LAS VEGAS -- The hair and, particularly the beard, are flecked with gray. The training sessions are not so much about pushing as hard as possible and improving technique as they are about staying healthy and avoiding injuries. His name is littered throughout the promotion's record book, all signs of a lengthy and successful career.
Yet despite once saying that he'd walk away for good at UFC 300, Jim Miller has already changed that tune. To Miller, there's nothing like the rush of making that walk and stepping into a closed cage, alone in front of the world, and trying to leave victorious.
With 25 wins in 42 fights, he's the UFC leader in both categories. While he never officially hit the Top 5 in the rankings or garnered that coveted title shot, his career has been anything but a waste. There was the 13-1 start to his professional career and his impressive 9-1 start in the UFC. There were the wins over the likes of Charles Oliveira (Editor's note: Yes, for all you cynics, it was that Charles Oliveira, a. first-round kneebar at UFC 124), Joe Lauzon, Danny Castillo, Clay Guida and Donald Cerrone, among others.
There are the 11 wins by submission in the UFC, and the 17 wins by finish, both of which are second in UFC history, second only to Oliveira. Most remarkable, perhaps, is a UFC-leading 47 submission attempts, which is six more than No. 2 Oliveira and then an astounding 16 more than No. 3 Chris Lytle.
That kind of go-for-it-at-all-costs style is what has defined Miller throughout his brilliant career. He'll face Gabriel Benitez on the main card of UFC Vegas 84 on Saturday at Apex in career UFC 43, and he'll undoubtedly go for a few more.
Chasing finishes so hard leaves him vulnerable, and it's why he's lost some fights that he could have won. But Miller has endured in the UFC because of it, putting on the entertaining, all-out style that UFC CEO Dana White practically demands. Think of this: There are drivers on the road with learner's permits today who were not born when Miller debuted at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England, on Oct. 16, 2008.
"You don't have as many submission attempts as I have without being a little reckless," Miller said. "And the thing is, in those fights I've had attempts to finish somebody, they've been losses. So for me, even when I'm getting my butt kicked, I'm still hunting for that way to win. I'm still trying to finish them. I'm not trying to minimize damage.
"So it's been a little reckless, maybe. Maybe my record would be a little bit better if I fought a little more conservatively, but I go out to fight and to win by my standards. And my standards are going out there aggressively and being violent. I think it's left a mark on Dana and Hunter [Campbell, the UFC's chief business officer] and Sean [Shelby, the UFC matchmaker]."
It has, but it's left a mark on the fans, too. When Miller is on the card, it's not just a bout to fill time so the main event goes off at the appropriate time. It's most often an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
He's 40 now, closer to the end than the beginning, but retirement is nowhere on his mind. He said at one point he'd like to fight on UFC 300 and retire that night. He is one of two men to have fought at both UFC 100 and UFC 200, along with former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, and White said last month he'd put Miller on the UFC 300 to make it a hat trick.
Miller is happy to fight at UFC 300, but would be equally as happy if it were UFC 299 or UFC 301 or even UFC Vegas 90. He just loves the competition and will fight until his body tells him no.
"It's not so much the fights [that are tough] at this point; it's the camps," Miller said. "So I've changed the way that I prepare for fights. I focus a majority of my time and effort in training on staying healthy and being in shape. Like, if I'm going to miss a session, it's going to be that sparring session, because that's the session where I would run more of a risk of getting injured.
"So I'm just going to try to keep going and when I can't get through that fight camp, when that gets too hard, that's going to be the time I know that I can't do it any more."