Adam Milstead On Side Gig: 'I've Never Not Had A Full-Time Job'

Adam Milstead On Side Gig: 'I've Never Not Had A Full-Time Job'

UFC light heavyweight Adam Milstead discusses his full-time job working on a pipeline and why he feels the UFC is his part-time money-maker.

Dec 13, 2018 by Daniel Vreeland
Adam Milstead On Side Gig: 'I've Never Not Had A Full-Time Job'

As UFC light heavyweight Adam Milstead prepares for his showdown with Mike Rodriguez this weekend at UFC on Fox 31 in Milwaukee, he continues to work his other job. 

Recently, he took to Twitter to share his full-time job with his fans. 


While the hashtag seems to hint at a need to earn extra cash around this fight camp, this is something that has already been a part of Milstead’s life. 

“I’ve been [working on pipelines] for four to five years now with that company,” Milstead told the Top Turtle MMA Podcast on FloCombat. “I've never not had a full-time job.”

The added benefit of working his second job is not just the money, but it allows him to set up his future and to protect himself in the present. 

“Basically, the only reason why I have that job is so that I have benefits,” he said. “401K, health insurance—stuff like that.”

It’s because they supply him with these things that he sees the UFC as his second job, one he considers part-time. 

“It’s the way that I make money," Milstead said. "The UFC is just kind of that part-time job you kind of keep around so that you can pay for the holiday gifts."

Because he sees the fight game this way, he sees no reason to keep fighting if it isn’t in the UFC. Being let go by the UFC remains a real possibility, given back-to-back losses to Curtis Blaydes and Jordan Johnson. 

“If it doesn’t work out, I don’t plan on fighting for anybody else,” Milstead said. “Unless somebody comes to me with such an incredible deal that I can’t say no to, but I don’t see that happening.”

Although that’s how he feels about his future in fighting, don’t count Milstead’s career dead in the water.

“The whole game plan from here on out is to obtain another contract,” he said. “I’m at a point where I’ll accept the same contract that I signed when I first got in the UFC just so I can continue doing what I love.”

And he feels if he can put on a good show and pick up a big win in Milwaukee, there is a good chance he can make a run in a thin 205-pound division. 

“I’m not in a position to quit yet," Milstead said. "I’ve got plenty of fight left in me.”