Jim Miller has put together a memorable career in the UFC that spans the past 15 years while also becoming the all-time wins leader in the promotion.
Despite his long list of accomplishments, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe Miller should be considered for the UFC Hall of Fame while arguing that he just doesn’t feel like “time served puts you in the Hall of Fame.” Veteran welterweight Matt Brown, who has spent the same 15 years in the UFC, disagrees with Cormier, especially when examining the tiny number of fighters who actually manage to stick around as long as he and Miller have done.
“You have to do something extraordinary — longevity is an extraordinary feat,” Brown said on the new episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “To have longevity in the sport. We’ve got to be in the .1 percent of MMA fighters who have been in the UFC [for this long]. How many thousands and thousands of fighters have been in the UFC at this point?
“It’s not like Sam Alvey longevity. You’re doing something extraordinary. It is extraordinary, not to toot my own horn, but to be in there for 15 years that’s a f****** extraordinary feat.”
Brown debuted in the UFC just under four months prior to Miller and both have stayed in the promotion for the past 15 years without any interruptions.
They’ve also put together impressive resumes with Brown holding records for the most knockouts in UFC history, the most finishes in UFC welterweight history and the most fights in UFC welterweight history while Miller touts the most wins in UFC history, the most finishes in UFC lightweight history and the most bouts in UFC lightweight history.
Add to that, the UFC Hall of Fame has no set criteria required for induction, which only adds to Brown’s argument that Miller should definitely earn consideration just based on his overall body of work.
“I’m guessing like a baseball hall of fame you don’t have to win the [World Series] to be in the baseball hall of fame,” Brown said. “You don’t have to win that to be in the hall of fame, right? I’m guessing that’s what Daniel Cormier is saying basically right? Like you’ve got to be a champion, you’ve got to have a belt to get in the hall of fame is what it sounds like to me.
“Why would longevity not be a part of the criteria? This is a hard f****** sport to have longevity in. It’s not like his longevity was not doing anything. He’s got the most wins, too. He’s not like he simply wasn’t doing anything the whole time. What is the criteria he’s talking about? I love DC, too. I’m not badmouthing him. He’s entitled to his own opinion but if your criteria’s going to be that you have to be a champion to get in, well that’s going to exclude a lot of guys that probably deserve to get in.”
Brown has nothing but praise for Miller, who is still going strong at 39, and he just earned a blistering 23-second knockout in his last appearance in the UFC.
“A guy like Jim Miller who’s been doing it for so long — doing it so well for so long,” Brown said. “I think maybe even there’s a little piece of it where we know his story with the Lyme disease and everything and the way he fought through that and he’s still winning and still kicking ass and probably get a little bit more preferential treatment for that.”
Brown has so much respect for Miller that he also likes the idea of fighting him, especially if the opportunity is presented to compete at UFC 300, which is expected to take place in early 2024.
Miller has long stated that he wanted to compete on that historic card because he would become the only fighter to actually fight at UFC 100, UFC 200 and UFC 300.
For his part, Brown hasn’t competed at either of the previous events, which only adds to his desire to earn consideration for a slot at UFC 300.
“I’ve always had a little bit of frustration, I was a little bit not happy that I got skipped on for UFC 100 and then I got skipped on for UFC 200,” Brown explained. “So maybe UFC will let me come in on UFC three-motherf***** hundred. Let’s go Jim Miller!”
Brown added that he has no plans to compete through the summer and he’s not interested in fighting around the holidays as he intends to spend more time with his children.
That’s why UFC 300, which will likely fall on either March or April 2024, would be the perfect timing not to mention the possibility of drawing an ideal opponent like Miller.
“It’s nice to go in there when you have that much respect for the guy across from you,” Brown said. “When you’re sitting there thinking about the fight beforehand, when you’re training leading up to the fight, when you’re doing interviews, especially a guy like Jim Miller where you’re not going to have to deal with all the s*** talk and any stupid bulls*** at the weigh-ins or whatever, the staredowns. It’s not going to be a big show. You two are there for business and you’re going to throw down.
“When you’ve seen a guy fight so many times like Jim Miller or he’s seen me fight so many times, we know what we’re going to do. We know what’s coming. We know we’re both coming for war. We’re both coming for battle. We’re both coming to hurt the other guy and both of us have a lot of potential to do that. It’s a f****** great idea. I think it’s a great fight.”
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