Pat Miletich has been released from his LFA commentary position at LFA 91 due to his presence at last week’s Capitol Hill riots. Miletich has provided LFA with commentary work for well over a decade.
Capitol Hill Riots
The Capitol Hill “protests” that took place in Washington D.C saw many ring-wing extremists turn their rally into a riot. In real-time, it seemed like many participants who committed federal crimes would walk away from the building free of any issues with the law. However, in the past three days, many key arrests have been made in regards to the pro-Trump rally.
Amongst the crowd was UFC legend, Pat Miletich. Miletich is not only the UFC’s first Middleweight champion. But, he is also a former trainer of combat for law enforcement and the military.
Pat’s allegiance to Donald Trump was on full display, as he was pictured amongst the rioters at Capitol Hill. Nevertheless, According to Miletich, he didn’t witness any violence as he attended the riots.
With a walkie and emergency management jacket. Normal things for a civilian to wear. pic.twitter.com/IBwAbsgwKv
— Mike Russell 🕵️ (@MIKERUSSELLMMA) January 11, 2021
Miletich Released from LFA Job
However, he took to social media to announce that LFA has parted ways with Pat and his commentary position. He believed that the promotion felt pressure from LFA supporters. More than likely, they threatened not to support the promotion as long as Miletich was involved.
“I just got a call from the folks at the LFA, and they basically informed that they were getting a lot of pressure because I was at the Capitol,” Miletich said. “Want you guys to know that the people that I walked with at the Capitol, none of them—that I know of—were involved in any of the violence. I walked with white people, black people, a lot of Chinese people who escaped communist China, who are ‘for freedom’ … It was across the board people of different races, religions…
“But the LFA was getting a lot of pressure and unfortunately that they felt that they needed to distance themselves from me,” Miletich added. “I understand their position.”
“I love all those guys, Ed and Sven and Mark and everybody, I love them. But the price of freedom is going to be heavy guys. Me losing my job is part of the pain. Even the people that pressured the LFA to get rid of me, I’m doing my best to fight for your freedom.”
Pat Miletich announcing he was let go from LFA, via is Instagram. pic.twitter.com/NpIRSnJY1f
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) January 12, 2021
Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died in the riot. Currently, twenty federal criminal offenders have been detained across the country. According to CNN, many attendees of the riots brought firearms, homemade explosives, and rounds of firearms to Washington D.C.
It’s safe to see why LFA would want to distance themselves.
LFA president Ed Soares also issues statement to MMAFighting:
“First and foremost, the LFA supports the participation of the constitutional right to peaceful protest. During preparations for the 2021 debut broadcast, it was brought to the LFA’s attention that photos of questionable nature surfaced on various social media outlets involving fight analyst Pat Miletich. While the LFA continues to investigate the situation, the decision was made to remove Mr. Miletich from broadcast duties for this Friday’s LFA 97 event.”
Pat Miletich has been arrested twice in recent years for driving while intoxicated, first back in 2018 in Iowa and again in Illinois last year.
