Tag: Jim Miller

NEW YORK – It seems like [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] might fight forever, but after Saturday’s win at UFC 309, the potential future Hall of Famer confirmed that all good things must come to an end… eventually.

Miller (38-18 MMA, 27-17 UFC) notched his record-extending 27th UFC win when he submitted Damon Jackson (23-8-1 MMA, 6-6-1 UFC) in the first round at Madison Square Garden. The appearance was his 45 in the promotion.

Not one to usually indicate plans of slowing down, Miller said he has five more fights left – and that’ll be it. Fifty is the magic number.

“The 50 is the hard stop,” Miller told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “You guys can hold me to that sh*t. Yeah, 100 percent. 100 percent. Unless, they’re like, ‘A couple million dollars.’ Then, it’s 51. I’m ready to move on to other stuff. There are definitely parts of me that are ready to make a commitment to something else. It’s going to be difficult. It’s got to be f*cking hard to not get to do this.”

Miller, 41, said one of the biggest struggles will be figuring out what exactly he wants to do when he hangs the gloves up. Fighting is pretty much all he’s ever known professionally.

“I’ve never had a real job,” Miller said. “I framed houses with my father. When I was in college, I worked at Buffalo Wild Wings for a little bit. I was a pretty crappy fry cook for a couple months there. But yeah, I’m a fighter. That’s what I do. I know everybody’s road is different and I’m trying to create my own and be in a good spot to move on to something else. I want to have some energy left to do other stuff. 50 is a hard stop. The goal of mine is to get to 30 wins, so in those five fights, get three more wins and really put that one away. And just have some fun fights and fight on some big cards and fight some guys that I’ve been fans of forever.”

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Not many fighters get to pick and choose the fights that excite them. But Miller is beloved by the promotion, as indicated by UFC CEO Dana White’s immediate agreement to Miller’s “deal” of getting to 50 UFC fights and then retiring.

To sum it up, Miller is comfortable with his legacy. The final five fights of his career he expects will be fun. He’ll soak in each and every moment until it’s time to walk away.

“I feel like I’m a really cool spot,” Miller said. “I’m in a different spot than most people. I’m in a different spot than most fighters before me. I want to go out and I want to put on shows, but I’ve also cemented ‘Jim F*cking Miller.’ I’m going to go out and I’m going to finish people, or I’m going to go out and get my f*cking ass kicked trying to do it. Finding the easy way out inside the octagon, Chael (Sonnen) has said it: Quitting is the easiest thing in the world to do. It’s so painfully easy to find your way out. ‘Things aren’t going my way. Oh, I broke my hand. Oh, I’ve got a giant cut over my eye. Maybe I should just turtle up. No one would think of any less of me.’

“But I know I’ve got this guillotine and I know I’ve got some of these other things, so it’s burned into my brain. Like, playing whiffle ball with my friends as a kid like, ‘Bottom of the ninth. Bases are loaded. It’s a full count.’ I’m still trying to hit that home run. Somebody could be punching me in the face while it’s happening but I’m still looking for it. You know what a Jim Miller fight is and I’m proud of that. That’s part of the reason why through some of the tougher times in my career, I’m still here. It’s because it’s what I do.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

[autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] had a rough night at the office at Saturday’s UFC 300.

The lightweight veteran was defeated by Bobby Green in a unanimous decision, and was also badly damaged in the process. Miller (37-18 MMA, 26-17 UFC) revealed Monday, in a video posted on his Facebook account, that he suffered a broken hand and toe in the first round of the contest – on top of getting 23 stitches due to sustained cuts.

“The struggle is real,” Miller said as he walked around his farm. “Not for why you think – like 23 stitches, which is pretty good. Broke my hand at some point in the first (round). Later half of the round, I broke my toe. I guess I need some milk.

“But I come home, and it’s f*cking gorgeous out. Fruit trees are blooming, some of them at least. Peach trees, nectarines and the pears look great. But I’m like itching to get the garden going. I’ve shoveled horse manure in a walking boot before, but I think with one side of my body down, it’s not going to happen today.”

Miller, 40, saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end against Green, as he was coming off stoppage victories over Gabriel Benitez and Jesse Butler. Miller was a big point of interest coming into UFC 300, given his tenure, but also because he fought and won at UFC 100 in 2009 and UFC 200 in 2016.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

LAS VEGAS – It’s only fitting [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] kicked off UFC 300 fight week festivities Wednesday, considering the years of build.

As he’s done dozens of times before and after fights, Miller (37-17 MMA, 26-16 UFC) greeted reporters with a smile as he sat down and picked up the microphone – but the moment felt uniquely special.

Miller, 40, is on the verge of history, as his attire referenced. He sported a black UFC 100 jacket, given to him when he fought Mac Danzig at the historic event in 2009 – seven years before he competed at UFC 200 vs. Takanori Gomi.

Both of those bouts were wins for Miller, who hopes to complete the trifecta Saturday vs. Bobby Green (31-15-1 MMA, 12-10-1 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena.

Win or lose, he’ll be the only fighter to compete at all three historic events. The specialness of the moment isn’t lost on Miller, who explained his journey didn’t always indicate this would even be possible.

“(This) means I hit a goal that I put on myself and was challenging,” Miller said. “I think I started mentioning fighting on this card in 2020, maybe 2019, something like that – and we’re here and I’m performing. When I first started talking about it, it was like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll drag myself to that card.'”

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The initial stages of Miller’s years-long process of vocalizing his desire to fight at UFC 300 while also putting on performances to maintain his roster spot were reminiscent of his attitude prior to UFC 200 in 2016. The plan was to simply get here, with a future uncertain beyond it.

“That’s kind of what I was doing for UFC 200,” Miller said. “I was having a really tough time in 2015 and early 2016. It was like, ‘Man, let’s get through 196, and I’m going to tell Joe Silva and tell everybody I want to fight on UFC 200, and we’re going to call it.’ That was kind of the idea. It was like, ‘Hey, let’s see if I can drag myself to 300.’ Where I was at when I first started talking about it was a different place than I am now.

“I feel like I’ve got four parts to this career at this point – the pre-Lyme career, Lyme Disease, and then coming out of Lyme and trying to figure out how to make this sh*t work as being over 35 as a lightweight. It’s essentially the kiss of death. Now, having figured it out and having the right people around me, it’s cool to be here, and I’ll be happy when there are questions that don’t involve 300.”

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Now, three days out from the event, Miller is in a comfortable position. Despite his veteran status in the sport, Miller has won four of his most recent five outings, all of which came by stoppage. Retirement is not in the immediate future.

“For me, the biggest thing is how camps go,” Miller said. “Fight night, there is always challenges. You spend a couple days cutting weight, you go into an athletic event against somebody who is trying to take your head off. Obviously, injuries can happen. But for me, the thing that’s going to force me out, if it does, hopefully it doesn’t and I can fight until I want to leave, is the ability to get through camp in shape, ready, and healthy to perform on fight night. I feel like I’ve got things dialed in. I’ve got a great team. I’ve got great coaches. I’m using my head. I don’t like making mistakes. I know the secret is for me to get to the fight and it’s really kind of simple at this point: stay healthy and be in shape and not doing anything stupid.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.