Jim Miller made a statement in Newark, submitting Jared Gordon by first-round guillotine choke in a lightweight prelim bout at Prudential Center in New Jersey.
With the finish, Miller extended his UFC record for most wins and picked up a Performance of the Night bonus in his first fight in 13 months, the longest layoff of his career.
Miller, 42, reflected on his longevity, saying, "There's this pretty famous college professor, Henry Jones Jr. – you might know him as 'Indiana.' He said, 'It's not the years, it's the miles,' right? I've got a lot of miles on the body."
He also laid out a clear target for the remainder of his career: "I want to get to 50. I don't want anything stupid to happen. That's why I train with the team that I do. They're awesome guys. I don't get all the looks in the room. It'd be nice to have particular body types and styles. But I have a group of guys that I can trust (and) that trust me. We can do what I need to do to prepare. They give me the looks that I need and I can do it in a safe way. I think way too many careers in this sport are cut short by silly injuries and preventable injuries that happen inside the (training) room. So I want to get to 50 and then be able to sail off into the sunset."
Miller, who has stoppages in his past 11 wins with eight by submission, also expressed interest in a potential fight with Conor McGregor, saying, "I think that'd be a fun fight," and adding, "I'll test that new ankle he's got there, that titanium. I don't know – I honestly feel bad for him because he hasn't had the opportunity to fight in so long. Yeah – they know my number."
