Skip to main content

Jim Miller had no problem accepting short-notice replacement Jared Gordon: 'Business as usual'

LAS VEGAS – With over 50 professional MMA fights, Jim Miller has been through it all, which has brought a level of comfort few have in this sport.

That’s why when the UFC called with Jared Gordon as a replacement opponent for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 45, Miller (35-17 MMA, 24-16 UFC) had no problem saying yes. At this point, there’s little the UFC lightweight veteran hasn’t seen, and he expects to be ready Saturday.

“(It’s) business as usual,” Miller told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 45 news conference. “That’s three in a row that opponents drop out like two weeks or less for the event. And I think it’s a total of nine times in my career with the UFC, so more like 25 percent. But yeah, business as usual.

“I train to be the best fighter that I can be every out. At this point I’ve fought everybody from the top lanky 6’4” lefties, to guys my height, and righties and grapplers. So I just appreciated when guys are willing to step up because there are a lot of fighters that say ‘anytime, anywhere, anyone,’ and sometimes those guys don’t say yes. I’m appreciative that Jared hopped on here on two weeks notice.

There was no chance Miller was going to say no to Gordon (19-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC). It’s not about Gordon’s style, either. Miller sees fighting from a personal standpoint. His opponent’s attributes and skills won’t determine whether he wants to fight or not.

“For me, it’s just been the opportunity to fight because what I’m really chasing, and what I’ve been chasing, is that perfect fight and any skillset that an opponent brings could be that one where I go out, and I’m like, ‘Hmm that was as close to perfect as we’re going to get,'” Miller said.

“So yeah, and I’m stubborn as hell, if you haven’t noticed that yet. … I could’ve waited for (Ludovit) Klein until mid-July but I had already put in a month of training and busted my butt and I didn’t want to have to do it for another two months.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.



from MMA Junkie https://ift.tt/ypdOsW5
via IFTTT

Popular posts from this blog

Henry Cejudo on what makes Jiri Prochazka dangerous: 'He's a rhythm fighter'

Henry Cejudo sees Jiri Prochazka ’s go-with-the-flow fighting style as a big threat. Former champion Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) meets Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 co-headliner Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cejudo helped train Prochazka prior to his title fight against Glover Teixeira at UFC 275. Prochazka ended up submitting Teixeira late in Round 5 , in what was a back-and-forth barnburner. Cejudo recalls advising Prochazka to be tactical, but Prochazka ended up engaging in a wild brawl. “I’ve trained Jiri – Jiri’s come out here for a few weeks to train with me,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel . “Jiri Prochazka, he’s a different style of fighting. There’s a belief in him that makes him dangerous, you know? The fact that he’s a fighter that literally goes off of rhythm – he’s a rhythm fighter. He’s a guy that’s going to go out there and use all the rhythm that he has in order to start getting his stri...

Video: Oli Thompson lands devastating first-round knockout punch on Aleksei Oleinik in Russia

Aleksei Oleinik returned to action for the first time since his UFC exit, but things did not go in his favor. In the main event of REN TV Fight Club at Dynamo Volleyball Arena in Moscow, Russia, Oleinik (60-17-1 MMA) faced fellow UFC veteran Oli Thompson in a heavyweight bout. The result was a violent finish that left Oleinik staring up at the lights. Thompson (21-16 MMA) unleashed a crushing right hand that sent Oleinik crashing to the canvas with 35 seconds remaining in the opening round. Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter ): Oli Thompson destroys Alexey Oleynik with a massive right hand in the first round pic.twitter.com/AdWy25dQxR — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 26, 2023 Thompson, 43, returned to the win column for the first time since 2020, snapping a four-fight losing skid. His last victory was also a first-round stoppage; a 23-second knockout of Szymon Bajor at Fight Exclusive Night 28 on June 13, 2020. Oleinik, 45, competed in his final UFC bout in Octo...

UFC's Ilia Topuria no longer interested in Paddy Pimblett: 'As a fighter we all know he's not worth anything'

MIAMI – Ilia Topuria has lost interest in a potential fight against Paddy Pimblett . After several shots at each other in interviews and on social media, a scuffle in a hotel lobby , and a post-fight callout in the octagon, Topuria said he is done trying to get a fight against Pimblett. Now highly ranked and with his sights on the UFC featherweight title, Topuria believes he’s past Pimblett and fighting him would be taking a step back. “Paddy, you know what happens with Paddy?” Topuria said in Spanish at a media day this past Saturday . “He’s a person that media attention wise, he’s big. But as a fighter we all know he’s not worth anything. He’s not even ranked. He hasn’t done anything. “So giving merit to a person that’s only where he is because he knows how to sell himself well, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. We’re athletes. In the UFC, the difference between them and other organizations is that here what’s valued is the sport and Paddy, sporting wise, hasn’t achiev...