The Ultimate Fighter winner Juliana “Killer” Miller catches up on her life ahead of her comeback against Ivana Petrovic at UFC Des Moines.
Few fighters on the UFC roster are ever given the opportunity to be seasoned under the bright lights of the Octagon. NCAA champion Bo Nickal (also fighting this Saturday) and teenage dynamo Raul Rosas Jr are two rare examples of the UFC making a commitment to athletes still developing as professionals.
Flyweight and The Ultimate Fighter Season 30 winner Juliana Miller is another. The 28 year-old “Killer” Miller is 3-3 in her professional career and was a green 3-1 prospect when she won the reality show back in 2022. That number is small but it feels like a lot more when considering her pre-UFC experience. Leading up to TUF, Miller appeared on UFC Fight Pass a total of five times between various Jiu-Jitsu events and fighting for Invicta FC. That’s not to mention her three exhibition fights from the reality show that also aired on ESPN. Needless to say, that is a lot of high profile exposure for any burgeoning fighter on the rise.
One of the more exciting personalities to win The Ultimate Fighter in recent years, Miller found herself on the losing side in her subsequent matches with Veronica Hardy and Luana Santos. The latter bout she took while dealing with a serious injury that has kept her out of action since August of 2023. This wasn’t disclosed at the time and it led to the online discussion pointing to her relative lack of fights as a pro compared to her colleagues in the division. Miller read this, knowing the truth, and reiterated that it doesn’t change the fact that she is the proverbial woman in the arena with the opportunity to compete.
“They’re right to believe that. I got signed to the UFC 2-1 as a pro. I had two wins and one loss. Of course I didn’t know what I was doing, and you know I do have less experience. I am coming off two losses. But it’s up to you as an athlete. Regardless of my experience I was a professional, it’s up to me to not take the fight if I’m injured. It’s not something that is to brag about like ‘oh I lost because I was injured.’ I never want to do that again, that’s not something that I am proud of and it’s no excuse. Veronica Hardy showed up the better woman that day as did Luana Santos. What I’d like to say to them is you’re right. Maybe I don’t belong in the UFC, but we’re here to find out. I don’t mind being the underdog. I don’t mind being the black horse and I am curious to see how I can perform against a high-level girl and see where it goes. Let’s see what happens when I’m healthy. Maybe I don’t belong there and if I don’t belong there, I can eat that and I can take that and I can go and improve. However, now I’m healthy and I truly believe that I need one solid touch to finish this fight and we’ll see how it goes. Ivanna Petrovic is doing her entire camp with Valentina Shevchenko right now, props to her. I know she’s training with the champion of the world and I don’t care. I hope that she comes ready for a war because this is so much more than just a fight and this is so much more than a win for me.”
Ironically, the crucible that was the six week shooting schedule of The Ultimate Fighter might have toughened up Miller too much for her own good, per her own words. While most fighters attest to frequently not being at 100% after going through a tough training camp, “Killer” admits she ignored a lot because of that mentality that powered her through the reality show.
Yeah, it was actually a sigh of relief because leading up to my fight with Luana Santos, I was in so much pain and I convinced myself that I was being a pussy, like excuse my language, but I was just like ‘oh I’m cutting weight. I’m emotional’ certain things would happen. Like I would get double legged and my eyes would tear up and I couldn’t move my arm. It was little things like processing through me like ‘I’m such a b**** like I can’t throw a jab. What’s wrong with me?’ I didn’t let myself believe like how tough I really am. So I’m like ‘just fight through it just fight through it’ like don’t be a complainer and don’t be a puss. It’s kind of that Ultimate Fighter feel, when you’re in Ultimate Fighter you’re fighting two or three times in a few weeks and it doesn’t matter if you have a broken bone. If you don’t fight you’re not moving on, you’re not getting to the UFC, so regardless of how injured your body is you fight. I have been in that mindset since leaving Ultimate Fighter and now it’s taken a big shift because when I got the MRI back and Dr. D, the UFC doctor said, ‘your arm is basically torn in half we need to get you into surgery ASAP.’ It was basically an emergency surgery within a week of him reading my MRI. I was in Vegas under. It was a pretty severe injury and it actually give me a peace of mind because I was able to navigate myself and realize like ‘oh my gosh, how tough am I that I pushed through this went in there and I was still throwing down even though my arm wasn’t attached.’ I couldn’t lift it up yet. Somehow I’d find a way to wing it with my body and yes, I got finished. However, I’m just proud of myself for what I was able to do and I’m disappointed in myself for not listening to my body. I should’ve known thatI am more in tune with my body, that I’m not a puss, that I’m very very tough, that I have a high pain tolerance so something that severe I should’ve known right away like go get an MRI. It doesn’t matter if you pull out of a fight because if you can’t make it healthy, you won’t perform well.
In her time away, Miller has been occupied with the next chapter of her life in the Pacific Northwest. While she is still closely associated with the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu branch in San Diego where she began her career, Miller has made the move to Washington state where she has been training with the likes of fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa and others. While there, she has also begun work as a commentator and ring announcer and says such an intimate seat has been eye-opening in regards to how she sees fights now.
“I was so injured that I couldn’t train and I’m like ‘Well, what do I do because I want to learn and I love watching fights but it’s more than that. I decided to stick myself into other roles and shoes just so that way I could have that front seat. I’ve gotten into ring announcing. I’ve announced my friend walking out and I am in the cage announcing them, and I can feel the energy. I feel the adrenaline rush. It feels like I’m fighting like I’m like ‘Oh my God excuse me, but shit just got real.’ Another thing I got to do I go to ref fights. I reffed one of the most bloody female fights I’ve ever seen, and I knew one of the girls in that fight. I didn’t train with her. It was crazy because there’s like blood all over my shoes and I’m watching her fight and it’s like she got a busted nose, but she didn’t stop moving. She was fighting and I’m like I can’t stop this fight just because there’s a little bit of blood and I’m just learning the levels. I ended up stopping the fight later in the third round, but it wasn’t because there was blood it was because she wasn’t responding to strikes and there’s things that I learned watching her in there. I’m like I wish I could’ve said out loud such as like ‘Give your back if you’re mounted’ like little things where it’s like you normally don’t wanna give your back, but it’s something that it’s like if it’s do or die and all you can do is cover like you need to move. That was an incredible experience for me because I’m really learning on the go of like ‘I’ve made that mistake.’ When have I just not moved when I needed to move and I’m watching them learning. I really feel like that’s giving me fight experience in an alternative way because I couldn’t be in there…I love announcing, I love commentating, I love sitting ringside I love cornering and any opportunity for me to be part of the sport. I’m gonna be there
Juliana Miller faces Ivana Petrović at UFC Des Moines on May 03, 2025.
