Jim Miller says he was close to not fighting at UFC Vegas 74.
Miller was originally scheduled to face Ludovit Klein at Saturday’s event, but the Slovak was forced out of the contest due to an injury. Then Jim was offered a couple of different opponents, but nothing came to fruition until Jared Gordon accepted the scrap. Had Gordon not taken it, Miller said it would have likely delayed Klein’s fight.
“Not real. If Jared hadn’t been able to take it, I probably would have waited for Klein because in the end he just wanted to put it off for a month or so,” Miller said on BJPENN.com’s Just Scrap radio. “For me, you never know what that is.” It’s going to happen and I have this goal of UFC 300 being my 45th UFC fight, so fighting here in June really helps me push through that and try to get that far.”
Although Miller is happy to have Gordon up for the fight, he is surprised to see Jared return so soon. Gordon fought again on April 22 and lost butt to the head against Bobby Green with the result of the fight eventually being overturned to a no contest.
Even though the fight isn’t a contest, Miller knows Gordon’s damage isn’t gone but says it’s not his problem that his opponent will be back soon.
“I mean yes and no. As a fighter, I know you want to get that bad taste out of your mouth, so any chance you can get back to winning ways you’ll take it,” Miller said. To no contest doesn’t change what happened in the fight, he got a good headbutt. Not my problem. I’ll go and take advantage of the fact that maybe he wasn’t training as hard as he could.”
With Jim Miller wondering how tough Jared Gordon will be, he is confident he can find success on his feet. He also knows if the fight will end, and he has confidence that he can plunge into a chokehold, so no matter where Fighting Goes, Miller thinks he can get a serve.
“I predict that he’ll probably want to stay off the mat with me. I’ll try to use my jab and make him miss,” Miller said. However, just let the violence pour in.”
If Miller wins by stoppage at UFC Vegas 74, he’s not sure who will be next but hopes to be back in November.
“Obviously the more you keep winning the more doors open. At this point I should be able to fight almost everyone, it may not be well planned but I am also the one hoping to get quick notice… maybe in November, early December, Then March, and then I’m pretty sure they’ll make UFC 300 in July,” Miller concluded.