On Saturday night, Jim Miller will become the only athlete to have competed at UFC 100, UFC 200 and UFC 300.
The veteran had made no secret of the fact that his dream was to feature on the card and his dream came to fruition when the promotion confirmed he would make the walk against Bobby Green in a Lightweight contest.
The UFC stalwart will make his 43rd walk to the octagon in the preliminary section of the monster UFC 300 card, which will go down at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas on April 13. Speaking to Michael Bisping, Adam Catterall and Nick Peet on TNT Sports’ YouTube Channel, Miller expressed his delight at featuring on the card and admitted that his recent form has altered his aspirations somewhat. He said:
“I found out probably a couple of days after my fight January 13th that I was getting to fight on 300 and it's been a long time coming. I've been asking to fight on that card for a long time. My goals kind of have changed a little bit. Originally it was like, ‘Hey, let me just get to 300 and I'll call it quits on a big card.’
“But here I am coming into it, you know, 5-1 in my last six, all five of those wins are finishes, feeling good and, , I've got the opportunity to sneak my way back into the rankings again, after a decade out. So, yeah, it's pretty awesome.”
Standing opposite Miller on Saturday will be a man he has been slated to face three times previously, in Bobby Green. The 40-year-old is hoping fourth time is a charm and the two eventually get to meet inside the Octagon.
“Bobby’s a very interesting fight, right?” He said.
“We tried to have this fight in 2014. This is a decade in the making, you know. And then there were two other times the 2021 and 2022 that we tried to fight and things came up. So, you know, crossing my fingers, you know, hopefully everything works out right and we get there and we get to step into the Octagon together.”
Having spent so much of his life in training camps preparing for bouts, Miller believes he how has all of the tools in place to ensure he can the most dangerous version of himself when he pulls on the gloves.
“Like I said, I try to train a to optimize myself. I feel like I've kind of got it figured out. I know what I need to do and I've got that list of priorities when it comes to training camp. It's like being healthy is number one, not aggravating the old injuries, not getting new injuries, which is hard.
“It's pretty exhausting but yeah, that's my number one thing. Then being in shape, I know that if I'm in shape and I'm not dealing with injuries, I'm a dangerous guy. Then it's like, all right, be sharp, prepare for what my opponent brings. And yeah, I think I kind of figured it out being the old man in the, in the division and how I need to go in there and approach it.”
After jokingly being asked if he could see himself making UFC 400, Miller disclosed his ideal scenario for bowing out of the sport, a feat that if he did reach, would be nothing short of absolutely remarkable.
“I said it in an interview just this week. If I'm leading up to my 50th UFC fight, I want you guys to know that that that's it. Like, if I get there, that's it. You take cut the gloves off me and take them and run, right? Like don't let me sign another bout agreement. Yeah, no, it's. It's been fun, but yeah.
“Hopefully I get to 50 fights in the UFC, get to 30 wins in the UFC and then we can call it a wrap.”
Watch the full interview, here:
