Cole Miller: Why I get so emotional after fights
“When I go into training camp, I go into a very dark place. I put myself in the worst kind of spot, which is why I get so emotional after these fights are over with.”
Cole Miller had three fights in 2013, and then the best fight of his life vs. Samuel Sicilia UFC Fight Night 35 on 15 Jan 2014.
Then he was signed to fight Conor McGregor, but he injured his hand, and has not fought since.
Rehab began, and now he will return on Saturday against Hawaiian young gun Max Holloway, who has won four straight, finishing each victory.
At this point, Miller’s latest injury is in the past, he’s a new father, and he’s in a co-main event in a bout that could propel him into the featherweight rankings. But the normally affable Miller isn’t exactly in a pleasant mood heading into Saturday night.
When I go into training camp, I go into a very dark place, said Miller to Thomas Gerbasi. I put myself in the worst kind of spot, which is why I get so emotional after these fights are over with.
That means being away from his family in Georgia in order to train with American Top Team in Florida, and basically wondering why he goes through the torture of camp over and over again.
And after all the roadblocks and obstacles he has to navigate, eventually, there is a payoff, he will grudgingly admit.
It’s the good days, Miller said. When you get that glory and you do get that money, that’s nice. But honestly, being able to take what you work so hard for and take what your coaches and your instructors are instructing you to do and being able to apply it at this level against guys that know what you’re going to do to them, and you still do it anyway, that’s the payoff.
Cole Miller isn’t a prizefighter; he’s a martial artist. There’s a difference, and he knows it better than most. And for this martial artist to make it into the Octagon once more after all he’s been through, that’s a victory in itself. But he’s not satisfied with that alone. He wants a win, a finish, a bonus, and to go back home well enough to fight again in a couple months. Is that a lot to ask for? Not really.
When it’s done, I’m happy as hell, he chuckles. I’ve got a paycheck and I’m all happy if I can get out of a fight without needing surgery or having something broken on me. I don’t like sounding angry all the time.
Miller fights Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 60: Henderson vs. Thatch on February 14, 2015 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.