Jim Miller will be fighting out his contract at UFC 276 and he is quite surprised by that.
Miller is coming off back-to-back KO wins and is set to face Bobby Green on July 2 in Las Vegas in a fight that is years in the making. The fight will also serve as Miller’s 40th UFC appearance but it also could be his last as he revealed to BJPENN.com on Wednesday that he’s fighting out his contract, and it isn’t his choice.
“To be perfectly honest, the UFC is having me fight out my contract,” Miller told BJPENN.com on Wednesday. “I win and I still don’t know if there is another UFC fight. Who knows? I don’t really care or worry about what happens next.”
According to Miller, the news caught him by surprise, and was hoping to re-sign before the fight. However, the plan now is to put on a good performance and get a stoppage win over Bobby Green at UFC 276 to get him another contract.
“Apparently. Coming off two knockouts and apparently, I’m fighting out my contract,” Miller said. “It is where we are, it doesn’t affect anything, it doesn’t change anything. I still have a job to do July 2 and I’m planning on doing it to the best of my ability. We will see what happens and go from there.”
Jim Miller (34-16 and one No Contest) is coming off two straight KO wins over Nikolas Motta and Erick Gonzalez. Prior to that, he suffered back-to-back decision losses to Joe Solecki and Vinc Pichel.
Miller has been in the UFC since UFC 89 in 2008 and has fought the likes of Gray Maynard, Charles Oliveira, Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, Dustin Poirier, Beneil Dariush, Anthony Pettis, Diego Sanchez, and Clay Guida among countless others.
Being a gate keeper in the ufc means your careers over?
Are the careers of major league players that aren’t every day starters careers over?
I feel like being a gate keeper in the ufc is a damn good living
Anyone who doesn’t respect his accomplishments should probably find another sport to follow.
No one has more than Miller’s 39 UFC fights (40 when he steps into face Green). Miller is also first in career submission attempts with 45. He is second in career wins with 23. He’s third in finishes with 15 and third in submissions with 10. Finally, as far as “bringing it” goes, Miller is sixth in fight-night bonus wins with 13, with his last one from October 2021. With that, spare me any age has caught up with him quips.
As for intangibles. Miller fought with undiagnosed Lyme disease for a few years. He never pulled out of a fight until September 2021, when COVID knocked him from a bout that was scheduled for September 18 of that year. However, he made it to the cage for an October 16, 2021 “Performance of the Night” winning knockout of Erick Gonzalez. He also accepted fights on short notice without question.
Perhaps the best example of what Jim Miller has been about during his UFC career came compliments of former UFC matchmaker Joe Silva — who bounced soon after the sale of the UFC. Silva, looking to book Miller a fight in December 2016, got a simple reply from Miller via text. It said, “I’m in.” To which Silva, fully knowing who he was dealing with, replied, “Of course you are. You’re Jim F-cking Miller.”
He deserves to go out at UFC 300. He’s been talking about it for a few years and has been active and winning in the meantime, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t happen. Would be a total scumbag move if they don’t even give him the chance.
Jason Spezza is from outside Toronto and played most of his NHL career in Ottawa, a Toronto rival.
In his 18th season he signed with Toronto, his hometown and a childhood dream. The opening game of the season was in Toronto against Ottawa. Rivalry match against his old team and a big deal to him personally.
The coach didn’t even dress him for the game for no real reason other than to be a dick. He was a healthy scratch and played the next game. It became newsworthy.
I don’t rank anyone in the UFC brass any better than that Leafs coach and would put nothing past them. If they cut Jim right before UFC 300 or put him on UFC 299 instead just because they could and found it amusing I would not be shocked at all.