Jim Miller reflects on UFC 89 win

By John Buhl

It didn’t take long for lightweight prospect Jim Miller to make his mark in the UFC.

Making his debut for the organization on October 18 at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England, Miller outworked David Baron (16-3) in a high paced, technical ground war before securing a rear naked choke submission at the 3:19 mark of round three. With the win, Miller earned the submission of the night bonus and had his fight featured and streaming for free on ufc.com.

Despite being in front of a crowd on the biggest stage in mixed martial arts, Miller (12-1; Whippany, N.J.) felt right at home in the Octagon. It helped that he had to chance to absorb the UFC atmosphere when his older brother Dan, campaigning at middleweight, made his UFC debut just a few weeks earlier.

“Actually I felt very comfortable,” Miller says. “I got a lot of nerves out being at Dan’s fight when he made his debut.”

With a judo black belt and solid striking, Baron represented a tough challenge. In his most recent fight on May 3, Baron upset longtime veteran Hayato Sakurai with a first round submission.

But Miller has already faced his fair share of tough competition during his three years in the sport. He holds wins over Bart Palaszewski and Muhsin Corbbrey, and his only loss came by decision against lightweight contender Frankie Edgar. Having already been tested against high level opponents, Miller already felt comfortable competing with Baron and other UFC-caliber fighters.

“I was pretty confident,” he says. “I make it a point to fight the toughest guys I can each time.”

As expected, Miller was able to use his wrestling to get Baron down to the mat. However, perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance was his ability to control the positioning battle on the ground, with Baron working tirelessly to regain his guard and look to take advantage of any mistakes Miller might make.

Unfortunately for Baron, Miller maintained his composure throughout the fight, staying one step ahead of Baron. When Baron tried to reverse the positioning, Miller seamlessly countered his movement and continued to wear down the Frenchman.

“I knew he was dangerous and I didn’t want to give him the opportunity to work on the bottom,” Miller says. “I usually do more scrambling in my fights, but I was really focused on staying on him and using a lot of top pressure.

“That’s Jamie Cruz Jiu Jitsu right there,” Miller says, crediting his AMA Fight Club instructor, a BJJ black belt that trained under Renzo Gracie.

He could have coasted through the last round and picked up a decision win. But Miller continued to look to finish the fight, and after nearly fourteen minutes of the fifteen minute bout, Miller finally overcame Baron’s defense to secure the submission. In doing so, he elevated himself from being just another participant in a preliminary contest to having his fight showcased on the UFC’s Web site.

Seeing his hard work pay off added to the thrill of getting the win. “That was really pretty sweet,” he says.

Like his brother, Miller has developed quickly into a formidable prospect, something which can be partially attributed to his wrestling background. Miller’s uncle was an accomplished wrestler at Lehigh University, and Jim and Dan both looked to follow in his footsteps.

“As soon as I could walk, I was wrestling,” Miller says. “To wrestle as long as I have, it does weed out the guys who can’t handle the physical aspects of MMA.”

Now that he’s off to such a fast start in the sport and in the UFC, Miller wants to get right back in the cage.

“I’m not one of those guys that will relax and take a bunch of time off,” Miller says. “I’m going to get back in the gym as soon as I can and get ready for my next fight, whenever that comes.”