Cole Miller vows to never fight again in Massachusetts

Cole “Magrinho” Miller (20-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC) will fight in his home state of Georgia for the first time since 2006, when he takes on Sam Sicilia (12-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at the “UFC Fight Night 35” event on January 15, 2014.

The American Top Team product, Miller, is looking to make it two straight octagon wins when he faces off with Sicilia next month. Cole was last seen in action at October’s “UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Machida” event, where he earned a decision victory over Andy Ogle.

Prior to the win over Ogle, Miller took on “TUF 5” veteran, Manny Gamburyan, at August’s “UFC Fight Night 26″ event in Boston, Massachusetts.

Towards the end of the opening round, Miller was able to land two elbows to the head of Gamburyan, leaving Manny dazed on the mat holding the back of his head. Octagon referee, Yves Lavigne, ruled that the elbows were legal strikes during the fight. However, despite that ruling, Gamburyan was given more than two minutes to recover between the first and second round. That time was far more than the normal 60-second break between rounds.

Cole went on to lose a controversial unanimous decision victory to Gamburyan that August evening in Massachusetts. Due to the controversy surrounding the fight, Miller decided to appeal the fights ruling with the Massachusetts Athletic Commission. The appeal detailed eight rules that were violated during the course of the fight, but was eventually denied for inconclusive evidence. That denial did not sit well with “Magrinho,” as he told BloodyElbow in a recent interview:

“It’s bad that I have to make an accusation against the state that they broke rules. If I had broken a rule, if they had pointed out eight things, they would have considered that overwhelming evidence to fine me or suspend me, but because I had to attack their commission they thought those eight rule violations were inconclusive. It blows my mind. I thought about suing them, but I’m just going to let it go. I have a fight coming up, and I can’t take time off to hire a lawyer and start thinking about that. They potentially robbed me of Knockout of the Night, a win bonus and a Knockout of the Night. The judges messed it up. The athletic commission messed it up later, and I’m just not interested in ever going back to that state. They’ll never get any state taxes from future purses from me because I’m never going back.”

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