By Mike McCarthy
We were lucky enough to sit down with the original UFC Ring Girl, Amber Nichole Miller. She’s been around the MMA world since 2002 and found love through it as well. Amber is a full time model, mom and marketing coordinator for numerous brands. And if that wasn’t enough, yeah she could change your oil and wire up your speakers in your homes as well. There is some info that we are dying to share with the readers, but it is time sensitive, so this interview will have one added question to it after the weekend. So make sure to check it out in it’s entirety on Monday, but for now read on about one of the coolest women out there.
Wingman Magazine: You were one of the first full time Ring Girls for UFC, how did that get started for you?
Amber Nichole Miller: I started at UFC 34 and it was at the MGM Grand and it was Matt Hughes vs. Carlos Newton. I bartended at a bar called the Whiskey Sky at Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas. And the owners, the Fertittas were looking for ring girls since they were going to be supporting this new fighting organization ( just the UFC, no big deal.) They asked if I was interested and I had watched the Underground UFC and WWF and WWE growing up and I definitely wanted to do it. It was really exciting to sit in the front row and be there at the whole event and atmosphere. I also did the first Ultimate Fighter shows and my last event was UFC 60.
WM: You’re in a relationship with one of the baddest men on the planet, our all time favorite fighter, Tito Ortiz. Did it start as a friendship and build from there?
Amber: The UFC when it started, we were all just a family. The amount of fighters was really small, and instead of a fight every month, it was every four months. We would all travel together and we did all the press at the same time, and all the conventions and we were all a close knit family. At that time I was close friends with a lot of the superstars at that time, like Chuck (Liddell), Tito (Ortiz) and Randy ( Couture). And years later you know, we kept in contact and we would see each other at the fights. Both of us were always in relationships and I never really thought about dating someone else or anything like that. We would run into each other and he would always ask how I was, and I would do the same, and if the other person was unhappy we would ask what was wrong and what not. I had gone through Tito’s ups and downs in the previous relationship and it was hard to see my friend not happy in his relationship. When he was down in his home life, he wasn’t in a good place mentally and you would see that in the way he fought. I eventually had to stop following him on social media and messaging him, because the relationship was so tumultuous that he couldn’t really have friends and had to cut himself off because of the situation. I saw at a point that a mutual friend retweeted a post of his about being lonely and that it was hard to be a single dad and I reached out to him about the whole situation. He confided in me and we started talking a lot and he told me that he was having knee surgery coming up and didn’t have anyone around to help him out, I offered to go out and take care of him and help him out. After about a month off from work to help him out, I went to back to Vegas and we kept talking all the time and it grew into a bond and after a while I fell in love with him and with his boys and it has been great for all of us.
WM: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
Amber: When I was younger, cliff diving was one of my favorite things to do. And I have been wakeboarding and snowboarding since I was a kid, and I have been skydiving a few times.
WM:What is the nerdiest/geekiest thing about you?
Amber: I am pretty normal…even now I prefer to just be at home. I love to bowl, I am an average fisherman, but other than that I was raised by a single mom and I was taught to cook and clean and that’s how families were. I am very techy, and I can change my own brakes and oil in my car. I can wire my entire house for speakers.
WM: Are you into any sports besides MMA?
Amber: I like fighting and football, I have tried to like hockey but it’s only fun when they fight. I can’t get into basketball unless I am there drinking a beer with a hotdog, just not my cup of tea.
WM: Before the ring girl opportunity, were you a model before that or after it started?
Amber: I started modeling when I was 5 years old in Denver and when I moved to Las Vegas, I wasn’t sure how to begin, and now it’s the same thing in California. Like what agencies and where to go. When I was a kid I would always pose and we had cameras and cameras of full film and had my mom develop them for me. I was a spokesmodel for Affliction Denim and a jean company called Level 99. I am helping a friend rename and relaunch her swimsuit line. She has a lot of suits in storage and we are going to remarket them. I also help her promote her skincare line, called Tracy Dean SkinCare. I have a lot on my plate right now, I have changed from being a marketing coordinator to a full time mom and doing the stay at home thing.
WM: You already have two kids at home that are Tito’s, do you want one of your own, or happy with the family you have now?
Amber: I don’t think so, I did when I was younger but now I am at the point where I have a family without having to have kids and my heart is full of love for all of them. These two little boys have stolen my heart and being a positive influence on them, and making sure they are healthy and happy little boys is my main goal. Once the boys are grown and out on their own, I could say Tito and I living on a boat, and just fish whenever we wanted to.
WM: Is there any place in the world that you would love to travel to?
Amber: Australia! I had a foreign exchange teacher in school that was from there and I have wanted to go there ever since. That is one of my goals for this year or next year is to go to Australia. Tito has been there a few times and they keep trying to get him to come back, so I am hoping we do that.
WM: Is there any one item that when you travel, you absolutely have to have with you?
Amber: Uhhh…My phone charger and moisturizer.
WM: I know Tito has Punishment clothing, are you involved at all?
Amber: I do his female lines and I am helping market it and trying to rebrand them and go over the good sellers and repurpose the designs that worked. Instead of wasting money on ones that may or may not sell, reuse the ones that did and not printing all new designs that could sit there on shelves. We are going over all of the books to see what sells, like what designs, colors, everything and working from there. Things change, but the shirts that sold the most, and use those.
*All of the photos shown are owned by Amber Nichole Miller and the photographers that took them.
Andrew Cristi