Athletes
Jim Miller | Chasing The Half-Century
Jim Miller May Be The All-time Leader In UFC Appearances, But As He Approaches His 45th Walk To The Octagon, He Reveals He’s Not Done Quite Yet
For the past 16 years, there have been three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Jim Miller throwing down inside the UFC’s Octagon.
At UFC 309 on Saturday night, Miller will make the walk to the Octagon for the 45th time in a career that has showcased his constant growth as a fighter as much as it has his longevity.
Miller has the distinction of competing on UFC 100, 200 and 300 and, over the course of his 19-year mixed martial arts career, there isn’t much he hasn’t seen.
Order UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic
Which makes a fight week interview feature with “A-10” an interesting task to prepare for, given the fact that he’s answered just about every conceivable question already, many times over. But now, at the veteran stage of his career, he’s happy to just give it to you straight, regardless of the topic.
“I’ve had this long career, right? I've been all asked all the questions about fighting,” he told UFC.com this week.
“I’ve been open about speaking about retirement – I'm one of the only guys that will actually talk about it. So I get asked about retirement quite often!
Watch: UFC Unfiltered | Jonathan Martinez And Jim Miller Ahead Of UFC 309
“I’ve always tried to be really honest with you, the media, the fans and myself, because I feel that I love this sport too much to not be honest about it, and to not give my honest opinion.
“If my experiences can help up-and-coming fighters, then I think that's it's appropriate for me to tell them the truth and to not really hold back, because there are a lot of things that go on in our lives as fighters that it seems a majority of my peers don't talk about.”
Highlight: Jim Miller Earns KO In 38th UFC Fight | UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs Dumont
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Highlight: Jim Miller Earns KO In 38th UFC Fight | UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs Dumont
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The way Miller has gone about his business in the UFC has won him plenty of fights, and a lot of fans, over the years. But the New Jersey native revealed that winning something else means even more.
“I think that probably the most meaningful thing is earning the respect of my peers,” he said.
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
“I try not to bother myself with comments on social media and stuff like that. People are always saying goofy stuff, just to try to get a rise out of people, or whatever, just to be shocking.
“But no fighters are telling me, ‘Oh, well. You lost at 300. You should hang them up,’ or this or that. Nobody that's ever done this stuff is saying that, saying the negative things. So that's kind of what I think everybody should aspire to, right? To be held in a high regard by those that are trying to accomplish the same things that you're trying to accomplish.
“Like, if you're a brain surgeon, you don't care what I think. I don't know anything about it, right? You probably care more about what other brain surgeons think about your work and what you're doing. So, yeah, to be held in high regard by my peers is definitely super meaningful to me.”
Miller’s next fight takes place this weekend at the iconic Madison Square Garden, where he’ll be looking to repeat his success over Thiago Alves at UFC 205 when he faces Damon Jackson.
UFC 309 COUNTDOWN: Full Episode | Jones vs Miocic | Oliveira vs Chandler 2
“Damon's a unique fighter. He's got a unique style,” said Miller.
“He's a good grappler. He's an unorthodox striker. So we've been preparing for that type of stuff. But really, it's like, I'm a 41-year-old professional fighter, so I have to deal with just the internal stuff of being older and having a ton of miles on my body.
“There's always those little surprises and those little things that come up, and it's like, how do we mitigate those issues, and shut them down? And so, yeah, it's, it's always unique. It's always different. It's a wild ride, doing this type of stuff for a living.”
Doing that stuff for a living is something Miller plans on continuing for the foreseeable future, and the 41-year-old has set a target for himself before he eventually lays down the gloves and calls it a career.
“I’ve still got a couple more fights in me. I'm playing that by ear,” he said.
“At this point, it's kind of just, how easy is it for me to get through these fight camps? If I could get to 50 fights in the UFC – it's another five after this one – I think it's doable. It's not going to be easy, but it'll be doable. But, yeah, I want to go out, have a couple great performances.
“And I think I'm still trying to figure out the next thing. The next thing to hopefully try to give back to this community, because it has helped me so much. And it's allowed me to do this as a job for so long.
“I love the sport, I love being around it, and, yeah, I'm trying to figure out how to pay everybody back.”
Before he gets to that stage, Miller has a few more fights still to go, starting with his bout with Jackson on Saturday night. And, just like the 44 UFC bouts that preceded it, Miller is relishing the challenge ahead, and promising to deliver another trademark performance.
“I’m expecting a Jim Miller fight, right?” he said.
“I'm going to go out there (and) I'm going to try to be as violent as I can, and win in a way that makes me happy, which is a dominant, violent victory.”
UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic took place live from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on November 16, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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