Jim Miller already is the UFC’s all-time wins leader, and from a percentage standpoint, he’s the leader by a landslide.
Miller’s 27 UFC wins are a 17 percent bump from the next few on the list, including former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, with 23. In the race to 30, which at the UFC’s inception and early era would have been nearly unthinkable, Miller obviously is the most likely candidate to get there first.
Now, there was a time when Miller getting to 30 would’ve been almost unthinkable, too. In the late teens, he dropped five of six fights when battling (mostly unknowingly) Lyme disease. And in the early pandemic era, he lost three of four.
But he’s won six of his past eight and has three performance bonuses in that stretch. And while he’s been getting asked about retirement for years already, the 41-year-old has no time to think about that if he’s busy thinking about when he wants to get back – and against whom.
Miller said he’s love a fight against Cub Swanson, a 41-year-old featherweight who has won five of eight with four bonuses.
“I don’t really try to like get hung up on (who I’m going to fight),” Miller told MMA Junkie Radio. “I have preferences. I am a huge, huge fan of Cub Swanson. I would love to fight that guy. I know he’d be coming up in weight class. I think it’d be a fight that would get some draw. (He’s) super dangerous. If there’s time on the clock, he’s fighting hard. He’s not giving up.
“I’m a huge fan of his. I would love that fight. I don’t know what his schedule looks like. I don’t know what his body’s like. I don’t like asking for people at certain times because I don’t know what the f*ck they’re dealing with or if they’ve got other fights and all that stuff.”
Miller said he’d love to get back in the cage in the first quarter of the new year, in the March range. Swanson just knocked out Billy Quarantillo at UFC on ESPN 63 in the Fight of the Night. His turnaround would be reasonably quick, as would Miller’s. He fought a month prior and submitted Damon Jackson at UFC 309 in New York.
Miller said his history of having opponents fall out of fights has led him to a training strategy that plans on being surprised. So while he’d love a showdown with Swanson, the “any time, anywhere” philosophy he’s known for shines through.
“I’ve probably had more opponents drop out than anybody you know in UFC history. I can think of at least at 10, maybe more than that with opponent changes,” Miller said. “So I get ready for the night and I prepare myself and I’m not super hung up on who is in front of me. For me to focus on a guy, I just feel like that’s kind of silly on my part because who the f*ck knows what’s going to happen? Maybe they’re going to get hurt, or something else is going to happen.
“So just tell me when and where and I’ll be there, and whoever you get to show up and stand across from me in the octagon, I’ll fight. Whether it’s a guy making his debut, like I’ve had a few of, or if it’s a 30-plus (fights) UFC veteran, which I’ve had a few of, let’s let’s do it.”
Check out Miller’s full interview in the video above.
