On Thursday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission held a meeting to discuss certain drug testing protocols including the controversial usage of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). TRT has increasingly been in the spotlight over the last few months with athletes like Vitor Belfort, who at 35 years of age now has to have testosterone injections to […]
On Thursday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission held a meeting to discuss certain drug testing protocols including the controversial usage of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). TRT has increasingly been in the spotlight over the last few months with athletes like Vitor Belfort, who at 35 years of age now has to have testosterone injections to […]
Amid news that marijuana has once again wrecked a UFC fighter’s night of triumph, promotion executive Marc Ratner has told the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) that it should soften its stance on fighters testing positive for the banned substance. His comments came after revelations that bantamweight Alex Caceres was among the fighters who failed […]
Amid news that marijuana has once again wrecked a UFC fighter’s night of triumph, promotion executive Marc Ratner has told the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) that it should soften its stance on fighters testing positive for the banned substance. His comments came after revelations that bantamweight Alex Caceres was among the fighters who failed […]
Well this is a welcome change of pace — a politician who not only understands and supports MMA, but is gutsy enough to step into the cage and try it for himself. The story of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller‘s amateur MMA debut/retirement has been sweeping the Internet since last night. The 36-year-old Democrat and Las Vegas native grew up around Nevada’s combat sports scene, became a fan of the UFC, and began training in MMA a few years ago. The sport became “an absolute passion” for Miller, who spent the last year preparing for his first amateur fight.
That fight went down this past Saturday night at the World Fighting Championships‘ “MMA at the Lake” event in South Lake Tahoe, where the 6’4″ Miller competed in a light-heavyweight match against an opponent named Jamal Williams. As a favor to the Secretary of State, the match was kept a secret by WFC promoter Matt McGovern. And while Miller eventually came away with a second-round TKO victory, the fight didn’t exactly go as planned. As Miller explained to MMAJunkie:
“It was much different than sparring,” Miller admitted. “I froze a little bit. I had a tough time letting my hands go. I didn’t teep at all, which I usually do in sparring. I threw very few kicks. The gameplan was to set up a couple of punches and maybe a leg kick and take him down and try to submit him because he didn’t appear to have much jiu-jitsu. That’s not how the first round worked out at all.
“At the end of the first round, my cornerman came in, and I asked him, ‘Where’s the stool?’ He said, ‘There is no stool.’ I said, ‘You didn’t think this was going to go to the second round?’ He said, ‘I think you just need to relax, breathe and start listening to us because you’re scaring the hell out of us'”…
Well this is a welcome change of pace — a politician who not only understands and supports MMA, but is gutsy enough to step into the cage and try it for himself. The story of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller‘s amateur MMA debut/retirement has been sweeping the Internet since last night. The 36-year-old Democrat and Las Vegas native grew up around Nevada’s combat sports scene, became a fan of the UFC, and began training in MMA a few years ago. The sport became “an absolute passion” for Miller, who spent the last year preparing for his first amateur fight.
That fight went down this past Saturday night at the World Fighting Championships‘ “MMA at the Lake” event in South Lake Tahoe, where the 6’4″ Miller competed in a light-heavyweight match against an opponent named Jamal Williams. As a favor to the Secretary of State, the match was kept a secret by WFC promoter Matt McGovern. And while Miller eventually came away with a second-round TKO victory, the fight didn’t exactly go as planned. As Miller explained to MMAJunkie:
“It was much different than sparring,” Miller admitted. “I froze a little bit. I had a tough time letting my hands go. I didn’t teep at all, which I usually do in sparring. I threw very few kicks. The gameplan was to set up a couple of punches and maybe a leg kick and take him down and try to submit him because he didn’t appear to have much jiu-jitsu. That’s not how the first round worked out at all.
“At the end of the first round, my cornerman came in, and I asked him, ‘Where’s the stool?’ He said, ‘There is no stool.’ I said, ‘You didn’t think this was going to go to the second round?’ He said, ‘I think you just need to relax, breathe and start listening to us because you’re scaring the hell out of us’”…
“In the second round, we exchanged pretty heavily, and I got rocked pretty hard but recovered and finally landed a one-two (combination) and a kick to the body then a right hand that put him down,” Miller said. “I finished with some ground and pound”…
“You always worry about the potential optics of competing in mixed martial arts because people may see it and assume you’re a violent person,” Miller said. “But that’s not why I like the sport at all. It obviously is very physically challenging, but more than anything, when you train, you get beat up both physically and mentally on a regular basis, and you’ve got to have the mental strength and resilience to continue to fight through. Your mind will give you a million reasons to quit, but you have to push through it and fight to overcome it, and that’s why I love the sport”…
“They gave me the microphone after the event and acknowledged me as secretary of state, so I gave a short get-out-and-vote speech and encouraged people to get registered and vote in the upcoming election,” Miller said…
“It was on my bucket list to compete once in a mixed-martial-arts event, but my wife was very anxious cageside,” Miller said. “Now that I’ve tried it once, I’ll be comfortable going back to just training weekly in jiu-jitsu and doing a little bit of light Muay Thai sparring.”
“I want to investigate whether there was any undue influence, whether the [Nevada Athletic Commission] gave any particular instruction and how they came to this conclusion…the whole sport is in an uproar. People are going crazy. If this was a subjective view that each of [the judges] honestly held, OK. I would still disagree, but then we’re off the hook in terms of there being no conspiracy. But there needs to be an independent investigation because it strains credulity that an event everybody saw as so one-sided one way all three judges saw it as close. It strains credulity.”
If I was Manny Pacquiao, I’d have no problem refusing the rematch in the first place. He beat Bradley, everybody saw him beat Bradley, and he gains nothing from pursuing a rematch outside of fulfilling a “revenge” storyline made possible by [ALLEGEDLY] corrupt judges. And speaking of [ALLEGEDLY] corrupt judges, here’s judge Duane Ford trying to justify his 115-113 tally of the fight in the challenger’s favor:
(Timothy Bradley answers questions from his wheelchair victory chariot after “defeating” Manny Pacquiao by split-decision.)
“I want to investigate whether there was any undue influence, whether the [Nevada Athletic Commission] gave any particular instruction and how they came to this conclusion…the whole sport is in an uproar. People are going crazy. If this was a subjective view that each of [the judges] honestly held, OK. I would still disagree, but then we’re off the hook in terms of there being no conspiracy. But there needs to be an independent investigation because it strains credulity that an event everybody saw as so one-sided one way all three judges saw it as close. It strains credulity.”
If I was Manny Pacquiao, I’d have no problem refusing the rematch in the first place. He beat Bradley, everybody saw him beat Bradley, and he gains nothing from pursuing a rematch outside of fulfilling a “revenge” storyline made possible by [ALLEGEDLY] corrupt judges. And speaking of [ALLEGEDLY] corrupt judges, here’s judge Duane Ford trying to justify his 115-113 tally of the fight in the challenger’s favor:
“If this were ‘American Idol’, without a doubt, Manny Pacquiao would have won. But it was not. I gave an honest opinion. I had Pacquiao up 4-2, I think, at the end of six rounds. I thought he hurt Bradley a couple of times early in the fight. But when the bell rang to end that round, it was over and what happens in one round doesn’t carry over to the next round. They’re separate units.
“In the second half of the fight, Pacquiao picked off a lot of punches to the head, but Bradley landed some hard body shots. That hurt Pacquiao. I don’t mean it hurt him in the sense of it physically hurting him, but in terms of scoring and piling up points. Bradley did an excellent job standing his ground as a boxer. Remember, it’s a boxing match and Bradley demonstrated his ability to box expertly…
“In pro boxing, you look for damage, and if the punches are equal and the damage is equal, you are looking for effective aggression, and that does not necessarily mean the guy going forward. Effective aggression can be a guy going back. And then you look at ring generalship, and that’s all about control.”
Effective aggression can be a guy going back? Ladies and gentlemen, the Cecil Peoples of boxing.
I won the fight, without a doubt. You could say I won the first round, give or take the second. Lost the third, lost the fourth, lost the fifth, maybe even lost the sixth, you know, give or take. But from seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 and 12, I clearly dominated those rounds, man. I dominated those rounds. I know that I won those rounds.
I mean, this guy was supposed to stop me. He was supposed to knock me out. But I took his best punches, and I fought back hard. You know what I mean?
My corner and I honestly feel that I won the fight. Fair and square. It was not controversial decision or nothing like that. It is what it is, man. The judges got it right, that’s what I feel. There were some close rounds in there that they probably gave to me, because, like I said, I fought every minute of every damn round.
They were probably like, “this dude is only fighting in the first half of the round or the last 30 seconds of a rounds.” They probably caught on to that.
Garbage-ass decision aside, did any of you gain respect for Bradley for at least hanging in with Pac-Man for 12 rounds?
The UFC’s issues with drug-related failures are a problem, but they have yet to reach epidemic levels. Not yet, anyway. Truthfully, they haven’t even come close to damaging as many fights as training injuries have. But the major drug-relate…
The UFC’s issues with drug-related failures are a problem, but they have yet to reach epidemic levels. Not yet, anyway. Truthfully, they haven’t even come close to damaging as many fights as training injuries have. But the major drug-related cases we’ve seen this year have been high-profile—witness the cases of Alistair Overeem and Nick Diaz—and […]
Throughout his insanely controversial career, Nick Diaz has continued a UFC bout into a hospital brawl with his opponent after fighting in the UFC. He has started a riot on national television. He has retired from the sport because he didn’t like…
Throughout his insanely controversial career, Nick Diaz has continued a UFC bout into a hospital brawl with his opponent after fighting in the UFC. He has started a riot on national television. He has retired from the sport because he didn’t like the judges’ decision in his most recent fight. So you may be asking […]
