Jim Miller had a short night at the office at UFC Vegas 74. He also had a fruitful one.
The Fight Night card saw the promotion back at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas yet again, a development met with groans from a fanbase weary of the empty feel of the private venue. Miller paid no mind, however, dropping short-notice replacement Jesse Butler, who stepped in on just two days’ notice to replace Jared Gordon, with a left hand in all of 23 seconds.
Making your promotional debut on short notice is never easy. Against the record-holder for most fights in UFC history (Miller has now made the walk 42 times), it was an insurmountable task.
Just imagine how thunderous the eruption of the crowd would have been, had the show been held somewhere with actual fans.
The fastest finish of Jim Miller’s career gave him his 25th victory under the UFC banner. It also gave him an extra $50,000 care of a Performance of the Night bonus.
Among several worthy candidates, Tajikistan’s Muhammad Naimov captured the other Performance bonus for his TKO finish of Jamie Mullarkey.
Fight of the Night at UFC Vegas 74 went to the co-main event featherweight firefight between Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres and Daniel Pineda. After seemingly splitting to opening two stanzas, Caceres pulled ahead in the third, delivering devastating body shot after body shot to a zombie-like Pineda who simply would not go away. Pineda did manage to drop Caceres late in the third, but it wasn’t enough, with the long-serving UFC vet capturing a unanimous decision in the end.
All four bonus-winning fighters at UFC Vegas 74 walk out with an extra $50,000 for their efforts.
