UFC: AMA Fight Club's Dan Miller, Charlie Brenneman ready for fights, PED tests

In the age of indictment of alleged performance enhancing drug users in the court of public opinion, there is one nearly fool-proof way mixed martial arts followers can find a clean fighter. 

Look for the one who takes matches on short notice.  

Around here, that means watching Whippany-based AMA Fight Club.  A couple of examples are middleweight Dan Miller of Sparta and welterweight Charlie Brenneman, now of East Hanover. Both compete in the UFC. 

While no system to identify cheaters and rule-benders is perfect, some quick and simple reasoning makes a whole lot of sense.  After all, if someone is willing to take a fight on short notice, they not only have to be in shape, but also pass their medicals and drug tests.

North Jersey fans are especially fortunate.  For one, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, headed by Nick Lembo, ranks at or near the top of commissions that oversee MMA.  Second, locals are privy to AMA, which has built its reputation on its athletes being ready to step in for competition at the highest level. 

Miller has become a requisite master at it.  His latest endeavor will be Aug. 27 in Rio de Janeiro, when he takes on Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134.

Miller, of course, was not the scheduled opponent.  That was Alexandre Ferreira, who was dismissed from the fight – and then the UFC -- reportedly for his reluctance to cut from light heavyweight to middleweight to fight his former training partner. 

With the fight up in the air, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva wasted no time and called Mike Constantino, the head trainer at AMA who also manages his fighters.  Immediately, the contest went from unpredictable to rock solid, as Miller accepted the call.

“I feel good about it,” said Miller, who was making flight arrangements a mere 10 minutes after accepting the fight. “I feel I can win this fight, and it’s a good matchup for me.  Palhares is a really good fighter and I like to go in and fight the best.  I don’t like to take a fight I think I should win because I don’t feel like I’m going to get better in that position.” 

It's not lost on the boss, either, as UFC president Dana White opted to single out Miller in the press release: “Dan Miller lives up to his motto of 'anyone, anyplace, anytime' by stepping up against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 after original opponent Alexandre Ferreira pulled out of the fight.” 

The announcement came June 28, and actually has yielded Miller much more time than he often receives in preparing for a fight.

“I have to work really hard for this training camp, and I like that,” Miller said. “I like pushing the limits of my training and my abilities.”

In his last forray, Miller trained for fellow New Jersey fighter Nick Catone, of Sayreville, only to be asked by Silva and White about a week before the event to move up to the main card and take on Nate Marquardt at middleweight in Newark for UFC 128 in March. Marquardt was left without an opponent after the devastation in Japan from the earthquake and tsunami led Yoshihiro Akiyama to bow out and remain in his homeland.

What was not known at that time was that Marquardt was going through the process of testosterone replacement therapy, based on his own petition with the NJSACB.  By all accounts, Marquardt at the time was compliant with the control board doctor's requirements and was allowed to compete, as it was deemed he did not have an advantage in the match.

Marquardt won by unanimous decision, then announced he was moving to welterweight.  Still compliant with the months-long plan given by the NJSACB, he was slated to fight Rick Story in the main event at UFC on Versus 4 in June.  

In simple terms, Marquardt's testosterone levels were above the limit before he had satisfied the NJSACB's doctor's protocol and he was not medically cleared to compete in Pennsylvania. 

“I never make excuses for my losses,” said Miller, who in 2009 lost to Chael Sonnen, who served a suspension related to misuse of testosterone replacement therapy.  “I still don’t believe that because those two opponents were on steroids that it’s why they beat me.  That night, they were better than me. They were just better fighters.  I need to improve.  I try not to make excuses. Even if they’re on it, I feel like next time around, I can beat them.

“Not matter what the situation is, I have confidence that if I step in there, I can win that fight. With the stuff that went on ... I’m not a quitter.  I’m not going to quit, and I am going to follow through with the goals that I have set.  I’ve had to pull out of fights in the past, and it’s not an easy thing. I hated it, didn’t want to do it. But those times, I basically had to.  Plus, I needed the paycheck.  This is my livelihood, this is how I support my family. I need to make money.”

Meanwhile, Brenneman had been scheduled to fight at the Pittsburgh event, about a 90-minute drive from his hometown of Holidaysburg, Pa., but his opponent backed out due to mononucleosis days before the fight.  Brenneman was effectively knocked off the "homecoming" card he had become a part of because he stepped up to replace injured Matthew Riddle.

Not fully knowing the growing concern behind the scenes that Marquardt's botched testosterone replacement therapy was about to submarine the main event, Brenneman maintained his weight through the week on the off chance he would get another opportunity. 

His medicals were already good, but he had to submit to standard heart rate evaluation and drug testing on the day of weigh-ins.

When the now infamous "NateGate" scandal broke mere moments before the weigh-ins, Brenneman was granted a most unlikely opportunity.  Medicals were not problem for him, and Brenneman successfully made weight, then proceeded to beat Story in the co-main event -- all in a span of less than 30 hours.

“My personal philosophy is there’s no place for it, it’s cheating and you should be punished accordingly,” Brenneman said of performance enhancing drug users.  “The problem is, there’s this gray area that is creating all these discrepancies where you can get a doctor’s note for it and you have to be in line with it for the athletic commission.  It’s not a black-and-white issue.  But me, personally, if you’re taking illegal substances to gain an edge, then that’s cheating and you should be punished accordingly.

“I would think we should have more consistent drug testing in and out of fights, because I think that would be a strong deterrent.  However, I am in agreement with the punishments, although I don’t understand (things like) how Sean Sherk got it reduced to six months from a year.  There’s a lot of variance in the punishments and I think there needs to be more consistency with that.”

Brenneman, nicknamed "The Spaniard," has an undergraduate degree in Spanish and a Masters in Management and Leadership with a concentration in Sport Management from Lock Haven University, where he also wrestled. The bilingial ambassador is no pugilistic dumb jock.

He thinks that as the sport grows, more will follow the example of Ricardo Almeida, the Hamilton-based former UFC fighter and trainer who has become a judge. Brenneman aspires to make his career in MMA well after his fighting days have passed, but figures to go under cover to have an impact.

“My goal is to make a living off of the sport, so whatever direction that brings me in, I could definitely see myself doing that,” he said.  “I think I’d be more into being a behind-the-scenes guy, on a commission or a board or something like that.  I spent a good amount of time in school, and I think I’m a fairly educated person, so I’d like to be one of the guys making the rules from the perspective of a former fighter.

“I can definitely see as the sport continues to advance more and more guys are going to follow in Ricardo’s footsteps and get into judging, get on to a commission.  I think eventually those people judging and commission positions will be held by ex-fighters and even trainers; guys who have been around the sport.”

Brenneman has other ideas for affecting positive change in MMA, taking a page out of the Pennsylvania’s athletic commission protocol.

“Anything that the commissions do directly affects us fighters,” he says.  “We are the ones that either suffer or benefit.  (A fighters’ advisory board) could be a tool that they use, although it would be extremely difficult to figure out who would do that. For example, with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, each university has a member or two that meets, and they discuss different athletic rules and changes, kind of like a sounding board.  So I could see something like that working.”