Jim Miller is one of the only fighters who has been guaranteed a spot at UFC 300 in April as the veteran looks to go down in history as the only person to have also fought at UFC 100 and UFC 200 too.
As such some may think that this would be the perfect place for the 40-year-old to end his career, but as he prepares to squeeze in a fight against Gabriel Benitez first at UFC Fight Night 234 on January 13th first, Miller has revealed he’s not planning for UFC 300 to play host to his retirement bout.
“As of today, that’s the second fight of 2024,” Miller told MMA Junkie. “Years ago, when I mentioned, ‘Hey, I may get to UFC 300 and call it quits,’ I was in a very different place. The way I feel right now, I’m definitely playing it by ear, but I will let you guys know. I will let you guys know when it’s the last one.
“I’m excited to take on that training camp and know it’s my last one. I’m not the type that steps away and then comes back. As of right now, it’s not the last one.”
“It really comes down to can I live the life? Can I train five, six days a week, and get through that?,” Miller continued. “Believe it or not, the fights are kind of the easy part. It’s that daily beating yourself up, trying to get in better shape day to day. That really wears on you.
“I feel like I have it figured out at the moment. After 300, I think the thing is to fight close to home again. Fight in Newark. … I’d like to fight close to home so my friends and family can come for one last one. We’ll see how it goes. It’s fight by fight.”
Despite getting up their in years and having over 50 fights under his belt, Miller has actually won 4 of his last 5 fights and is coming off a 23 second KO finish of Jesse Butler back in June of last year.
Now there’s just one more obstacle to overcome before UFC 300 in the shape of Gabriel Benitiez, who was on a bad run not so long ago that saw him lose 4 of his previous 5 fights, but last time out he did secure a TKO finish over Charlie Ontiveros.
