After earning his 20th win in the UFC, Jim Miller is now a member of a rather exclusive club featuring Donald Cerrone, GSP, Michael Bisping, and Demian Maia.
Newark, NJ — Every time Jim Miller walks to the octagon these days, he’s setting records. After battling back from a four-fight losing skid a few years ago, plus Lyme disease, Miller’s story is one of both perseverance, and triumph. On Saturday at UFC Newark, the triumph came over Clay Guida, as Miller earned a first round submission over the Hall of Fame fighter.
Now, Miller (31-13, 1NC) told reporters including Cageside Press post-fight at the Prudential Center, “I’d like to be working my way back up to the top of my division.” Though lightweight’s stacked, Miller is now 3-1 in his last four fights.
Fighting at home once again, Miller said that “I was excited to fight Clay. This is a guy I’ve got a ton of respect for. It was fun preparing for it, it was fun having him in my mind, and envisioning his face on the pads as I’m hitting them.”
He’s happy to get the win at home, in front of his fans, and more than willing to go again soon should matchmaker Sean Shelby require it. Just not during hunting season.
Miller was also happy to show he could still compete at a high level, after that nasty stretch in 2017. He “never really concerned myself with the doubters,” however. Instead, it was more about “proving it to myself, really. It’s a great feeling to go out and perform the way that I can.”
Miller obviously enjoyed fighting a fellow legend in Guida, so while he’s not about to call out any names, a similar fight would definitely interest him. “Hearing the names that I recognize, that I have seen fight and been fans of, it’s awesome. It’s awesome to be with them in the build up, and step into the octagon with them.”
“What I need to do is I need to start going up to 70s and 85s so I can find a few more of those guys that I’ve always wanted to fight,” Miller joked. But in all seriousness, “it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t really matter to me who’s across the cage when they close the door behind me. But it’s fun to have that potential for that really exciting fight. You know it’s a lot higher probability with a guy like Clay.”
Donald Cerrone, Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre, Demian Maia, and now Jim Miller are the only UFC fighters with 20 or more wins. Responding to that statistic, Miller remarked that “that’s a hell of a group to be compared to. I’m not the type to obsess about some of these records and stuff like that that I’ve got, but that’s a really cool one. The weight of it, just hearing their names, it’s pretty awesome to be associated with that group of guys.”
At 35, and taking things one fight at a time, the New Jersey native could be at the top of the wins some day.
For more from Jim Miller, watch the full UFC Newark post-fight press scrum above!
