.

"They just don’t have a clue how much work it took anybody to get to that point to even have the right to step in the ring with Mike Tyson. Whether they last thirty seconds or twelve rounds, they’d still have put in an awful lot of years of hard work and beatings…a lot of miles of running, just to have the right to actually be able to step in there, to be able to collect that money.

"People look at it like somebody’s winning a million dollars. They’re absolutely not winning a million dollars – they’re earning the money. Because, if you broke it down to all the years they’ve been fighting, all the hours they put in running, lifting weights, beating on heavy bags, hitting mitts, sparring…Everything they’ve done to prepare for that moment… If you broke it down to an hourly wage, they’ve probably got about six bucks an hour."

Pat states there’s still no guarantee they’ll get the chance to fight for a big purse after they’ve done all that work. "It’s a crap shoot. The guy who wants it the most, and the guy who sticks with it, with the most heart and determination. And there are thousands of people who fade away into the regular working jobs because they couldn’t handle it."

Pat v Royce?

So will we see a match between Pat Miletich and Royce Gracie? "Well it depends on, one, if he agrees to fight somebody tough again. You know, if he doesn’t want to take an easy fight. And, two, if he agrees to fight for a decent amount of money and not a ridiculous amount of money. So it will all depend on that, but there are several groups trying to put it together."

Pat Miletich DownUnder

"Please let the people of Australia know, that that is one place on the planet I’ve never been to, and I look forward to coming there some day. If any gyms want me to come over and do seminars or training, that would give me a good excuse to visit Australia." Any parties interested in having Pat Miletich hold seminars at their gyms in Australia, please contact Marc Wickert through wickert@omcs.com.au

For more on Pat Miletich: www.ufc.tv

 

PAT MILETICH

Part 2

 

Pat Miletich at UFC 31

 

© Marc Wickert
  www.knucklepit.com

All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges

 Since Pat Miletich made his Octagon debut at UFC 16: Battle of the Bayou, fight fans have associated his name with one of the greatest Mixed Martial Artists of all time. Through Team Miletich – one of the world’s most respected MMA training academies – Pat has also earned international notoriety, having assisted such pedigree combatants as Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, Jeremy Horn, Robbie Lawler, Tony Fryklund, and more recently, Justin Eilers.

So it was due to Miletich’s impeccable fight-related reputation that he was sought after by a defense-training establishment.

"I’ve been working with police and the military for almost nine years now, and I was called up by a company called Controlled Force that is the number one company in the United States for training police and military. They asked me to help them write some certification courses and then help develop programs to assist members of various forces in life-threatening situations.

"So I’ve been really busy with that. I’m going to be travelling a lot in 2005, training an awful lot of people. We just sold to the whole state of Florida for their correctional facilities. And many other states are following closely behind, so we’re looking forward to that, and that’s going to keep me pretty busy."

Other UFC/Team Miletich names involved in Controlled Force include Matt Hughes and Tony Fryklund, who are certified trainers and national instructors. Pat foresees having to train an army of instructors to deal with the huge demand for their services. And whilst it will require a particular level of instructor to train these people in Pat’s certification courses, and other specified courses required of them, Pat’s ultimate goal is to train the US military and police to be capable of defending themselves in all situations.

"The course is not available to members of the general public unless they’re a professional-level fighter who would like to end up being an instructor. They’ve got to be able to pass background checks, obviously, and have no felonies on their record. We’ve trained people all over Europe, and we’re more than willing to travel all over the world to help out, as long as they’re friendly countries, such as Australia," laughs Miletich.

"The main thing we teach the forces is how to control their own bodies before they can control somebody else’s. There are a lot of instructors who insist on teaching people different moves, which is where they’re making a big mistake. Moves are not important. The transition of movement is what’s important. And that’s what we’ve always concentrated on.

"The majority of police officers coming out of college have never been in a fight in their lives. You can't teach someone like that how to fight as I would fight. You have to teach them how to survive and make sure they get home alive every day to their families. That’s the difference. People try to teach submission holds to police officers, and it’s just not wise.

"The craziest move is when people spend a lot of time showing police that it’s okay to fall on your back and fight from there. That’s insane in a military or police situation, because: one, you’re often dealing with more than one person, and two, you never put yourself in a position of disadvantage. When you’re working with a police officer who’s never fought before, to tell him to fall on his back in a street fight when he’s got a weapon on his hip, is insane, as far as I’m concerned. They need to be taught to disengage from a situation like that, and get to the tool on their belts: whether it be an asp baton, pepper spray, or their gun."

For the civilian wishing to feel safer on the street or wanting to learn a practical fighting art, however, there are Pat Miletich self-defense and fighting-system books available to the public through www.centuryvision.com.

UFC 31, Pat Miletich vs Carlos Newton

Pat, on the subject of MMA, were you happy with Matt Hughes’s victory over Georges St. Pierre at UFC 50?

"I was very happy. Matt was having a little bit of trouble with him. We expected St. Pierre to put up a good fight. Like I said before, St. Pierre, I’m sure, will become a world champion in some organization, but we didn’t think he was quite ready for the level of knowledge that Matt had, and it showed. Matt went for broke there at the end of the first round and caught him in the submission. And everybody knows in the gym, there are certain submissions that you don't attempt on Matt, because he’ll put you in a real troubling spot - if not finish you - if you try it. St. Pierre found out the hard way."

So the kimura is one of the submissions Georges shouldn’t have tried on Matt?

"Yeah, that’s not a move you want to attempt on Matt. Matt’s so good at those: number one, putting them on people; and two, countering them. That’s one of the submissions that you just don’t attempt on him. There are several others which I won’t reveal because we want other people to find out the hard way."

Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg II is supposed to be happening at UFC 52.

"Which should be a good fight again. The first time it was very intense…high action…high pace…for the time that they were fighting. And again, I think when Matt concentrates on his stand up, he will be able to deal with Frank’s stand up and on the ground pretty easily. Frank’s just not going to be able to beat Matt on the ground either."

So for that bout Matt’s going to be focusing more on his toe-to-toe game?

"Not necessarily. We always train our guys the same way. They work equally on ground as stand up. It’s just we’ll specialize in a few tricks that will add to where we see weaknesses in another guy’s game plan."

Are there any other fights from UFC 50 that stand out in your mind?

"I would say the Franklin fight with Rivera. A lot of people had problems with it. They thought it was boring. It was a war and I enjoyed watching it a lot. I thought Franklin could have actually put Rivera away when he had him against the cage on several occasions. If he had just taken a step back and let his hands go, he could probably have finished it. Besides that, he performed great and ended up catching Rivera anyway."

When will we see Justin Eilers in the Octagon again?

"I believe there’s a possibility in the February show. They’re trying to find an opponent for him in that show, so we’ll just have to see how that transpires. I didn’t actually get to his fight against Mike Kyle at UFC 49. That was one of the two UFCs I’ve missed in ten years."

Is Justin a potential contender for the UFC heavyweight belt?

"Oh, he’s a very good athlete. He hits pretty hard. He needs a little more experience, I think, but obviously he’s got the ability to do whatever he wants if he puts his mind to it."

How about Tim Sylvia?

"Obviously Tim Sylvia is first in line for a heavyweight world title, and he kinda has seniority at the gym over Justin. And hopefully it won’t come to a fight between those two for the world title. We’ve always frowned on that in our facility. It’s never happened before where two of our guys have had to fight each other for a world title. I don’t encourage that at all for the simple fact it can cause internal troubles in the gym."

And Pat, Tim’s okay after his arm surgery?

"Yeah. He’ll be fighting in December at Super Brawl against the guy they call The Giant, to get back into it. And then he’ll probably fight in February for the UFC interim world title against Andrei Arlovski. I’m not positive, but that’s the talk that’s going around."

So it looks like Frank Mir is still out of action due to his car accident?

"At the last UFC (UFC 50: War of ‘04) he was walking, but with a cane. So it’s just a matter of Frank having some healing to do with the broken femur that he suffered."

Pat, is there anything you’d like to add to this article?

"Just that I look forward to some day coming to Australia, whether it be to do seminars in Mixed Martial Arts, or to train the police and military there. I’ve always wanted to see Australia. So I’m looking forward to any contact in that regard."

 

 For more on Controlled Force: www.controlledforce.com

PAT MILETICH 
Part 3

Touching Bases with the Master

Pat Miletich - one of UFC's greats

© Marc Wickert - 
www.knucklepit.com

All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges

Pat Miletich and his Team Miletich camp have been responsible for consistently producing some of the best MMA fighters the world has seen. However, lately his attention has also been devoted to Controlled Force, a leading security-training company both in America and worldwide.

In this article Pat takes time out to tell readers a bit about what he’s been doing with Controlled Force in the past few months and to give a behind-the-scenes view of some of his elite MMA fighters.

Regarding the security aspect, Miletich says: "We’ve basically been winding up all the special force’s training that’s coming up in August through to November. We have bases all over the country where we train, and the first one coming up is at Fort Louis in the State of Washington with the special forces."

And Pat has just returned from Hollywood, where he participated in a training camp with several other sought-after instructors from a variety of martial-arts backgrounds.

"We had some meetings regarding things that were going on at the Paradise Warrior Retreat, which is where martial arts people get together and learn from a variety of instructors, of whom I was one. Others included Benny The Jet, Bas Rutten, Gokor Chivichyan, Gene LeBell, and Eric Oram. We try to teach some good fundamentals and have a lot of fun in a relaxed atmosphere."

Meanwhile, back in Iowa, systems are all go at Team Miletich, with team members competing regularly in UFC and other MMA competitions. Not only are the bigger names working out there, but also donating their blood, sweat and tears are the new up-and-coming stars who want to follow in the footsteps of such world champions as Matt Hughes.

"Things are going very well. We have several guys with big fights coming up, so we’re getting them ready. We’ve got a lot of young guys coming up that very few people know of that are really tough guys. One of them is Ryan McGivern. His ring name is The Irish Nightmare. He’s fighting in a 185-pound tournament in Haywood, Wisconsin, on July 23, at Monte Cox’s Extreme Challenge tournament.

"Ryan’s probably in the best shape of any fighter I’ve seen in my life. I think McGivern will eventually be a world champion if he stays on the path that he’s on right now. I think people are really going to have some problems with him. He’s an incredible wrestler. His ground skills and submissions skills have gotten better all the time, and he’s one of those few, real wrestlers who ends up being a fierce stand-up fighter at the same time. He moves like he has boxed and kick-boxed since he was five years old.

"Robbie Lawler is also fighting on the same day as Ryan, but Robbie is fighting in Honolulu, against Falaniko Vitale at the Super Brawl."

There are very few fights involving athletes from Team Miletich that Pat doesn’t attend. In fact it’s very rare to see one of his gladiators enter a tournament without a squad of his training partners at ringside. But this team support is more like a brotherhood, and extends into the gym where fighters spar together and urge each other on.

Team Miletich members often talk of the undying support they receive from Miletich himself. The lead up for Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg 2 was no exception, and Pat wore his heart on his sleeve at the showdown.

"Basically, we knew Matt was better at both standing and on the ground. We just wanted Matt to go out, be comfortable, push the pace, and watch Trigg run out of gas. That was the main thing. Matt was in incredible shape. He trained very hard because, one, he wanted to keep his world title, and two, because I know he doesn’t like Frank Trigg a whole lot. So that was the main thing: to push the pace and run him out of gas.

"Now, obviously a wrench was put in the works when Matt received a low blow and then, from our viewpoint and Matt’s viewpoint, when Matt was telling the referee, ‘Hey, I got hit with a low blow,’ the referee started to step in to stop the action. And then when Frank Trigg started to hit Matt, the referee jumped out of his way. So it caught Matt completely off-guard.

"Our corner was absolutely furious that that had happened. But Matt, being the guy he is, gathered himself underneath there, turned the tables, and scooped Trigg up, then carried him across the ring to us, slammed him, and started to work him over. When Matt came over with Trigg on his shoulder, we could all pretty well tell that Matt was furious."

Pat, did you think the low blow was intentional?

"I’d like to believe it was an accidental low blow. I don’t think Frank did it intentionally. But I think at the same time that he knew Matt was hurt by it, by Matt’s action of putting one hand across his cup and groin area, and his other hand out letting the referee know he was hurt. I know Trigg recognised what was going on. The bottom line: It wasn’t very sportsman-like. That’s neither here nor there now – it’s all water under the bridge, but I think it was a situation that was taken advantage of by Frank."

Frank mightn’t always be popular, but when it comes to interviews, he’s always very obliging and helpful. And he does what he can to help his sport.

"You know, I’ve talked to Frank on several occasions and I actually get along with him very well. I think he’s a decent guy. It’s just in that particular instance, how can anybody say how they’re going to react when they have a world title sitting there in front of them, and they have a chance to win it with all the adrenalin, the roar of the crowd, and everything else. How does anybody know how they are going to react? It’s not for me to judge."

Were there some anxious moments during that bout for you?

"I was so mad by the referee’s inability to jump in in time when the low blow happened, that the police and security at ringside had to rip me down off the deck and they told me to stay down. I was standing up on the deck, screaming at the referee. Obviously nobody could hear me because the crowd was so loud.

"I think, those types of venues where they have boxing a lot, they have to deal with situations where people just climb over the ropes and start fighting in the ring. That was not our intention at all, but we definitely wanted to bring light to the situation of what had just happened. And a lot of people didn’t realise."

The police and security guards that dragged you down, none of them were people you had trained, were they?

"Well the funny thing is, at Controlled Force we train about 80% or 90% of casino security in Las Vegas."

Who is Tim Sylvia fighting next?

"Well, I know he was supposed to fight a guy (Assuerio Silva) from Brazilian Top Team, but that guy was hurt, so they’re looking for a new opponent for him. And I believe they’re trying to line up Tre Telligman."

Paul Buentello is hoping to fight the winner of that bout. How would Tim go against Paul Buentello?

"Buentello is a tough guy. I like his attitude, I like his style, and he’s a tough-nosed fighter, but I think Tim is just too big for him and too hard. I just don’t see Buentello matching up with Tim."

We haven’t seen the best of Justin Eilers, have we?

"Justin is an athlete who has a lot of potential, and also at the same time he’s had a lot of injuries, so we’re hoping he can get healthy enough to do well and make a good comeback. He broke both his hands in that fight with Arlovski and obviously his knee blew out, so he wasn’t having the best of luck that evening. And Arlovski is a big boy and a very skilled fighter, so that had a lot to do with things too."

Robbie Lawler is still young. Does he have a great future ahead of him?

"Yeah, Rob’s matured a lot in just the past year, and his training has gotten much more efficient. At the same time he’s been able to stay healthy for the most part. And he’s very strong, very fast, and he really looks a lot better than he ever has, right now."

He served his MMA apprenticeship at such a young age too, didn’t he?

"He got a head start on most people, starting at that young age - and especially at that level. Rob’s been through some wars and I think there’s going to be really good things happen with Rob. If he goes out and fights the way we know he can, I think there are going to be very few guys on the planet who are going to be able to stand up and bang with him. People don’t realise he’s actually very skilled on the ground. He’s made mistakes in some of his fights on the ground, but he’s actually very skilled."

How do you see the Chuck Liddell - Jeremy Horn fight going?

"I see Jeremy, for the most part, dominating this fight. Chuck’s a guy that our team likes a lot, and it’s probably the first and last time our team will be rooting against Chuck – just because we get along with him so well. But I see Jeremy being too skilled for him in a lot of different areas. People have said that it’s a different Chuck Liddell to the last time they fought. Well, people don’t take into account that since then Jeremy has had 70 professional fights. He’s a much different fighter himself."

I get several enquiries from interested readers wanting to train at Team Miletich. Is your gym open to the general public as well as to the professional fighters?

"Yeah, I’ve got about 500 martial-arts members and about 30 fighters, so we have beginners’ classes all the way up to the professional fighters’ training."

And how do readers get in touch for information regarding your gym?

"They can go to www.champsfitness.com and call the number that’s on there to set up a time when they want to come and train. They can get all the prices and things like that. We have people come from all over the world, so we have a lot of fun with them."

And, finally, when will we see Pat Miletich fight again?

"I’ve been entertaining some offers from different organisations. I’ve just got so many things going on right now. To just put everything aside and train for six to eight weeks for a fight, it would have to be the right fight…say a BJ Penn- or Royce Gracie-type opponent, because I’ve had my fun in the ring, and shot all the goals I wanted to as a fighter. But guys like that would bring me out of retirement for a fight."

 

UFC 32, Pat Miletich vs Shonie Carter

For more on Controlled Force: www.controlledforce.com

For more on Pat Miletich’s instructional books: www.centuryvision.com

PAT MILETICH
Part 4

International Fight League

Pat Miletich

© Marc Wickert
 www.knucklepit.com

photos © IFL

 It’s 6.30 in the morning on Friday, April 14 – the eve of UFC 59 – and Pat Miletich is sitting in his hotel room, speaking from Anaheim, California.