LAS VEGAS – When Jim Miller looks forward, there are a number of uncertainties and one definite.
At 39, Miller (36-17 MMA, 25-16 UFC) is still going strong. He knocked out UFC newcomer Jesse Butler (12-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a mere 23 seconds Saturday night at UFC on ESPN 45. The win all but officially extended his fighting future through the event he’s had his sights set on for years, UFC 300.
UFC 300 has not yet been announced, but given the promotion’s typical pacing of approximately one pay-per-view event each month, it’s likely the event will fall in Spring 2024.
“Let’s get another one in by the end of the year,” Miller told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “I hate only having two fights a year. I want to get that third. I’ve said it that I want to end my career the way that I finished it, which is fighting as often as I can. Doing the math, talking to people, (UFC) 300 might be in like April or something like that, which kind of stinks. It moves that timeline up for me. Maybe it won’t be my last one, but I don’t know.
Like I said, I wanted it to be 45. If it’s in April, it’s next to impossible. Yeah, we’ll see. I like to fight. I’ll be ready to fight soon. I just need another dance partner.”
UFC 100 and UFC 200 both fell in early July, typically the week the promotion holds International Fight Week. This led many people, including Miller, to forecast the same for UFC 300. But with UFC 290 to be held next Saturday in Vancouver, British Columbia, the likelihood of the promotion slowing its pay-per-view pacing is next to zero.
That’s thrown Miller, who knows he doesn’t have a lot of fights left in the tank, for a bit of a loop. Miller had hinted plans for UFC 300 to be his 45th UFC fight – the one he’d retire after. Now, all the boxes can still be checked, but perhaps not at the same time. One way or another, Miller plans to stay as active as possible.
“I absolutely want to get in and do November or something like that,” Miller said. (UFC) 300 is kind of the finish line, I think, you know? Maybe? I’ll talk to my wife. But like I said, I want to finish the way that I started. Being conservative about it and saying hey and grabbing a hold of Sean’s (Shelby) ears and being like, ‘I don’t want to fight until 300,’ because it won’t be that long. I was hoping that it would be July. If it was July, I had it all mapped out. November, March, July, that’s 45. Boom. We’re good to go. Now, it’s like, the math is wrong, and it’s going to be May or something like that. I mean, I’ll be ready to fight then. But I don’t know if I’ll be ready to hang them up.
“I’m not the conservative guy. I’m not the guy who is going to play it like that. Training camps are hard, but life is hard too, at this point. … I’m not going to put myself into a bubble and try to protect myself because there are things that are a little beat up on this old body. We’re going to fight it. We’re going to fight like we do, and we’re going to keep going. We’ll see. We’ll see where everything goes.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.
