Author: By Elias Cepeda

Good parents, the ones who do everything they can for their children, are the ones who worry that they aren’t. This was Dan Miller’s struggle as he went back to training for the first time in months, forced to leave his son, Danny, with his mother at the hospital as the two-year old received treatments for complications stemming from his Polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

Danny was born with PKD and needs his enlarged kidneys replaced with a donor’s. Luckily, Danny has found a donor (an aunt) but his surgery dates have been pushed back several times because he’s gotten sick and has to be healthy in order to undergo the procedure.

Little Danny’s medical expenses are already astronomical, about $10,000 each month, and the surgery itself will, of course, cost more money. He will also have to be on anti-donor rejection medication for the rest of his life.

For months, the Millers drove Danny two hours each way to a Philadelphia hospital from their New Jersey home three days a week to receive the best treatment he could. They stayed in a hotel to be with their son.

Father Dan had decided to take time off after his last fight, a decision loss to Rousimar Palhares last August, but as his son’s condition worsened, that time off grew longer and longer. Dan stayed with Danny, but eventually, as the family’s breadwinner, he had to make the difficult decision to go back to work.

He had little choice, but still, Dan felt guilty. “It was kind of tough,” he tells UFC.com. “I felt very guilty leaving him on Saturday or Sunday night every week because I had to go back to Jersey to train. But I did it also knowing in my head that this is how I make my living. This is how I provide for my kids. It was a thing I had to do like anyone else. I had to make money somehow and fighting is the best way I know how to. So I started training again, basically for them. I need to make money, I need to pay bills.”

Thankfully, Danny’s condition has improved enough that he was allowed to return home. He still receives dialysis after having his kidneys removed in anticipation of receiving new ones, and the family hopes to be able to finally have the transplant surgery done.

“He is doing well,” Dan says. “We had a little rough patch in January when he was really sick. He’s gotten better and he’s working through it. Hopefully we will get the transplant done soon.”

Miller now balances those concerns with final preparations for his next fight – a June 22nd engagement with Ricardo Funch in Atlantic City. The fight will be Miller’s debut at a lighter weight class – welterweight. It is safe to say that, outside of middleweight champion Anderson Silva and number one contender Chael Sonnen, no one had faced stiffer competition in the 185-pound weight class than Dan Miller in recent years.

Against the likes of Sonnen, Michael Bisping, Nate Marquardt and Palhares, Miller was never outclassed, but he was overpowered. He had never been very large for 185, but the thought was that as long as he was successful there, there was no reason to go through the rigors of dropping 15 pounds to compete at welterweight.

But Miller decided at one specific moment to make the drop. “Halfway through the Palhares fight,” he laughs. “He’s just a beast. At one point I tried to stand back up and he just threw me down like a child. I thought, ‘Well, I guess I’m not standing up at this point.’ It had been in the back of my head for a long time…I never had to lose a lot of weight for middleweight; it was kind of an easy thing. But fighting some of these guys, I technically might have been close to them, but physically, it wasn’t a fair fight. At this level you need every advantage that you can get. So I thought, ‘Let’s get serious. Let’s do this.’”

Miller spoke with his coaches and they told him that he could do it. Since then, he’s cleaned up his diet and started paying more attention to how and when he eats. “I’m on a very strict diet now,” he says.

“I’m eating healthy and trying to make a turn, trying to be more professional – training hard and keeping focus. The weight is coming off pretty good. I’m pretty close to my goal. There are still some big, strong kids [at 170], so I don’t think it is going to be a huge advantage for me. I just think that now I’ll be one of the bigger guys in the division instead of being the small guy. I’m looking forward to it.”

As stressful as his personal life has been, Miller has enjoyed being able to do something productive again, instead of just waiting around, watching, worrying. “I’m a type of guy that needs to be doing something with myself. Once Danny was able to return home, it got a lot easier to train. I’m enjoying it again,” he says.

He’ll enjoy himself even more if he can make a successful debut at welterweight and snap a two-fight losing streak. Miller is taking a workmanlike approach to game planning for his opponent on the UFC on FX 4 card June 22nd.

“I know he’s an aggressive, good all around fighter,” Miller says of Funch. “He’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu. I’ve got to be on top of my game. It’s going to be a tough fight. I’m looking forward to it. It is kind of a rebirth for me. I’m going to go in there, take it to him and show that I deserve to be in the UFC.”

Note – The Miller family has started a foundation to help raise money to pay for Danny’s medical expenses. For more information, visit the Daniel James Miller Foundation website.

After winning seven bouts in a row over the course of two years and becoming the number one UFC welterweight contender, Thiago Alves lost two decisions in a row. And although losing to the two men he did (champion Georges St. Pierre and top contender Jon Fitch) is nothing to be ashamed of, the defeats reversed Alves’ trajectory immediately and were crushing to the “Pitbull.”

“I did a lot of soul searching and questioning of myself,” Alves says. “I asked myself if I really belonged in this sport.”

In the end, Alves knew in his heart that he did. And, for two reasons, he decided to come back and start from scratch – with a vengeance. Alves’ first reason was his family, the second was his potential.

“I realized that there was not much choice. You either give up and stop or move forward and I never give up. I know I’m not in my prime yet. I have a lot to give and a lot to show,” he says of his considerable abilities.

But even more than that, Alves, a Brazilian immigrant, knew he couldn’t forsake those he left behind as well as his own dream. “I remember all my family who have supported me coming here and becoming a fighter, and I just couldn’t give up all these dreams,” he says.

Of course, Alves had to go through more than losses, he also had a life threatening brain condition and resulting surgery. He recovered from that and got back in the win column last December by beating John Howard.

Though it ultimately came down to motivating himself, Alves says that his family was crucial to his rebounding. “Family is everything. Once you go through hard times you realize what’s really important for you. Once you got that out of the way, you know it’s not going to be hard,” he says.

Alves’ perspective even allows for him to not dwell on those former friends that fell by the wayside when he was down and out. “Once you shine everyone wants to be around you. When you have losses you really see who is there for you for the right reasons. Every fighter needs to go through that. It sucks but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. And it’s all in the past,” he says.

It’s helped make him a different person, and fighter. Fans who’ve witnessed Alves grow from a more one-dimensional striker in his early years in the UFC to a well-rounded fighter with solid jiu-jitsu and wrestling to go along with his Muay Thai might be surprised to hear him say that he works even harder now than he used to.

“Oh yeah, I’m ten times the professional that I used to be,” Alves proclaims. “I always trained hard because I’m a hard worker, but I just trained because I knew I had to train. I didn’t know much about the sport, I didn’t know much about my body. My mindset when I got the title shot was that I was just having fun. Everything just kind of came. Now I’m doing the same things as before but with the mindset of always doing the right things and making the right decisions. It makes a huge difference. I’m a much better fighter I was two years ago. I think I needed to hit rock bottom to get going again.”

Alves will put his revamped lifestyle and training regimen to the test against Rick Story at UFC 130. Like in his last fight, Alves is pitted against an aggressive young prospect with knockout power. The American Top Team member sees similarities between his opponent and a past self.

“In Rick Story I see myself a few years ago,” Alves says. “Very aggressive, lots of power, always pushing forward. And it’s a great opportunity for him, fighting a veteran of the UFC who has been around for years. I’m pretty sure he’s very excited. I’ve been in his shoes before. He’s going to have fears and doubts and that’s what I am going to capitalize on. He is a good fighter, has good power and is a good wrestler, but I truly believe that I am going to outclass him everywhere. Let’s see how aggressive he is against me.”

After winning seven bouts in a row over the course of two years and becoming the number one UFC welterweight contender, Thiago Alves lost two decisions in a row. And although losing to the two men he did (champion Georges St. Pierre and top contender Jon Fitch) is nothing to be ashamed of, the defeats reversed Alves’ trajectory immediately and were crushing to the “Pitbull.”

“I did a lot of soul searching and questioning of myself,” Alves says. “I asked myself if I really belonged in this sport.”

In the end, Alves knew in his heart that he did. And, for two reasons, he decided to come back and start from scratch – with a vengeance. Alves’ first reason was his family, the second was his potential.

“I realized that there was not much choice. You either give up and stop or move forward and I never give up. I know I’m not in my prime yet. I have a lot to give and a lot to show,” he says of his considerable abilities.

But even more than that, Alves, a Brazilian immigrant, knew he couldn’t forsake those he left behind as well as his own dream. “I remember all my family who have supported me coming here and becoming a fighter, and I just couldn’t give up all these dreams,” he says.

Of course, Alves had to go through more than losses, he also had a life threatening brain condition and resulting surgery. He recovered from that and got back in the win column last December by beating John Howard.

Though it ultimately came down to motivating himself, Alves says that his family was crucial to his rebounding. “Family is everything. Once you go through hard times you realize what’s really important for you. Once you got that out of the way, you know it’s not going to be hard,” he says.

Alves’ perspective even allows for him to not dwell on those former friends that fell by the wayside when he was down and out. “Once you shine everyone wants to be around you. When you have losses you really see who is there for you for the right reasons. Every fighter needs to go through that. It sucks but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. And it’s all in the past,” he says.

It’s helped make him a different person, and fighter. Fans who’ve witnessed Alves grow from a more one-dimensional striker in his early years in the UFC to a well-rounded fighter with solid jiu-jitsu and wrestling to go along with his Muay Thai might be surprised to hear him say that he works even harder now than he used to.

“Oh yeah, I’m ten times the professional that I used to be,” Alves proclaims. “I always trained hard because I’m a hard worker, but I just trained because I knew I had to train. I didn’t know much about the sport, I didn’t know much about my body. My mindset when I got the title shot was that I was just having fun. Everything just kind of came. Now I’m doing the same things as before but with the mindset of always doing the right things and making the right decisions. It makes a huge difference. I’m a much better fighter I was two years ago. I think I needed to hit rock bottom to get going again.”

Alves will put his revamped lifestyle and training regimen to the test against Rick Story at UFC 130. Like in his last fight, Alves is pitted against an aggressive young prospect with knockout power. The American Top Team member sees similarities between his opponent and a past self.

“In Rick Story I see myself a few years ago,” Alves says. “Very aggressive, lots of power, always pushing forward. And it’s a great opportunity for him, fighting a veteran of the UFC who has been around for years. I’m pretty sure he’s very excited. I’ve been in his shoes before. He’s going to have fears and doubts and that’s what I am going to capitalize on. He is a good fighter, has good power and is a good wrestler, but I truly believe that I am going to outclass him everywhere. Let’s see how aggressive he is against me.”