MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Jim Miller built his MMA career — his reputation, really — on durability and reliability on his way to a record UFC fight total and to becoming the promotion's career wins leader.
Hefty marks — even without winning a championship — for the New Jersey native trusted enough to get plugged into most of UFC's milestone cards in its rise into a billion-dollar global sports behemoth.
“I'm not just out there just to win,” Miller said of his fight style. “I'm out there to win to make me happy; to make me excited with the way that happens.”
Miller's joy was dimmed over the last year when his teenage son was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer. He dropped the fight week schedule for hospital visits and threw his focus into his family — all while knowing he would indeed return to the cage again.
When Miller fights Jared Gordon in a lightweight bout on Saturday night at UFC 328 in Newark, New Jersey, he'll mark more than his 47th career UFC fight and aim for his 28th career UFC victory.
He'll celebrate fighting for the first time since his son beat cancer.
Wyatt Miller was diagnosed with rhadbomyosacroma, a rare type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in soft tissue and is more common in childhood.
Miller said the cancer cells were tucked into his son's left eye socket and sinus area and first popped up as a sign of trouble last July when Wyatt complained that it felt like he had something stuck in his eye. There was a noticeable lump that indeed proved cancerous.
The health issues were, naturally, scary for all involved, though the family was grateful the cancer did not spread and force Wyatt to face more dire circumstances.
“The vast majority of it came out when they did the biopsy,” Miller said. “It kind of just popped out on its own.”
Wyatt underwent two courses of chemotherapy and fives week of proton radiation at Rutgers University Cancer Institute that Miller said doctors told the family could have potential side effects later in life. Wyatt will need scans and MRIs about every three months for the next year or so, to make sure the cancer has not returned.
He'll need scans and cancer check-ups for rhadbomyosacroma well into his 20s. The disease had some ill effects on Wyatt's vision but doctors said the tumors didn't seem to present behind the eyeball and get tangled up in the optic nerves, which could have led to permanent damaging effects with his vision.
“He's just a stud,” Miller said with a smile. “He's just an amazing young man.”
Miller, tied for second with most finishes and most submissions in UFC history, has made a nice financial life for himself in a sport where fighter pay lags well behind the eight-figure annual salaries found in the traditional stick-and-ball sports. Yet, because UFC fighters are classified as independent contractors, not employees, the company is not obligated to provide benefits such as health insurance or retirement plans.
So, it doesn't.
Miller pays for his own health insurance plan for his family and admitted that — while, yes, he had a bit more of a financial cushion — the out-of-pocket bills and other expenses have piled up during Wyatt's cancer battle.
“It is what it is, right? We are contractors and that's the way it goes,” Miller said. “We acted quickly, and he got treatment quickly, and he needed it quickly. We were lucky it was just where it was because it tends to spread to the lungs.”
Miller expected his wife and their four children — including Wyatt — to attend his fight for one of the few times in his career.
His son's cancer scare kept him out of the cage for 13 months, an eternity for a fighter who made a habit of competing multiple times a year. Miller lost to Chase Hooper at UFC 314 in April 2025 and admitted he missed “that push, the grind of it” of all those training camps in his life without a fight to train for.
Miller is a New Jersey native and cut his teeth as a young pro in MMA cards in the state and has since seemingly fought on every East Coast card since his UFC debut in 2008. He first fought in Newark at UFC 111 in 2010 and has the distinction of being the only fighter to compete at UFC 100, UFC 200 and UFC 300.
He turns 43 in August, making UFC 400 seem like the ultimate long shot, even though he's not quite ready to hang up his gloves.
Consider, when the 37-year-old Gordon made his UFC debut in 2017, Miller already had 26 fights on his resume under the company banner.
Miller credited his longevity in large part to good health and good fortune — he rattled off a list of fighters and coaches he knows who suffered freak injuries — to a career that may put his career fights record out of reach by the time he finally retires.
“I've always tried to train like a professional,” Miller said. “That's really kind of it.”
AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts
FILE - Jim Miller reacts after defeating Damon Jackson in a UFC 309 mixed martial arts lightweight title bout, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
