n yet another exclusive interview, BJpenn.com spoke with Mike Constantino, coach and cornerman for Dan Miller, on the eve of his bout with Michael “The Count” Bisping at this weekend’s UFC 114 Rampage vs. Evans. He shares insight on Dan’s preparation for this fight and his journey so far in the UFC.

Pedro: Thanks for speaking to us today. So, how long have you been coaching Dan?

Mike: We’ve been working together for about 3 and half years.

Pedro: In those 3 years, where have you seen the most improvement?

Mike: His game has improved most in his striking. He has improved well overall, but the most has been his striking.

Pedro: Going into this fight with Michael Bisping, Dan has fought a lot of tough guys. Where would rate this fight, is it as tough as the Demian Maia or Chael Sonnen fight?

Mike: It’s hard to say if it’s his toughest challenge, because each challenge is different in its own right. Maia is known to have the greatest jiu-jitsu in all of the UFC so that was a great challenge. Chael Sonnen from what he’s shown now from when we fought, basically the Dan Miller/Chael Sonnen fight was his coming out party. I mean after that you have Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, some tough guys and Dan Miller is in that mix. Chael Sonnen showed what he could do as a wrestler and I know how good Danny is. For Chael to dominate him like that with his wrestling I know how good he is. The thing is, it’s a different animal, Chael with the wrestling, Maia with the jiu-jitsu and now Bisping being the best striker he’s faced so far in the UFC.

Pedro: Do you think Danny’s advantage in this fight is his grappling?

Mike: On paper, if you look at it, people would say that Danny has better wrestling and a little better jiu-jitsu so I would say yeah. But I’m sure the consensus is that Bisping has better striking.

Pedro: Preparing for this fight, have you done anything specific, like bringing in other fighters?

Mike: We don’t really bring anybody specific. Within our won camp we have plenty of guys that can emulate the fighter we’re fighting. Whether he’s a righty, lefty, kicker, puncher, wrestler, grappler, etc., we don’t really switch things up we just cater towards his opponent.

Pedro: Can you share a little of your strategy for this fight? Where do you want your fighter to be at?

Mike: Well, we’re just gonna fight. We’ll go where the fight goes. We’re gonna fight. It’s gonna be one of those fights, where with Demian we tried to stand because how good he was on the ground. With this fight it’s just going to develop. Whatever area it goes into, we’re comfortable with all three areas, the striking, wrestling and the grappling. Wherever it goes we’re comfortable with that.

Pedro: As a coach, are you going to be cornering him?

Mike: Yes, I’ll be there in the corner.

Pedro: So as far as game plan, most fighters have game plan 1, 2 or 3. Do you have separate strategies on fight night?

Mike: Absolutely, we always have a general idea going in. You can never predict the fight so, you know I don’t like to plan for rounds two and three. You really only plan for round one and that shows you as a corner man exactly how fast that you can process the information that you saw in the first 5 minutes and then relay that information to your fighter in the 1 minute the corner after the round as they’re tired and getting water and making sure that everything else is good. We work very well when it comes to that aspect. So I’m gonna see what happens in the first round and we’ll make adjustments on the fly. Like I said I’m comfortable in all aspects of this fight with Danny.

Pedro: Now I assume Dan’s well prepared for this fight and training camp went well?

Mike: Yes, sir.

Pedro: Now, I really hate to ask this question, but is this is a do or die situation for Danny?

Mike: It does add pressure, but I don’t think it should. Let’s just say, if he loses to the guy that just fought for the belt and the guy who is going to fight for the belt, now fighting Michael Bisping who won The Ultimate Fighter and has fought guys like Rashad Evans and Wanderlai Silva and a bunch of other fighters, I don’t think Danny should be cut especially being 3-2 so far, with two submissions in the first round, but you never know.

Pedro: Will we see a new and improved Dan Miller in this fight?

Mike: He gets better in every fight and we try to improve in every training camp.

Pedro: Can you share with us your prediction as a coach?

Mike: Yeah, it’s a private prediction and we don’t want to give up the game plan. Unfortunately it’s one that I can’t share.

Pedro: Thank you Mr. Constantino for your time.

Mike: Thanks BJpenn.com for taking the time to talk, please check out our fight club at www.amafightclub.com