Veteran Jim Miller saw his lightweight fight with Gabriel Benitez bumped up to the co-main event at UFC Vegas 84, after Manel Kape vs. Matheus Nicolau dropped off the card.
That might have been a more fitting position for the UFC legend Miler, who most everyone was hoping would come out of the event healthy and available for UFC 300 in April (Miller had appeared at both UFC 100 and UFC 200, and had a chance to make history as a result).
It was Gabriel Benitez opening up the fight with a jab/cross combination followed by a low kick — only for Miller to answer back with a leg kick of his own. That would be a trend throughout the first half of the round; every kick Benitez threw, Jim Miller fired one back. Miller would press the action throughout the opening round, walking Benitez down and putting him on the fence. Miller’s inside and outside leg kicks were both having success; with 90 seconds to go, Miller put on a body lock, but couldn’t get the fight to the ground as the pair eventually broke from the clinch.
Round two opened with more low kicks traded; Benitez was showing some damage to the thigh and calf. In a clinch, Miller peppered Benitez with uppercuts, though Gabriel Benitez did get a lick or two in himself. Two minutes into the frame, Miller, backed up by a Benitez combination, changed levels and executed a perfect double-leg takedown. That gave Jim Miller plenty of time to work, with Benitez closing his guard, not far from the fence. Miller slipped in an elbow, then a couple more, until Benitez rolled for an arm-bar.
Miller, ever the veteran, locked up a leg, preventing Benitez from finishing the submission, and Miller was able to maintain top control. Then, in a scramble following a heavy shot from Miller, he managed to take the back, getting a body triangle in place with about 45 seconds left in the round. He wouldn’t find the finish — but had firmly won the round.
The third frame saw Miller continue to attack the legs, while taking some big swings perhaps looking to put Gabriel Benitez away. Benitez despite the obvious damage to his legs continued to fire kicks of his own, but he had yet to truly hurt Jim Miller. At the midway mark, another double-leg takedown was completed by Miller, and suddenly Benitez was in a very bad spot — and he knew it, trying to quickly scramble out only to give up his back. Miller got both hooks in, went under the throat (or across the face even), and seconds later, had the tap!
Onward to UFC 300, Jim Miller!
