Pat Miletich: The meaning of 100

Prior to UFC 100, SI.com had the chance to speak with many of the promotion's elite fighters -- past and present. Here's what Pat Miletich had to say about Saturday's card, his career in the cage and much more.

The UFC has gone through a lot of changes, made it through tough times. I'm just happy the sport's still around to be honest with you.

I knew the sport would reach this point. I just didn't know how long it would take. I knew how great a sport it was and how detailed it was. It was just a matter of educating the public as to what it really takes to be involved in this sport.

It's a big event. I think there are some great fights on the card. At the same time, to me, the Affliction card next month is more exciting. But the UFC card has some great fighters on it.

I'm probably going to pick St. Pierre to win. The Lesnar-Mir thing is a toss-up to me. Dan's a good friend of mine and I'll always go with Dan.

I'd say UFC 100 ranks among the promotion's top third in terms of significance.

There's going to be a lot of energy in the building, but I'd tell the fighters to not get caught up in the hype. Stay focused on the task at hand.

Dana's going to be the way he is, I'm not knocking him. But when I have conversations with big-money people and corporations that want to get in the sport, they're hesitant because of the language and things like that.

For MMA to be successful, there has to be a couple other organizations. Strikeforce is doing a great job. Bellator is picking up steam. There has to be three strong organizations in the sport that will give fighters, advertisers and everybody involved in the sport options.

When I first started, I watched a lot of boxing. Sugar Ray Leonard. "Smokin" Joe Frazier. Hearns. Hagler. I was in awe of those guys. Roy Jones Jr.

I loved to compete. I thoroughly enjoy winning and despise losing.

My first fight, when I broke a guy's arm and he tried choking me with his broken arm for two minutes, that was a little shocking to me.

My wife, she likes the sport but she doesn't like to see me fight. My mom wouldn't watch me fight until I won the title, then she figured out I was good enough that I wouldn't get hurt too bad. Most of my family likes it, but they cringe when I fight.

The toughest guy ever in the UFC was Bas Rutten. Bas, in his prime, was a bad-ass. A wrecking machine. The only workout I did with him was on the beach, running up and down the beach doing his combos.

The old-school guys were ones that paid their dues and had 20, 25 fights before they got in. There are plenty of guys who are overrated and get a lot of hype and TV exposure when they're technically not even near the level they need to be.

The biggest lesson I've learned over the years as a fighter is if you win, they can't get rid of you.

I'm proud of myself as a fighter. I think I did a lot of good things, but as a trainer I think I probably made a lot of kids' lives a little bit better by getting them to that level, exposing them to the big time, helping them win titles, make money and pay their bills.