MMA Fighting - Jim Miller Talks UFC 300, Retirement Plans and New Details About Health Issues as a Result of Lyme Disease

Episode Date: January 10, 2024

Jim Miller previews his upcoming fight against Gabriel Benitez at UFC Vegas 84 and explains why he didn’t just sit around and wait to compete again at UFC 300. After earning wins at both UFC 100 and UFC 200, Miller has often talked about his desire to compete at UFC 300 and he doubles down on those plans while addressing any potential delays due to his fight in January. Miller also discusses his legacy in the sport as the fighter with the most fights and wins in UFC history and how he still wants to add onto that record after changing his plans regarding retirement. Miller also details more medical issues he faced after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, which hit him hard for two years of his career in the UFC. All this and more in this exclusive interview with Miller ahead of his fight at UFC Vegas 84 on Saturday!    Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprise his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking,

What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original, The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer,

but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much anticipated sequel that leaves you asking,

what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. Available now, only from Audible. We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. As the winningest fighter in UFC history and I'm sure we're going to have this same conversation about two months' time when we get ready for UFC 300.

But before we get there, he's got another fight booked. January 13, it's always my pleasure to speak to the great Jim effing Miller. Jim, what's going on? How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Just wrapped up a day of training, you know, and feel good. Ready to go. So we spoke after your last fight in the knockout,

and the conversation has never stopped. Anytime you do an interview, the conversation eventually leads to U.S.C. 300. But you told me back then, even after a 23-second knockout, you said, I'm not interested in just sitting and waiting. I think you told me, like, bad things tend to happen when I'm not fighting, when I'm not getting ready for a fight.

Can I imagine there was never a doubt you were going to fight before UFC 300? Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know, I never wanted to sit and wait. So what, April 13th, it would be 10 and a half months, you know, between my fight in June and then to UFC 300. And that's too long of a layoff, you know. I got, yeah, it's, you know, especially, especially I just turned 40, you know, and like, time matters.

So, so like with each day that goes by, it's like the end of my career comes closer. So I'd rather be in the mix, in the gym, working out, getting prepared for fights and fighting. and yeah, I asked to fight before the end of the year. You know, I wanted to fight November, maybe early December, but that ended up not happening. So here we are in the 2024. And, you know, I got Gabriel Benitez. We, there's a reason why I said your,

we know what your nickname is when Bruce Buffer announced it, but of course your real nickname is Jim Effing Miller. Thanks to Joe Silva back in the day. When the UFC calls you, answer. That's been your moniker throughout your entire career. Was there any disappointment though that the call didn't come until January?

Because the timing is obviously there's a risk, right? Like, I know how much it would mean to you to fight at 300. It's basically three months later. It's literally exactly three months later. I'm assuming, like, in a perfect world you would have fought October, November, just to give yourself a little more time. Was there any

disappointment the call didn't come until January? Yeah. little bit, you know, um, one of my goals is to fight, uh, locally before I hang them up, uh, you know, one more opportunity for my, my fans and family and everybody that's around here, uh, in the Northeast to, to come to one of my fights. Um, and there was the, you know, the MSG card, uh, which is local enough. Um, but, you know, it, it, listen, if they, if, if, if I have, had the opportunity to fight whenever I wanted, I would already have probably 60 fights in

UFC. Like, you know, there have been, there have been a few of these like six, seven, eight, nine month layoffs that, uh, they weren't up to me, you know, there have been a few that were where I was, uh, you know, doing physical therapy, rehabbing injuries and stuff like that. But, uh, a majority of them have not been, uh, you know, my decision. Yeah, I just, I want to fight. I like to fight. I like being in camp.

You know, it is, it is hectic right now. You know, my kids are getting older. We got boys in wrestling. We got one daughter of basketball, another at dance. So, like, there's just constantly things going on. So it doesn't make it easier. But, you know, for me, it's like at this point, it's like, yeah, I, I, uh, bad thing had happened when I'm not in

training camp, you know, like I, I could still, I could still hurt myself just as bad, uh, literally bending over, uh, you know, been there, done that. So, so like, yeah, I'd rather be preparing to, to fight somebody. Um, and, uh, yeah, because like, that's what I, that's what I, that's what I live to do. Yeah. You don't write the script for how the UFC's going to operate, but, when you saw the schedule for 2024 and you saw they're going to Atlantic City on March 30th and then going to USC 300 in April 13th you're sitting there thinking yourself,

are you freaking kidding me right now? Because like that would be another one. Like that would be a natural fit. But obviously, you know, we've all talked about the goal of UFC 300. Are you sitting there thinking, are you freaking kidding me? You're going to Atlantic City two weeks before UFC 300? Yeah, it's ironic the way that that happens, you know.

But listen, like at this point, you know, 300 is, I think it's important. I've been talking about it for a few years, you know, when I originally brought it up, you know, this was like probably four years ago. I wasn't certain where I would be today. So I feel like I'm in a better place than I had anticipated I would be. So like I was bringing it up to be like, hey, you know, I almost. was going to retire at 200. So might as well retire at 300, but that's not the plans anymore.

So like I said, it's important. But if they wanted to give me the main event of Atlantic City, then, you know, like, sure, let's do it. Yeah. Because there'll be another one after that. So, you know, I'm not planning on hanging them up just yet. So 300, I think we, I'm pretty sure we've had this conversation before, just to be clear, 300's not the last one.

Even if everything goes, well, you beat Gabriel Benitez, you fight it 300. 300's still not the last one. That is not the plan. No, no, that is not the plan. That's not the plan. But it's all, you know, I am comfortable talking about it and saying, because I was so close, right?

I was preparing for UFC 196 just in agony and barely able to train. and I was like, I can't do this anymore. Let me just get to like, might as well get to 200, you know, fight on both. That'd be great. Retire then. And that was like, you know, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease three days prior to 196 and, you know, was able to get through that. So I've already looked retirement in the eye.

I've already, I've already like decided to do it. So it's easy for me to talk about. I know that not very many of my peers are willing to talk about it. Not many other professional athletes are willing to talk about it. But since I was so close to it happening, and fortunately it was something that was what was driving me to make that decision was something that was out of my control, but also fixable. You know, I got a handle online.

And I know that it's like, things could happen at any moment, you know? And like I said, I hurt myself last, you know, a little over a year ago, bending over in the kitchen to pick up a little piece of a wrapper off the floor that one of my kids had dropped. And I, you know, I put a decent tear in my pebbler tendon. It's like, like, this could happen at any time. You know, I could have a devastating injury at any time.

So, like, one that's going to lead me to a year. year, 18 months of recovery, and I don't know if I have that in me at 40. So I'm playing it by ear where I sit right here today. UFC 300 is not my last fight. Yeah. So let's talk about UFC 400. No, I'm joking. I'm not just. Can I, because like, listen, we all know like you've gotten records, you've broken records, you've set standards with your resume in the UFC. But again, there's been so much focus on being the one guy to fight it 100, 200, and now 300, Gabriel Benitez is the guy in front of you. You got him, you're a little over a week now.

Does it, I know the answer. I know what you're going to say, but I want to hear you say it. Does it change anything about the fight, meaning like, I know you're not going to play it safe. You're not going out there to say, I want to, you know, want to play a safe, get a decision, take him down, grind him out. I know that's not how you're built. You're going to go out there and have a Jim Miller fight.

but like how do you like do you just completely push it out of your mind like hey I'm going to go balls to the wall and if it ends up with me into being a broken foot and I don't fight at 300 it is what it is that's the fight game because every next week when you arrive in Vegas every media day you know 90% of the questions are going to be about UFC 300 so like how do you push that out of your mind how do you approach this fight knowing that I mean Dana white's already said it Dana White said of course we want to have Jim Miller on the US so he's already acknowledged it too you know uh i'm about to get locked into a cage with uh somebody that's going to want to take my head off so for me it's a pretty easy uh to focus on that like i haven't i haven't even entertained any of the the like who do you want to fight this and that um it's it's it's it's on the radar right

but it's like it's blippin but it's off the screen right so like i'm i'm I'm preparing for the 13th. I'm preparing for Benitez. And, yeah, I'm going to go in there and I'm going to fight my fight because, you know, I have a set of standards that I have for myself. And I'm going to, yeah, like I said, I'm going to make it a Jim Miller fight. And I want to come out from the fight excited with my performance. So I'm going to go out there and try to be as violent as possible and, you know, make it a tough fight.

Yeah, like make it one of my fights. So, yeah, it's been, it's been, it's cool to like, you know, hear people talk about it, hear Dana mention it. You know, when Sean Shelby called me up to offer me this fight, he said, like, listen, it'll, it'll be a couple months and then you'll get 300. you know so hearing him say that a few months ago was great but yeah like uh i have a fight in a a week and a half and and that's that's the only thing that's been um you know on my mind for all the ways everyone's going to talk about 300 wouldn't it be like disingenuous to be who you are if you didn't go out there and take this fight when they offered it to you because that's just who you've always been, as I joked with the name

with the Joe Silva thing, with the Joe, the Jim Evan Miller, like if you didn't take this fight, so no, no, let me sit, you know, I want the, I want the monumental fight, I want the moment, I want to be the guys fought at UFC 100, 200, 300. That wouldn't be who you are, though, right? Like, if you, if Sean Shelby calls you and said, hey, Jim, you want to fight

January 30, he said, no, nah, I want to wait three months. I think he dropped the phone and be like, who am I talking to right now? Did I call the right number? Like, that's just who you are, right? Like, isn't it, like, for all the all the ways we talk about this monumental bit, It is. Obviously, we all want that for you. But that's who you are, right?

Like when they, when they call you, you answer. And for you to do anything else, wouldn't be, it'd be disingenuous to the career you've built, right? If you actually said to them, no, no, I want to wait three months. That would be way out of character for you. Exactly. Exactly. Right. You know, so I, I'm just being, I'm just being true to myself.

and, you know, the legacy that I've, that I've built, you know, for myself. And, yeah, like, if the opportunity to fight comes up, I take it. I like to fight. So, yeah, it's, uh, there was no, uh, there was no, uh, there was no even, like, thinking about it. You know, it's like, yeah, yes, yeah, I'll take it. Yeah, that sounds about it, right? Very short phone calls.

Yeah. You, you know, you've like, I know you, again, this is stuff guys like me as the media sit around and do. You certainly don't do this when you're sitting around your house hanging out with your family. But I was, again, just because there is historical context when you fight because of the record you put together, most fights, most wins, all those kind of things. I was deciding today, I was like, well, I'm talking to Jim Miller. I want to do a little research, and I was just looking at this.

I want to mention some names here. And I think you'll understand where I'm going here. But George St. Pierre, Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping, John Fitch, Mark Coleman, good friend of mine, Mark Coleman, legend, UFC heavyweight former UFC heavyweight champion, Amanda Nunes, Brock Lesnar, Daniel Kormier, Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo. These are names that have occupied spots at UFC 100 and UFC 200, all gone in one former fashion, either not in the UFC anymore or retired.

Now, there are a couple of exceptions. John Jones is the one guy at 100 who is still around. obviously we know he's not going to fight at 300 and UFC 200 there's a couple more Julianne Pena's still around Calvin Gasselam still around a couple other people but again even that event which was seven years ago they're not

most guys have retired moved on I know you certainly don't sit around and think about this because I know people bring it up to you all the time about how many fights you've had how many wins you've had in the UFC I know you're not sitting around with a bean counter at home being like ooh I've had this many wins and all that kind of stuff but do you take appreciation or

can you sit back and appreciate the fact like Because longevity is hard. Like, I don't know the stats. I haven't said to research it, but I'd imagine the average UFC career has got to be two years. I mean, a lot of people come in and have four fights and they're gone. And that's a lot of fighters. Do you appreciate the fact that you've been doing as long as you have at this level?

Like, you're not facing the opening guy, you know, the opening guy on a card against some bum that doesn't deserve to be here. And they're just hoping to get you a win. Like, you're still competing against really good competition. you put together just recently, win streak, knockouts, you're still doing the thing at this level. I know you don't sit around and think about it,

but when you do take a moment and sit there like, damn, that is pretty crazy that I'm still doing at this level all these years. Like when all those legends, guys who are absolutely legend of sport, have either called it a career or they're just not in the UFC anymore. It's wild when you think about it. Yeah, I mean, it hasn't been easy. It's, yeah, like, it's been, I've tried to, I've tried to kind of like figure out how, right?

And like how I've been able to hang around it. Because, yeah, longevity, particularly in this sport, is not, it's not common. And, you know, at first I was just like, ah, you know, luck in genetics, right? Like, yeah, I was just kind of born to be bounced around. and, you know, I've been lucky on more than a few occasions of not sustaining, like, really bad injuries, right? But there's also some design to it, too, right? Like, you know, I know that my road is like nobody else's. You know, I was ranked in the top ten in the world.

and bitten by a tick that was carrying Lyme disease. And it fucked my world up. You know, more than I've talked about, honestly. You know, like one of the symptoms, because there's a brain plaque that's associated with Lyme disease looks exactly like freaking Alzheimer's. My memory from about 2015 through maybe early, early 2017, like there's times where my wife will bring something up and there's,

there's nothing. There is nothing there. But then I can remember things, you know, from, from 2010, 2008, 2006. We can go all the way back. But there's just like dark cloud of a little bit of time where things were just freaking really hard. It was really hard to train. I wasn't myself.

But it also taught me a lot in going through that, you know, about like how to train through that type of stuff, how to deal with it. And I've been able to kind of figure out like, hey, you know, like I consider myself very coachable. And I open my own gym in late 2014 because of some drama. and having my own spot and then really kind of figuring out how to train, you know, and already having that that voice in my head that's like, hey, push, go hard. Right. I didn't need somebody out there telling me to do that type of stuff. But like when I'm in control of it and I know that I was dealing with stuff, like I've learned how to throttle myself when

need to be throttled. Like, a lot of times my peers will go into a training session and they have these things happen, right? Like, oh, you tear your groin or you, you know, fuck something up, right? I guarantee you that they felt a little off that day. And, you know, keeping up with everybody else in the mat, you know, maybe it's, maybe it's sparring day. Maybe it's, you know, hard grappling rounds today.

You got somebody that cares about you and loves you and wants you to see you succeed trying to push you. But they're not living in your body. They don't know what you're going through. And you're trying to live up to the standard that they're pushing on you. And something fails. And then fights fall through. And then, you know, then it's hard to come back from injuries, you know. And they add up.

You know, and like I learned how to kind of. protect myself and pick the days where I go, well, today's, today's a day. I feel great. Like, we're going. You know, and some days it's like, hey, today's a day that I'm protecting myself. And we're getting through the workout. We're going to try to learn some things, play with some new things, but not get injured, not get hurt, nothing, don't let anything stupid happen.

And I think being able to make those decisions, being mature about it and realizing that, like, you know, especially now, like a, like, I'm old. I'm an old lightweight. I wasn't planning on fighting into my 40s. You know, like, when I started fighting, there were no 40-year-old lightweights, you know, like, so I was like, at 34, we're good. Like, we'll call it. And, yeah, like, here we are.

And it's been off of, like I said, a little bit of luck, a little bit of genetics, but also making the right decisions in training. and being smart about when I push myself and what I do on certain days. You know, and also like not having that other, you know, that other input sometimes. Like it's, it's, you know, I'm a senior guy on the mat, which is, it's good and bad. Like, it's bad because, you know, you want somebody to push it. You need somebody. Everybody needs that push.

And I get my push. I get it. I have my coaches that, that, you know, get that out of it. But I also, like, am capable of calling the shots, you know. And, like, hey, we're not 100% today, you know, and, and, you know, toning it back a little bit. So, like, yeah, it's a, the longevity thing is, is, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, cool, right? You know, like I, I aspired for a bit more when I got into this. But here we are, right? And it's like, you know, I'm four and one of my last five with four finishes. So it's like,

must be doing something right. Yeah. I mean, that's competing at this level. Like I said, man, I had a similar conversation years ago with Frank Meir when he was fighting. I think he was fighting in San Diego and I was in San Diego talking to him. And I was kind of having a similar conversation at the time, because he was kind of like one of those last guys that fought in like the UFC 20s and 30s who was still around at that point. And, you know, he's like, listen, absolutely. Like, longevity is a big deal. And I know you've been asked some version of this question before.

Because, again, I know you well enough to know, like, you're not a guy sitting around, like, waiting for the call to say, Jim, you're going in the UFC Hall of Fame. Like, we're putting you in the Hall of Fame. But I know you've heard the conversation. I know Daniel Cormade guys met the conversation with the conversation. He's a Jim Miller Hall of Famer. And I had this conversation with Matt Brown on the podcast last year, around one of your fights.

And he said, not only is like, obviously you've set records for fights and wins, but he's like, longevity is absolutely a mark of success. Because you do not, like the UFC does not suffer fools. Like they're not going to keep you around if you're not worthy of being there. Now, you know, did maybe BJ Penn get a couple more shots that maybe he probably should have been in there? Maybe because he had built up that reputation, he's legend, things like that. You could maybe argue a little bit recently with.

Tony Ferguson, like seven losses in a row. That's very rare. Not going to happen. But again, he built up that goodwill through all the other things he did. But you know as well as I do, Jim, if you were losing fights, you were having bad performances, one of them, even as as as tenured as you are, Dana or somebody's going to reach out and say, Jim, man, we love you, but, you know, it's time. Like, you know, it's time.

I'm curious, like, do you care, like, in the long run, this is my long window way of getting around the question, like, do you believe, like, when it's all, said done? Would something like the UFC Hall of Fame mean something to you? Like I know you wanted to be a champion and we talked about that many, many times. You were close, very close a couple times. I don't know that like you're sitting here saying to me right now, I'm going to

go on a run for a title at 40. Like I understand you're probably not saying that to me right now. But would something like the UFC Hall of Fame mean a lot to you? Because not only do you have those records, but I 100% believe the career you put together in terms of being here this long and still being relevant at

this stage. You're not at a point where I'm saying, Jim, man, I love you, but maybe this should be the last one. Like, maybe you should. No, you're still performing at an incredibly high level. Do you feel like, is that something to mean a lot to you in terms like putting an exclamation point in your career when it's all said and done? It would. It would. Yeah. You know, and like, as it's messed up for me to even say this, right like i i feel i feel messed up saying it but uh you know like what uh what i've done might be more impressive than just winning a title because there have been fighters that they got a they got a title shot off of whatever you know the the ultimate fighter show or this or

that and it's like they had an opportunity you know i mean i was i was nine in the UFC and at that time nobody went out of seven-fight win streak and didn't get the opportunity and it was because of timing and rematches at you know the for the title

you had you had two sets of rematches and you had injuries and it things got drug out and you know like there have been some fighters that that want it that you know they were kind of gifted an opportunity um

but like obviously there are there are plenty that didn't you know there are plenty that that you know fought through the trenches and and earn their opportunity and then went out to you know defend the title and stuff like that i'm not i'm not uh i'm not comparing well you know uh 42 fights 43 fights to that um but uh yeah like longevity it is uh it hasn't like that it hasn't been easy you know like because i i like you said the the the reason that I am still here is because of the way that I fight. It's not because of things I say at press conferences. It's it is only because of the way that I step into the octagon and fight.

And, you know, like, yeah, you could be cut for any reason. one one loss people have been cut off after wins because they do stupid stuff um so to to to be around this long and to to have shared the octagon with the with the the the list of guys that i have um yeah that's uh it it'll be it'll be a honor if i if i do uh you know get that uh that opportunity to be in the the whole same. Yeah, I mean, there's a, we can list off the amount of people who have been UFC champions who never got remotely close to the record you said, never had to, I mean, I know guys who would, who would probably give, I don't, I don't want name names or anything. I guarantee there's guys I could talk to right now who would say I'd give back that title to

have another year in the sport or two years in the sport or to still be fighting at 40 because it's not easy. This is such an incredibly hard game. And you had it robbed away from you for a couple years there with the Lyme disease. I imagine that plays a small part in like right now, while you appreciate it, why he said, you know, when I originally said I'd retire a UFC 300, now I feel pretty good. I'm on a good streak. Like, I'm not going to retire a UFC 300 because this is a way is almost making up for lost time and you're still competing at a high level. And again, I'm just being honest. Like I said, the UFC might love you. But, you know, if you were not fighting at a high level, they would still say, you know, see you. Like,

that's just the reality of business. And I get it. Like, that's a business. I understand it. you know if you were if you hired someone to fix the roof of your house and they fell through the roof you probably wouldn't hire them again like that's the reality of it so um you know like i said like you know but that longevity is absolutely a moniker of success um and you're and again you're not done so i don't know what the final record's going to be but you set a you set a standard for the amount of fights and the amount of wins that man that's going to be hard to top and there's a couple guys there like i know under erlowski's still out there maybe close but but like, you know, I don't know that he's older even too, you know what I mean? So I don't know how much more time he has. But you're setting a record that's going to be pretty freaking hard to top. Like, it's going to be real hard in this day and age with, you know, I mean, I talk to guys all the time. Like, I just talked to Brad Tavares earlier today. He's been around forever.

He last fought in August. He's just now fighting in February. Guys wait six, eight months to fight now. Like, you're not fighting every three months taking you. So you're setting a standard that may never be set again. Like, that's pretty remarkable that when it's all said and done. Like, for someone to get 20 fights to the UFC is pretty ridiculous now. To do what you've done is insane.

Yeah, you know, and like that, the, the group of fighters that have 20 wins in UFC, like, when I, when I, when I, you know, earn my way into that group, it's like, man, like, now you're, this is, this is just a group of studs. like I get to get associated with these guys for the rest of my life this is awesome you know so yeah it means a lot to me you know what you're saying

yeah I like I I I'm just doing what I do right like I just I fight the way that I fight and and yeah like a

it's not something like I'm I'm super like hung up on oh i need to have this many fights like it was never a goal you know like that was that was never part of it um and it's really it's it's still not part of it um i just i want to get as many fights as i can um and and keep fighting because i love doing it i love the training i love fight week i love stepping into the octagon um you know and i get to fight because there aren't a lot of guys that are 40 years old that can get that opportunity and have earned that opportunity.

And there are plenty that, you know, like you said, had to call it quits a lot sooner. So, like, I am super appreciative. And, you know, like, you know, I, it's funny, like, the way that I approach, like, the warm up for a fight and stuff like that. nowadays, you know, when I, when I was coming up, you know, on the local circuit and then first bunch of fights in the UFC, like, I would get so, like, I would just get myself fired up, you know, like, I didn't, I didn't need to hear cliche, you know, stuff from my corner and this and that, but like, I would just get intense because of the, the level of the unknown. I don't know if, I don't know if fear is the right word, right?

like I think of I think of the things that I fear and I get a different feeling right like and it's not spiders like you know it's like I mean what what what scares me is like something happening in one of my kids and

and not acting and not not preventing it right because I hesitate right because I'm afraid of the situation that that scares the shit out of me that's not the same feeling that I get, you know, or was getting when I was warming up for fights. But nowadays, it's just like, man, I'm, I'm like fighting, fighting back smiles. Like, like, I'm in the

back warming up and it's like, this is, this is cool. And then, you know, like, I see some of the other guys warming up and you're like, we have to be so serious about it. You know, like, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, and my has changed and yeah I love I love being here and you know and there's definitely parts of me that are going to love not having to kick the shit out of myself you know for for six eight weeks and and and and not having to you know get punched in the face and cut and you know the inside your mouth all busted up and you know the bruises and this and that or the other injuries that come with fights but uh yeah like i'm gonna i'm gonna cherish every opportunity that i get

um until it's the last one and and uh you know i'm excited i'm excited for that last one i'm excited to know that like okay this is going to be it you know so um yeah like uh i'm just uh i'm just i'm just glad to keep keep fighting yeah do you think you will define it though when it's all said and done and what i mean by that is is uh this is something i know Joe Lozon, a guy, of course, you're familiar with and have fought, Joe has said and told me very honestly, he's like, I'll probably never retire. Like, I may never fight again, but I may never retire. Like, he's just like if the UFC calls me and there's an offer and I like the fight,

I'll take it, but I may never fight again. Matt Brown has kind of said something similar. Like, he had once upon a time declared a retirement. That also circled that he was going through a divorce at the time, so he's very open and honest about why it happened. But like now he's kind of like, I may just, you know, kind of fade into the sunset, just not take a fight again. And do you feel like you will define that one day?

Like you will actually use the word retirement or is there a chance we just, you know, where's Jim Miller? Yes, I've fought in six months. Oh, you know, maybe I'll fight again. Maybe I won't. Is there, or do you feel like you need to, like at some point you'll need to put that stamp down to say, I'm done? I, I, I get excited about knowing that a fight will be my last one, that there,

that there is nothing after that. Like, that's like, I don't know. It's like there's nothing left to hold back for, you know. I'm going to have to define it. And it might just be from fighting in the UFC, you know, like, or MMA. You know, I'll obviously still be training and maybe I'll take up some of the offers that I get to compete in Jiu-Jitsu and stuff like that. or who knows, there's lots of guys making money in boxing stuff. You know, like, who knows?

But I will define it. I will have that last, you know, that last fight. And I want to know going into it. And obviously, right, things can happen. And if something happens in a fight that I, I feel like, well, we're not coming back from this anytime soon. I might have to do it right there, but I'm not the type that makes emotional decisions. So, yeah, I want to know ahead of time.

I'd like everybody to know ahead of time. And, yeah, just go out and have fun and put on a show and hopefully go out on what will be remembered as a quintessential Jim Miller fight. Yeah. It might be weird to hear me say this, because obviously at the end of the day, man, I want you to go out on your terms,

whatever those terms may be. But I'm weirdly happy that you're not retiring EOSC 300 because the performance you've been putting on right now and obviously got Gabriel Benitez in a matter of days and he's a super tough guy, game opponent, you know, big swinger, you know, he's going to come out there and it's going to be a great fight. But there's a part of me after seeing your last few performances,

I'm kind of like, you know what, I'm glad you're not retiring U.S.C. 300. There's still more Jim Miller that I think we all deserve to see. I want you to get to fight at 300. Absolutely still want you to have that historic fight and be able to say that. But in a weird way, I'm glad you're not because the level you're performing at

23 second knockout in your last fight, you're far from done. Now, you know, maybe, again, freaky things happen in this sport. I always talk about, like, how weird this sport is I always remember T.J. Grant. You know, T.J. Grant was number two lightweight in the world, ready for a title shot, gets caught with an errant,

in a jiu-jitsu session never fought again you know so that's how freaky this sport is but there's part of me sitting here thinking right now like I'm weirdly glad you're not retired 300 like the level you're performing at right now we got we have some more Jim Miller fights to see yeah yeah you know and that's the thing is like I I I know what I'm capable of on you know on my best days and and and when I'm on my best when I'm at my best and and you know firing on all cylinders. I'm a, I'm a fight for anybody.

And I'm confident that I could beat anybody if I can get them to fight my style of fight. It's when all those bad days get, when there's too many of those and I can't make it through camp, right? Or that level of where I can compete drops to the point where it's like, hey, even at my best,

I'm not competing with the best guys. That's when, that's when I will be forced. You know, I'll force my self to make that call. But I would prefer that it happens before that. I would, I would prefer to be still like, hey, we're on a good, good run. And yeah, okay. Let's just call it and, you know, move on to something else.

And it's going to be hard. It's going to be really, really hard to do that. But, yeah, like, that would be the way to do it. if I could script it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this one, like I said, this is a great matchup. And as soon as it got announced, I think I even said it on Twitter, I was like, yeah,

I was like Jim told me months ago. Like there was never a plan to sit out and wait for 300. Like it was always about fighting. And I think at the time, even right after the knockout, you had said, you know, by the end of the year, obviously it didn't happen. This is early in the year. I know you're expecting the absolute best out of Gabriel Benitez. This is another kind of show stealer.

But I'm sure it's going to go out there. It's going to be a Jim Miller fight. And then we can reconvene in this spot. about two weeks from now after another win. And then we can talk about opponents and timing and U.S. 300 again. I'm not going to mention it right now, but we'll just plan like two weeks from now.

We'll come back here and talk about that because then we can really talk about it, even though I know you're going to get bombarded with those questions next week. We'll talk about that again. But, dude, Gabriel, we need to a super tough guy. Man, this guy's kind of like a go-bigger, go-home kind of guy. I know you love those style of fights. And like I said, man, I'm sure you're just excited to go there

and throw down with this guy. absolutely absolutely you know uh like you said he is he is aggressive he he's uh he's dangerous um and and and i i like that i like the fights where uh you know somebody's gonna come after me uh i excel in that that's where that's where i i do my best things is is you know in the fray you know and and while while i'm in the the chaotic parts of a fight that's where that's where i pull have my best stuff. So, uh, I'm, I'm looking forward to a fight like that where it's, yeah, you know, like, uh, we, we, we go out and we, we bang each other up. And if I get my opportunities, um, you know, I, I feel like, uh, I'll have a, a good grappling advantage. Um,

but, you know, he's been knocked out a couple times too. So like if, if, if something lands, you know, and that's one of those maturity things is like, I finally, finally after like well over a decade and a half of fighting was like, hey, it only takes one. It was finally dawned on me, right? So, yeah, like, I like the fight. I know that the longer he stays in there, the more sore I'm going to be the next day because he is a banger, you know, he swings hard, he kicks a lot. So, yeah, that's a, it's an exciting matchup for me.

And I really can't wait. You came into the sport as being known as a wrestler and a grappler. And, of course, I know you still pride yourself on that. But you got a lot of knockouts lately, Jim. Like I said, it may not be a bad idea. I've never a knockout on the record. So, like I said, it's funny. Again, you continue to evolve.

I think that also says a lot about your longevity in the game is that you've never stayed stagnant. You do see some guys who just have a style and they never go away from that. And eventually, people, it catches up to them. You've continued to evolve. You've added new layers to your game. You've added new weapons to your game. Like I said, you came in as a grappler and wrestler. When you knew you as a grappler wrestler, now you're knocking people out.

So like I said, you can always, there's a lot of wrinkles you can still throw at Gabriel Benitez too. Yeah, you know, and it's, it's, uh, somebody was asking me about, oh, how are you knocking everybody out? Like what? And they were doing it in kind of a condescending way, uh, maybe, uh, uh, eluding to, to some, you know, maybe some performance enhancers or something like that. You know, and I'm like, that's a son of a bitch,

you know? And it's like, I'm like, well, I mean, I am knocking people out. And it's like, you know,

you know what happened is I, as I learned how to tighten my body up when I land a strike. And I was forced to because I bang my shoulder out a couple years ago. And so then now on the pads, in order to hit the pads, I have to tighten everything down when I hit the pads. otherwise it hurts. So I learned how to be one of those guys that can have that stiffness when you

make contact because I screwed my shoulder up. So, you know, it's like if you stick around long enough and you use your brain, you know, you can sometimes adapt to stuff, you know? It's like, right, it's not the strongest who's survive, it's the most adaptable to change. So my body's been changing, so I adapted to it and turns out now I can knock people out. Hey, I think the only performance and answers you're taking is the deer meter, whatever it is you killed last week for dinner, you know what I mean?

So that's the only performance enhancers in Jim Miller's curriculum is whatever, whatever, whatever animal you killed recently, that's what you're eating. You know it, you know it, yeah. It's, uh, it, it, it, it, it pissed me off. I was like, you son of a bitch, like, what the hell of you? You know?

But, uh, yeah, no, so I was like, you know, like, no, it started, it started like, actually like connecting when I made that decision like hey I only need to land one punch right I only need to land one submission and then I started to like harden my body right as I as I made contact because I was always a lot looser so turns out you know it works yeah absolutely well Jim I love this fighting this is a fun matchup I do wish it was in front of a crowd selfishly but, you know, that's the sport. We all understand how that goes.

But like I said, go out January 13th to get the win. I'll text you the next day. We'll plan on another interview post-fight. And then we can talk about what comes next. 300 opponents. I can start pitching ideas to you as I always do. And we'll do that. But obviously, man, best luck in the fight next week.

I appreciate the time as always, you know, can't wait to see you back and perform. Man, it's always a pleasure and honor to watch and perform, do your thing. And like I said, let's reconvene about two weeks. And we'll talk about what comes next. We know what's next, but we'll actually talk about what's next. All right. All right.

Sounds good, buddy. All right, Jim. We'll talk soon. Thank you, having me. To the Vox Media Podcast Network.