"I want to fight Gomi! I was a huge fan of his before I even started training in mixed martial arts. I think it would be so cool to be in the same cage with a guy like that. It would be a step up and I don't mind stepping up. I don't mind getting in there and getting my teeth knocked in a little bit, so fighting a guy like Gomi would be a great opportunity to ante up and test myself as a fighter and as a person, and that's what it's all about; growing in both aspects," stated UFC lightweight contender Cole Miller as he talked about his future plans after his impressive win over Ross Pearson at UFC Fight Night 22. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on your submission win over Ross Pearson. How do you feel about the performance?
CM: Overall, I'm pretty happy. I made a few mistakes. I went back and watched some of the video and I'm excited to get back in the gym and correct some of those problems, but overall, I'm happy with the performance.
PC: I noticed you were wearing a sleeve over your knee. Was that for traction or did you have some type of injury going into the fight?
CM: It was something that I wanted to wear to help me get a little bit of grip in the closed guard. I knew he was working on a lot of wrestling, so I was expecting to have to pull guard if I couldn't take him down and get him on his back. So it was just something that I wanted to wear to get a little bit of an extra grip, you know?
PC: You kept your hands very high and your chin tucked in, even when you were throwing leg kicks. Is that something that you worked on specifically for that fight?
CM: I just wanted to get back to my boxing basics. One of the problems in the past is that I'm a little too aggressive and I push forward too much. I wanted to be a little bit more patient. I think that was one of my biggest issues, so resetting back to my position was very important. When I was able to reset, I was no longer running into the punches. I was able to catch him with a solid base, so I wasn't rocked as easily or anything like that. I think the reset was the most important thing, but yeah, instead of slipping and rolling so much, I just got back to old school blocking.
PC: Your jab was working as well. I'm sure that was a part of the basics you just mentioned, and you had such a distinct reach advantage over Pearson as well.
CM: Yeah, absolutely. I try to take advantage of all of the natural gifts we have been given. Utilizing my reach is important, especially in this case against a striker like that. Even though I'm a taller fighter sometimes, I don't mind fighting on the inside. I feel like I got the knees that can come up really high and my elbows work well in there. I have a bony structure, so fighting on the inside is no problem, but that's not where I wanted to be in this fight. So utilizing my reach was very important and I was happy that I did a fairly decent job at it.
PC: Did you concentrate on any fight in particular when you were preparing for Ross?
CM: Man, I didn't watch hardly any film on him. I watched each of his 3 fights in the UFC once with my brother Micah and then I watched them again with my striking coach and Liborio at the same time. That was it. I watched each of his fights twice at the beginning of camp and then that was it. I would like to think that my opponents are constantly a work in progress, just like I am. I would like to think that they are taking it as serious as I do and that they are going in there and working hard also. Each fight that I saw Ross in, he was getting better, more technical and more precise at utilizing a wider array of strikes. With Andre Winner, we saw him use his boxing and then he would get off in the inside with his dirty boxing and clinching and controlling. Then against Aaron Riley, a southpaw striker, he utilized a Muay Thai clinch a lot more and started throwing some kicks and nasty elbows and knees. And then against Dennis Siver, we saw him use some kicks and some good boxing and some takedowns; a little bit of everything. So I don't like to spend too much time on video unless it's a pretty cut-and-dry opponent who has been doing the same thing forever. He was always improving, so I just watched his videos a couple of times and assumed that he was training hard and getting better, just like me. I just wanted to be ready for everything, so I didn't pay too much attention to the video and what he does.
PC: Did you realize you hurt him right away? Because you took a second before you jumped in. Or was that just you being patient and, as you mentioned earlier, not wanting to be overly aggressive?
CM: It wasn't so much because I had him hurt, but just when I'm throwing punches in general, I didn't want to run into a counter punch. As soon as I threw that one-two, I knew that I had him rocked because he veered off to the right and he started stumbling. I saw his focus change. He stayed pretty focused for the most part during the fight. He was constantly looking at the center of my body and when I threw that one-two, I saw his focus change and he was looking at my face. That was the point where I went into attack. I threw another one-two and then I saw he was still kinda rocked, so I came in with the flying knee and a big barrage of punches. I knew I had him rocked though.
PC: It looked as if you were about to record a knockout win and it turned out that your hands set up your bread and butter, which is your Jiu Jitsu. Talk us through the finish. What did you see when you saw him go down?
CM: After I dropped him, he fell awkwardly. He fell kinda on his side. He hit his butt and then kinda fell onto his side. So he exposed his back and was kinda looking towards the canvas. I'm sure I could have gotten him into a wrestler's rider type of position and threw some uppercuts and maybe I would have flattened him out and knocked him out cold, but maybe he would have recovered, gained guard and I go on to lose a decision or he could have knocked me out or got a cut on me. But I saw his back was exposed and I wanted to take the path of least resistance and be efficient and the rear naked choke opportunity was there.
PC: How did you score that 1st round in your head?
CM: You know, I don't really care who is winning rounds. My corner don't tell me I won that round or lost that round. I don't even want to hear that. I'm planning on tapping that dude out or knocking that dude out, whoever he may be. I remember in my mind I thought the 1st round was pretty even. It was close, so I couldn't tell who won or lost. I would have to watch the video to tell you now. I remember thinking it was pretty competitive, but I didn't pay too much attention to it.
PC: You said you are ready to climb the ladder and be mentioned in the title picture here soon. Who would you like to fight next to keep moving in that direction?
CM: Yeah. I want to fight Gomi! I was a huge fan of his before I even started training in mixed martial arts. I think it would be so cool to be in the same cage with a guy like that. It would be a step up and I don't mind stepping up. I don't mind getting in there and getting my teeth knocked in a little bit, so fighting a guy like Gomi would be a great opportunity to ante up and test myself as a fighter and as a person, and that's what it's all about; growing in both aspects.
PC: You have been critical in the media of guys that ride the clock. Could you clarify those statements? You didn't just mean that for the wrestlers, correct?
CM: I think that there are a wide array of different kinds of fighters in the lightweight division. I think that's what makes it so stacked is that there isn't just one type of fighter. There are so many unique fighters that are so good at so many different things and have different styles and techniques. I think the mentality is all wrong. You shouldn't spend a lot of time trying to control the clock. If you're a world-class striker and you are just content with sticking and moving, I mean, if you're such a good striker, why don't you try to knock him out? I'm not just calling out the wrestlers. I don't have nothing against wrestlers. Look at Randy Couture. That dude is a wrestler and I can't say a bad thing about the guy. He goes in there and he fights. He's a smart guy and he puts people away. And there are a lot of wrestlers that do that too. I'm talking about everybody though; the Jiu Jitsu guys that get a sweep and then they just lock themselves into half guard and don't move. I'm talking about strikers that are so great that they just want to score their points and not go for the kill because it's "risky." Let's take a look at every great woman or man in history. You look at any artist, poet, playwright, actor, singer, painter, politician or athlete and if they were great, they didn't get there by just doing enough to get by. All of those people got there by taking huge leaps and going above standards. I think that these dudes who want to control the clock are doing just enough to get by. No CEO from any company, or a person that went from nothing to something, got that way by doing just enough to get by. People need to set their standards a little higher, that's all I'm saying. I'm not saying I'm so great and I'm going to be doing all of this stuff, but I'm going to try. It's about setting high standards for yourself and high limits; chasing your dreams and making things happen.
PC: I agree with that. I definitely wanted to let you clear that up because I didn't think you were attacking wrestlers or any particular style. I appreciate your time. Thanks for chatting with me and congrats again on the win. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
CM: I want to thank all of the fans for the continued support; my family and friends. I gotta thank all of my sponsors, American Top Team and IHP. Thanks to all of you guys. I really appreciate it.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]