Over the weekend, Bloody Elbow noticed that Pat Miletich's profile was put back up on UFC.com. This led to speculation that the 41-year-old MMA veteran had re-signed with the UFC. Remember, prior to UFC 101 Miletich told FanHouse that he hoped to bury his long-standing grudge with UFC president Dana White. On Monday, Miletich told FanHouse that he had not signed a new contract with the UFC "yet," but seemed very open to the idea of making his return to the Octagon in the near future. Of course, he also said the hatchet had been buried between both sides.
"We had a good talk Dana and I, and then I talked to [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva," Miletich said. "It was a good meeting, and it ended positively, which is good, and we had discussed a few options."
Miletich said that Silva presented him a few potential match-ups for the future, clearly indicating that the organization wants to see "The Croatian Sensation" back in the UFC.
"[It's] just a matter of getting things figured out, I guess, on who I would be fighting," Miletich said. "At this point, it needs to be a fight that make sense name-wise. ... It was nice of them to leave that door open for me."
If a deal could be reached, Miletich (29-7-2) would enter a highly-competitive welterweight division. He currently works as a color analyst for the Strikeforce Challengers events on Showtime, leading many to believe that if he would return to action, it would be in a Strikeforce cage. Miletich didn't close the door on that possibility, either.
The founder of the Miletich Fighting Systems wants to fight again in 2009. In December, he defeated Thomas Denny in his first fight in over two years. His last Octagon appearance came at UFC 36 when he lost to Matt Lindland via first-round TKO. The first-ever UFC welterweight champions holds an 8-2 record inside the Octagon.
Asked if fans should expect to see him back in the UFC by the end of the year, Miletich simply replied:
"It would be fun; it would be fun for sure. I would do my best to make it exciting."
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