Jim Miller reveals ideal opponent for 50th and final UFC fight: ‘That’s just a trainwreck of a fight’
Jim Miller has never asked the UFC for much but as he approaches the final few fights of his career, he actually has a couple of bucket list items he hopes to fulfill.
With plans to retire after his 50th fight in the UFC — he has No. 46 scheduled on Saturday at UFC 314 against Chase Hooper — the fighter who already holds records for the most fights and wins in company history still hopes to hit a couple more milestones before it’s all over. Of course, Miller has never been in the business of turning down fights so it’s likely he’s going to accept whoever the UFC throws at him for his final opponent but there’s at least one name that he would love to see on the other side of that bout agreement.
“Opponent wise, there’s so many tough guys,” Miller told MMA Fighting. “So many guys that I’m a fan of that I’d like to fight. I know I’d have a lot of work to do in the next four fights and we’re in the same division and he’s ranked quite a bit higher than me so it makes it tough but I just love the idea of standing across from Justin Gaethje. I think that’s just a trainwreck of a fight.
“Who knows how it goes, who it’s going to be against. As much as I love the sport, I don’t pay enough attention to know who’s booked.”
It’s true that Gaethje occupies a spot near the top of the lightweight rankings so accepting a matchup against Miller might not make a ton of sense for him as far as moving closer to title contention. That said, Gaethje abides by a similar code as Miller when it comes to saying yes whenever the UFC comes calling so anything is possible.
Obviously, Miller holds Gaethje in the highest regard, which is why he feels like retiring with that as his 50th and final fight would be a story for the ages.
“It’s a fight that would take some work on my end to make it happen,” Miller said. “My job is to show up healthy, in shape and ready to go. I don’t get paid matchmaker money.”
The only other request that Miller would like fulfilled is the chance to go home for one more fight before his career is over.
The New Jersey native has actually fought at home several times during his career but Miller would love to at least have one more appearance in the Garden State before he hangs up his gloves for good.
Funny enough, the UFC is scheduled to go back to New Jersey for UFC 316 in June but Miller is already competing on Saturday in Miami. There’s always a chance Miller beats Hooper at UFC 314 and then makes the quick turnaround for the card in New Jersey but he really hopes the promotion allows him the chance to go home again before he’s done.
“That is a big one,” Miller said. “I’d like to fight at the Prudential Center again. [Madison Square Garden] is awesome, New York is awesome, yeah the commission’s a little bit of a pain in the butt, but fighting in Newark that’s my home court. I’d like to get one more in there. I’m hoping that timing works out.
“I don’t want to shelf myself to wait it out too long. I don’t want to be on the shelf six or eight months waiting for one. Because that’s the thing, too, Time is a commodity … that’s the big fight. Father time is the big one. As I get older, everything gets a little bit harder. I’d like to keep a decent pace of every four to five months, barring injuries.”
In total, Miller still has five fights left before he retires so it’s not like the sand in the hourglass is running short just yet but he’s finally ready to put a cap on his career after first debuting in the UFC back in 2008.
Miller believes getting to No. 50 in the UFC not only maintains his record for the most fights in promotion history but it also probably sets a bar so high that it’s going to be incredibly difficult for anyone to come near that again.
“It’s a nice clean number,” Miller said. “I think that’s a mountain-peak that nobody else will get to. Nobody else is going to reach that, I don’t think. I don’t know. I’ve been close to retiring in the past. Like I was deadset to retire at UFC 200 when I was preparing for [UFC] 196 and I was like dude, I could barely get through that camp. I trained like shit. I was like OK just get through this one because I need to know.
“I’m not a guy that makes decisions with emotions. I am analytical. I break things down. I’m calculating. As much as a neanderthal as I sometimes act like, I try to make decisions based on facts and as much data as I have. I’m not going to be that guy that makes that emotional decision.”
Miller promises when he reaches No. 50 that really is going to be the end of the road for him and if anything changes before that date arrives, he’ll announce it before ever setting foot in the octagon.
More than anything, Miller wants to know he’s going into his final fight before he actually competes and he also plans on sharing that with the whole world so it’s a shared experience.
“When it’s that time, and hopefully it’s 50, and if it’s not then it’s still going to be public,” Miller said. “I’m still going to let everybody know. I’m still going to talk about it because I think it’s important to be honest. The idea of walking to that last one for me, it’s lifting that thing off your shoulders. It’s a weight.
“Like I love fighting. There’s no better feeling than getting a finish and just looking up. I don’t see outside the octagon when I’m fighting. I don’t see it. I can’t. For whatever reason my eyes, my vision just stops at the cage and it’s like I pop my head up, I get up on my feet and it’s like boom! I can see everybody in the stands and it’s like yes! This is what it’s all about. So I want everybody that it’s going to be my last one and thinking about it gets me jazzed up.”