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The UFC barely cares about legacy
Sports (yes the UFC is a sport) are, by their nature, a transitory medium. Today’s stars are always on the verge of getting replaced. The next generation of talent isn’t somewhere way down the line in the distant future, more often than not they’re right around the corner, constantly working to claw their way to relevancy.
More so perhaps than boxing the UFC especially knows and relishes this fact. For the bulk of the promotion’s history, the Octagon has been a place where fighters might get a flash of success, a few brief years, before being cast off for the next hot commodity. A threshing machine more interested in sorting potential PPV sellers than protecting anyone’s legacy.
That’s less the case now, where fighters are getting more and more chances to put together extended runs in the Endeavor-owned organization even without a lot of highlight successes to their name (see my recent editorial on Andrei Arlovski). But even in that atmosphere, Jim Miller feels like something special.
Jim Miller’s consistency has become a UFC triumph
Over 15 years of bouts inside the Octagon, Miller has put together a 26-16 record. He’s never fought for a title, and the raw numbers may not look like much on paper, but has stayed an action fight mainstay for every minute of that run. At his worst Miller was losing to the likes of Dustin Poirier, Anthony Pettis, Francisco Trinaldo, and Dan Hooker—and battling the prolonged effects of Lyme disease. Outside of that run he’s never lost two fights in a row and has won five of his last six, with all victories coming by finish. The last time Jim Miller won a decision was 2016.
Truly, Miller’s maintained success has been notably astounding. Unlike so many fighters his age, Miller has neither succumbed to chinniness, diminishing output, or a notable drop in cardio. He may not be quite as fast as he was a decade ago, but outside of that he seems like a fighter resisting so many of the ravages of time that plague his cohorts.
In short, Jim Miller is an old dude who has taken all the time and experience and lessons of a life of fighting and put them to practice. He’s been competing at or near the highest levels of MMA for year after year after year, and somehow he’s still a fun fighter to root for. Outside of pure contrarianism, it’s hard to think of any reason fans would have not to pull for Miller and his succes. (Maybe that ‘A-10’ nickname? It ain’t great.)
Stumbling into the co-main and maybe the UFC Hall of Fame?
This past Saturday, Miller found himself in the co-main event of the opening fight night card for 2024. A position more or less stumbled into after Manel Kape saw his rematch with Matheus Nicolau go up in smoke due to a busted weight cut. Scheduled to face off against fellow veteran talent Gabriel Benitez, the two men delivered a fantastic scrap—trading hard shots for the better part of three rounds before Miller finished the fight with a face crank.
In the process, he picked up his fifth performance of the night bonus, making 15 for his career. He has the most wins in UFC history, the most bouts in UFC history and the second most finishes in UFC history. It’s a damn shame that he has never—and seemingly will never—get to fight for gold, but even if he weren’t in a sport where the Hall of Fame felt like a glorified employee of the month club, Miller has built a solid case to be a true ‘Hall of Famer’. In the UFC’s current iteration, his inclusion is practically a guarantee.
Next stop UFC 300? Brock Lesnar?
Assuming all the stars align, he will go on to fight at UFC 300 in three months time, making him the only man to fight on every centennial card (unless that Brock Lesnar fight he asked for comes to fruition). Like most of Miller’s accolades, it’s a testament to his remarkable longevity first and foremost. But he has truly done more over the years than simply survive. For just about as long as I’ve been an MMA fan, he’s always found a way to thrill.
Hat’s off to him. For as long as Jim Miller wants to keep competing, I’ll be compelled to cheer him on.