Athletes
Jim Miller | Not The Only Fighter In The Family
Veteran Lightweight Discusses Son’s Cancer Battle, Return To Action On Saturday
Jim Miller isn’t in the habit of going 13 months between fights, but the circumstances that kept him sidelined between his last outing at UFC 314 and his fight against Jared Gordon at UFC 328 are atypical.
For starters, the 20-year MMA veteran was dealing with the worst injury of his career, which occurred prior to his fight with Chase Hooper last April, but initially wasn’t something that would keep him from competing.
“I tore one of the muscles off my pelvis and then I sprained my pelvic synthesis, the little piece of cartilage in the front of your pelvis where the bone meets,” explained Miller. “It’s not supposed to move, at least not in men. I ended up spraining it in February, and I could feel the muscle tear and it’s like, ‘Okay, it feels like muscle. We’ll get over this; I just need a little time.’
“Fight camp was going on, I felt good, but there were things I couldn’t do all that well,” continued Miller, who acknowledged that drilling kicks essentially caused the repeated re-injury. “I knew I could fight through it, I knew I could beat Hooper with it, and there were a couple other things going on that night that weren’t in my favor, and it ended up not being my night.”
Following his loss to Hooper, the Sparta, New Jersey native recognized the need to really address the issue. As he pressed pause to focus on his own health, a far greater crisis rocked the family, as his 14-year-old son Wyatt was diagnosed with cancer.
“He had rhadbomyosacroma (RMS) — it’s a rare and aggressive childhood cancer,” explained the father of four, who posted an emotional video on Instagram last month when Wyatt was given his “no evidence of disease” diagnosis. “It’s a cancer of the soft tissue. His was tucked into his eye socket and sinus area. We got really lucky with a lot of things… Typically, that type of tumor develops behind the eye, and then it gets bound up in the optic nerve and can cause way more issues, be way more stubborn. With the placement of his, when they went to do the biopsy, it kind of popped out on its own, kind of like a pimple, and pretty much the entire thing was removed other than a handful of cells that were left behind. He already had a heck of a headstart with it.”
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In hindsight, Miller recognizes that Wyatt’s difficult battle helped him take additional time to allow his injury to heal properly. Training and being prepared to take a fight was far removed from being at the top of his list of concerns, with everything rightfully centering around Wyatt and his family.
“Our biggest goal through the whole thing — besides having our 14-year-old beat cancer — was to try and just maintain some regularity to life,” Miller said. “There were those moments where we didn’t know things and those were the hardest times. When he was dealing with the nausea from the chemo, that was tough. Seeing him banged up and struggling, trying to keep it down and tough it out was hard, but like I said, he’s a tough, resilient kid and…”
Bonus Résumé | Jim Miller
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Bonus Résumé | Jim Miller
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Miller took a deep breath.
“I’m gonna get choked up now,” he said, a catch developing in his throat. “The grace and the willingness to fight it, willingness to go through all the treatment, and his unwillingness to change who he was through it — I’ve accomplished some things that no other person on Earth has, and the pride that I have for my son for what did makes anything I’ve ever done in the Octagon pale in comparison.”
As Wyatt’s treatment progressed, Miller let the UFC know he was ready to return to action, and with the promotion set to return to his home state, it made sense to keep the 58-fight veteran on hold until this weekend. When he does step into the Octagon, he’ll inch closer to a pair of milestones: 50 UFC fights and 30 wins (Miller sits at 46 and 27, respectively).
“It’s still there, it’s still doable,” Miller said. “I do not want any more year-long layoffs. Thirteen months is ridiculous. Had the last year not gone the way it went, I could be heading into 49 right now, so we’ll see. There are no guarantees in this game, but I’d definitely like to get to it.”
While he’s very much chasing those twin totals, Miller is the type of competitor that would still be fighting now regardless because it’s just the way he’s wired.
Remember, this is the same guy that was ready to call it quits heading into UFC 200 because his body was breaking down and he thought his time was up, only to find out he’d been suffering from Lyme disease for the previous several years. Though it took some time to figure out what his was required to continue competing post-diagnosis, Miller committed to doing so and has subsequently logged another 23 fights, including competing at UFC 300, giving him the UFC 100, UFC 200, and UFC 300 hat trick.
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“These are the fights I love,” he said. “I love them all and there is definitely a feeling that comes with fighting the unknown when you get one of the newer guys that is just coming in; there’s a different type of nerves for that one. When it’s guys like Jared, there’s a little more excitement because I do know what to expect, I do know that he’s game and gonna come in and try to kick the s*** outta me, and I like that.
“I enjoy fighting guys that I like watching fight, so I’m ready to go and I can’t wait until fight night.”
When he finally gets to step back into the Octagon, Miller will do so in search of his 11th consecutive win by stoppage, a run of wins inside the distance that stretches back to his UFC 205 win over Thiago Alves.
“It’s who I am,” he said. “I’m an aggressive fighter and I want to go out and make myself happy with my performance, and the only way I’m happy about getting my hand raised and excited about is by finishing somebody... I’ve always been super performance driven. The only way for me to be really happy and content is for me to get that finish. I want to fight the way that I would want to watch it, you know? I want my fights to be fights where if I was the person watching, it would be, ‘This is a great fight; look at him go! He might be losing, but he’s still fighting; he’s still going after him, still trying to get this W.’
“That’s how I’ve always looked at it.”
That’s how he’s always fought and how he’ll always be remembered.
It’s also why it’s no surprise that Wyatt was so committed in his own fight, why the entire family, especially his daughter Cassidy, rallied around him during his battle, and why on Saturday night, whether the patriarch of the pack wins or loses, the Fighting Millers will celebrate getting all the way back to normal.
UFC 328: Chimaev vs Strickland took place live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on May 9, 2026. 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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