Mikey Burnett Stops Miletich Talk

There was a conversation, recently, about a potential bout between “The Eastside Assassin” Mikey Burnett (5-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and five time UFC 170 pound king Pat Miletich (29-7-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), but Burnett has ended that conversation with an acknowledgement that his health is going to make it nearly impossible for him to get sanctioned by an athletic commission ever again.

Burnett posted on the Underground Forum stating:

Bad news I just left my Dr[.] I’ll never be cleared to fight again. Got a new MRI a few weeks ago, Arthritis has set in my spinal cord and he is not sure the surgery would change anything this long after, too much damage done to the cord.

Mikey has a history of alcohol abuse that have sidelined his career, but has always been one of the most interesting and likably characters in the sport, and garnered a lot of fans from his performance outside of the cage on TUF 4. Always quick with a joke, Burnett added to his post:

Good News is Marijuana is still to be legalized everywhere. Guess I could [start] again.

The fight would have been a rematch of Miletich’s first title fight, when he won a controversial unanimous decision over Burnett in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Miletich has recently returned to MMA, defeating Thomas “The Wildman” Denny (26-18 MMA) by KO last December. Burnett’s last professional fight (excluding his appearance on TUF 4) was in 1999, a win over Townsend Saunders (0-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC), a former Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling.