Technique is everything. Just ask Cole Miller, who returns to the Octagon against Junie Browning this Wednesday night with the intent of putting the ‘art’ back in mixed martial arts.
“Being technical is the most important thing in being a fighter, as well as being a mixed martial artist – the key words being martial artist,” said Miller. “That gets lost in the mix, kinda like with my opponent. I don’t think he’s good at anything, I don’t think he’s technical at anything. He just goes out there and fights. If that’s your game, good. But I really want the fans to see a real technical style and recognize that that’s how you’ve gotta be in this sport.”
He’s right – to an extent. You need top-notch technique to make it to the top in this game – especially in the talent-rich lightweight division, and there’s nothing better than seeing two technicians trading moves and counters in a fast-paced 15 minute war. But you need something more to truly succeed in the sport of MMA. And it’s something all the technique in the world won’t help you with if you don’t have it. Call it heart, call it determination, call it any number of things, but if you can’t dig deep when your gas tank is empty and pull off something they don’t teach you in the gym, then you’ll never make it.
Miller doesn’t talk about this aspect of the game. He doesn’t have to. He’s got it. More importantly, he showed it on the sport’s biggest stage last July when he came from behind to submit Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel with 12 seconds left in their UFC 86 bout in Las Vegas.
“Just going into that fight, I decided that I was gonna fight like it was gonna be my last day on Earth,” he said. “But during the fight, I didn’t feel too far behind. I felt that he won the first round and I won the second, and he was obviously winning the third up until the submission, but I never really felt like he was whippin’ my ass. If you watch that fight with the mute button on, without any of the commentary, I think you’ll see a much closer fight too. But I looked up at the clock, there was a minute and a half left, and at that point, I decided that it was time to go ahead and finish this fight.”
Miller, a brown belt in BJJ under Ricardo Liborio, makes it sound easy, like he could have snapped his fingers and done Gurgel in at any time, but it’s a lot more difficult than that, and something that can only happen after years on the mat. Miller sensed it early on though.
“The first time that we hit the floor, when I got the takedown, I just felt that I was a better grappler,” he said. “Sometimes you just know, and it takes years of training to be able to recognize something like that. I just knew I was gonna catch him sooner or later and submit him. I tried that same spider guard triangle setup three times in the fight, and the third time was the charm.”
With the win, Miller upped his record to 14-3, which includes an impressive 3-1 in the Octagon. But if he didn’t get Gurgel to tap out and instead let those 12 seconds run out on the fight, he would have suffered his second straight UFC defeat following a January 2008 stoppage at the hands of Jeremy Stephens. Then his UFC stay may have been cut short. So stakes were high.
“Two losses in a row usually means that you’re gone and you gotta go back and work your way back into the UFC,” he said. “So that’s why I went into that fight thinking that I was ready to fight to the death literally. It was very, very important to get that win, and luckily I found myself in that position.”
The win was a new beginning for the 24-year old native of Macon, Georgia, the first that featured a return to his pre-UFC fighting philosophy.
“I decided after the Jeremy Stephens loss that I fought a little conservative and that I didn’t fight the way I normally fight,” said Miller. “I just went out there and tried to take my strength and put it against his weakness and see what happens. I just forgot to go in there, fight the fight, and let things happen. And that’s what I’m gonna do from now on. I’m just gonna go in there and fight every fight as if it’s gonna be my last, and let the fight happen. I’m not gonna try and make it a boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, or jiu-jitsu match. I’m gonna let it be a fight.”
That’s probably music to the ears of Browning, who – with just four pro fights under his belt – will be giving up a substantial amount of experience to Miller. But if the controversial former TUF star can turn it into a brawl, that benefits him. Miller knows this, but has all his bases covered.
“He’s a tough, inexperienced fighter,” said Miller of Browning. “He’s a brawler, but most of his wins are by submission. I wouldn’t say that he’s really good at anything, but his skills are even all over. I think my experience is gonna give me the ability to make adjustments in the fight. If one thing isn’t going my way, I’m gonna be able to switch to Plan B, C, D, and so on. I think when things don’t start to go his way, there’s only gonna be one other option, and that’s to find himself a way to get out of the fight.”
Miller never mentions Browning by name during our interview, only referring to him as “my opponent.” And while he doesn't say it, you can tell that the American Top Team member is a little miffed that only now, after building a 3-1 UFC record, has he made it to the main card of a UFC event.
“I was starting to think I was never gonna be on the main card,” he chuckles. “I was wondering what I had to do. Do I have to knock out brawlers, tap out black belts? What do I have to do to get on the main card?”
Apparently some crazy antics on The Ultimate Fighter worked for Browning. Miller, who was a low-key member of the TUF5 cast, didn’t follow that route.
“That’s just the day and age we’re in,” he said. “The Ultimate Fighter opened a lot of opportunities for a lot of different types of fighters. For me, I went the more traditional route – I had a bunch of amateur fights, I had pro fights coming up on the small shows, I fought all over the country, I fought in Japan, and I was that guy who was fighting twice a month if I could just to get my name out there. I wasn’t really preparing for fights – I was taking fights. Then you’ve got other types of fighters, like my opponent, who has four professional fights and is in the UFC, fighting on the main card in his second UFC fight, when I didn’t think he looked so hot in his finale fight. Maybe if I had a bunch of stupid tattoos and ran my mouth a lot, maybe I could have gotten on the main card a long time ago. But I’m gonna be me. I can certainly get upset like some people and run my mouth, but that’s just not my style. I have more respect for the sport, my opponents, and my potential opponents.”
Miller’s peers and fight game insiders know what he can do when the bell rings. Unfortunately, that and a token get you on the subway. Bottom line, to a lot of people, Miller’s last UFC fight was losing in the TUF5 quarterfinals to Joe Lauzon in 2007, something he’s even heard from fans on the street who wonder when he’ll get another shot in the UFC. His response?
“Maybe someday,” he laughs.
But on a serious note, Miller knows that until the public knows you, you’re just another guy with gloves and shorts looking to pound out a living.
“I knew I had the skills and abilities, and I thought I’d already put on some good showings between the Leonard Garcia and Jeremy Stephens fights, and the Andy Wang and Jorge Gurgel fights,” he said. “I’m just sitting there thinking, ‘man, I think I’m about due to show my skills to the real world.’ A lot of people haven’t seen the fights that I’ve had, so they don’t really know the fighter I am, and it’s very important for the public to know. Insiders might know who I am and about my talents and abilities, and that I might be in title contention 2-3 years from now, but the public doesn’t know.”
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