NEWARK, N.J. – UFC lightweight Jim Miller fought in the octagon 30 times before his kids were able to see live what dad does for work.
Thankfully, Miller’s four kids saw what happens when work goes well, though they were a little confused when he finished Jason Gonzalez at UFC on ESPN+ 8.
“We come in the back, and (my son) was like, ‘Dad, did you win?'” Miller told MMA Junkie. “(I said), ‘You were right there.’ He said, ‘Well, it didn’t go three rounds.'”
Tough crowd. Still, it was an otherwise triumphant night for Miller, who didn’t even realize his kids were going to be cageside.
“I have squirted other people’s blood onto those seats, like specifically where they (were) sitting,” he said. “That is exactly where I had (Joe) Lauzon up against the cage and had that standing side choke and squirted his blood into the front row and ruined somebody’s expensive suit.
“Good things happen. That would have been maybe a little bit traumatizing for them.”
Miller will quit while he’s ahead and let the family do its own thing when he faces Clay Guida at UFC on ESPN 5. Plus, it’s less expensive than buying 10 extra tickets.
At this point, Miller is taking his career on a fight-by-fight basis, and he’s made peace with the fact that every walk could be his last. All he wanted to do was to share his experience for one night.
