Jim Miller is dealing with a nasty eye injury from his fight with Alexander Hernandez at UFC Vegas 69 this past Saturday.
Though he originally described it as ‘nothing more than a little bruising,’ Miller felt compelled to visit an ophthalmologist after he started to experience blurred vision in his right eye. The diagnosis? A traumatic cataract.
“So an exciting development, depending on how you define exciting, said Miller on Instagram. “I just got back from the eye doctor. That’s why I look like I was smoking Parmesan cheese off the floor with the president’s son. I’ve got a traumatic cataract in my right eye.
“The doctor said that it might get a little bit better, but at this point, like — I mean it’s blurry even at half an arm’s length,” continued Miller. “But, like, 12-feet away to the end of the room, if I close my left eye, I can’t really read the letters on the archery target. But I can see a motherf—ker standing in front of me, so maybe we’ll kick the can down the road a little bit, a couple of months. Like, we’ll just schedule surgery for August of 2024.”
Per The American Academy of Ophthalmology, ‘the majority of traumatic cataracts are visually significant and require surgery,’ which Miller says he may or may not undergo.
Prior to UFC Vegas 69, Miller shared he wanted five more fights, which would include a final appearance at UFC 300. Should he get to that pay-per-view event, ‘A-10’ would be the only fighter to compete at UFC 100, 200 and 300.
“I said I wanted to get to UFC 300,” said Miller at media day (video provided by MMA Junkie). “I’m pretty certain at this point that my body can make it, you know, barring something catastrophic. I’ve said that if I make it there, I want it to be my last UFC fight, and I’m pretty good with that. But I don’t want it to be one more fight in between. I would like UFC 300 to be my 45th UFC fight.
“So that means I fight Saturday, fight in, like, July, then maybe November, March, and then July again,” continued Miller. “Which is a good pace, the pace that I like to fight. That would get me three fights this year, and then two next year. I would be 100 percent content with that.”
Whether this traumatic cataract falls into the ‘something catastrophic’ category remains to be seen.
About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)
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