Cole Miller Explains He Was Denied Meeting With UFC Officials
Cole Miller Explains He Was Denied Meeting With UFC Officials
Veteran Cole Miller is frustrated with his treatment from the UFC.
UFC featherweight Cole Miller isn’t happy and he’s more than willing to air his grievances.
Last week, Miller told Sherdog.com about the frustration he’d been feeling since being informed that his fight with Mizuto Hirota scheduled for UFC Fight Night Manila had been cancelled.
Miller explained how he’d only been paid a fraction of his show money despite the fight been cancelled at short notice. To rub further salt into the wound, Miller had made arrangements out of his pocket to travel to another airport than the one he was originally booked out of due to the high likelihood of his original flight been cancelled due to local storms.
Suffice to say, Miller is upset how the situation played out and by the response he got out of the organization when he requested to speak to the administrative personnel at the UFC regarding his compensation.
“I didn’t ask to meet the new owners, I specifically asked to meet with whoever was in charge of making the administrative decision of giving me the compensation that I received and could give me a proper explanation on why I would receive that and not a penny more than that,” Miller told Submission Radio.
“I offered to fly out to Vegas on my own dime, pay for a hotel on my own dime to just basically for me to plead my case. And if they were going to tell me no, at least they would have said no to my face and they would have given me a proper explanation why. They maybe could have given me a good explanation. You see what I’m saying? But they just completely null and voided that and said that they weren’t going to be taking any meetings regarding that issue at this time. You know, like come on.”
When asked what the response was from the UFC when he asked for the meeting, he was more than happy to share it.
““I think it was, “We’re not accepting or scheduling any meetings regarding this issue at this time, thank you”,” Miller said.
When asked how the situation could’ve been handled better he implied it was all down to the communication.
“With some thorough, better communication between an athlete – first off, all athletes, but like especially an athlete like myself who’s put 10 years into this company,” Miller said. “I’ve bled a lot more on that canvas that makes that money, than the people that shut me down from having a discussion. That’s just not how you treat people in general, right? We can agree on that. Why would somebody close the doors on proper communication?”
The whole experience has obviously left a very bitter taste in Millers mouth and even with the fight now rescheduled for December 17 at UFC on Fox 22, the prospect of fighting still isn’t something that excites the American.
“Honestly, like I don’t want to be fighting anywhere,” Miller said. “A lot of people might expect that I would be like, “Oh yeah, well I just want to go to this organization now”, and that’s not the case. Like you said, I was blindsided by this. I thought that we were all good, that I was respected, you know, that the organization as a whole appreciated some of the things that I’ve done – maybe taking some fights that I didn’t want to take but I stepped up on short notice, or always putting on a good show.
“Whether I win or I lose, I give it all, period. You know what I’m saying? So I kind of thought that that was the overall broad view of the relationship. But to find out that wasn’t and to get blindsided like that, I mean, that just…. like eight weeks ago, I was ready to take on the division, and now I don’t even want to fight.”
Having been a UFC veteran since 2007, Miller obviously feels like he’s not been treated with the respected that he should have.
“That’s how hard that hit. I don’t want to train, because like right now, that just puts a sour taste for me for mixed martial arts as a whole and like the organization in general. It’s like, man, if somebody like me, who’s put twenty fights in, who put ten years in and this is how they’re getting treated and not compensated, man, why would anyone want to go through that?
“Like, what if you went to work and you put in a year’s worth of work and they were just like, "We’re going to pay you one fourth because we don’t really have a good reason, but we’ll give you an opportunity to work all next year too'. How would you react? Wouldn’t you want to just not even do that career field probably, right? Especially if you’ve been working for that company for a long time.”
Last week, Miller told Sherdog.com about the frustration he’d been feeling since being informed that his fight with Mizuto Hirota scheduled for UFC Fight Night Manila had been cancelled.
Miller explained how he’d only been paid a fraction of his show money despite the fight been cancelled at short notice. To rub further salt into the wound, Miller had made arrangements out of his pocket to travel to another airport than the one he was originally booked out of due to the high likelihood of his original flight been cancelled due to local storms.
Denied a meeting with the UFC
Suffice to say, Miller is upset how the situation played out and by the response he got out of the organization when he requested to speak to the administrative personnel at the UFC regarding his compensation.
“I didn’t ask to meet the new owners, I specifically asked to meet with whoever was in charge of making the administrative decision of giving me the compensation that I received and could give me a proper explanation on why I would receive that and not a penny more than that,” Miller told Submission Radio.
“I offered to fly out to Vegas on my own dime, pay for a hotel on my own dime to just basically for me to plead my case. And if they were going to tell me no, at least they would have said no to my face and they would have given me a proper explanation why. They maybe could have given me a good explanation. You see what I’m saying? But they just completely null and voided that and said that they weren’t going to be taking any meetings regarding that issue at this time. You know, like come on.”
Poor communication
When asked what the response was from the UFC when he asked for the meeting, he was more than happy to share it.
““I think it was, “We’re not accepting or scheduling any meetings regarding this issue at this time, thank you”,” Miller said.
When asked how the situation could’ve been handled better he implied it was all down to the communication.
“With some thorough, better communication between an athlete – first off, all athletes, but like especially an athlete like myself who’s put 10 years into this company,” Miller said. “I’ve bled a lot more on that canvas that makes that money, than the people that shut me down from having a discussion. That’s just not how you treat people in general, right? We can agree on that. Why would somebody close the doors on proper communication?”
Not feeling motivated to fight in December
The whole experience has obviously left a very bitter taste in Millers mouth and even with the fight now rescheduled for December 17 at UFC on Fox 22, the prospect of fighting still isn’t something that excites the American.
“Honestly, like I don’t want to be fighting anywhere,” Miller said. “A lot of people might expect that I would be like, “Oh yeah, well I just want to go to this organization now”, and that’s not the case. Like you said, I was blindsided by this. I thought that we were all good, that I was respected, you know, that the organization as a whole appreciated some of the things that I’ve done – maybe taking some fights that I didn’t want to take but I stepped up on short notice, or always putting on a good show.
“Whether I win or I lose, I give it all, period. You know what I’m saying? So I kind of thought that that was the overall broad view of the relationship. But to find out that wasn’t and to get blindsided like that, I mean, that just…. like eight weeks ago, I was ready to take on the division, and now I don’t even want to fight.”
Poor treatment of a loyal fighter
Having been a UFC veteran since 2007, Miller obviously feels like he’s not been treated with the respected that he should have.
“That’s how hard that hit. I don’t want to train, because like right now, that just puts a sour taste for me for mixed martial arts as a whole and like the organization in general. It’s like, man, if somebody like me, who’s put twenty fights in, who put ten years in and this is how they’re getting treated and not compensated, man, why would anyone want to go through that?
“Like, what if you went to work and you put in a year’s worth of work and they were just like, "We’re going to pay you one fourth because we don’t really have a good reason, but we’ll give you an opportunity to work all next year too'. How would you react? Wouldn’t you want to just not even do that career field probably, right? Especially if you’ve been working for that company for a long time.”