Jim Miller is not done yet. After submitting Jared Gordon at UFC 328 for his 47th UFC appearance, the 42-year-old has signed a new five-fight deal with the promotion as he zeroes in on a personal milestone of 50 Octagon bouts before retiring.
Miller acknowledged the physical toll of his long career but made it clear he still has a specific finish line in mind. “There’s this thing that I deal with right. 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. I’ve got a lot of miles on the body. 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.”
Protecting his longevity has become central to his approach. “I think way too many careers in this sport are cut short by silly injuries and preventable injuries that happen inside the room. So I want to get to 50 and then be able to sail off into the sunset.”
Miller also floated a high-profile name as he looks ahead. “Unfortunately, I think I might have broke my left hand in the four minutes that we were fighting. But I hear there’s an Irishman looking for a fight. I think that would be a fun one.”
Reflecting on how close he once came to walking away, Miller said, “I was so close [to retiring]. When I fought Diego [Sanchez] at [UFC] 196, I was so close to retiring at UFC 200.” Now, he’s focused on one last number: “So yeah, I want to get to 50 [fights].”
