By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS — Jim Miller, who stands alone with 26 career victories, entered the media room on Wednesday wearing a way-too-big UFC 100 jacket with his name on it.
Miller decided this week was a good occasion to bring that jacket out of the closet for the first time in 15 years. He also competed in UFC 200, and now at 40 is on the preliminary card for UFC 300 on Saturday.
“I think I started mentioning fighting on this card in 2020, maybe 2019, and we’re here and I’m performing,” Miller said. “When I first started talking about it, it was like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll drag myself to that card,’ because that’s kind of what I was doing for UFC 200.”
Miller said he didn’t have to drag himself to this card after all, that even at an age when most fighters long ago stopped entering the cage, he feels reinvigorated. The card itself is strong enough to get the heart beating fast for anyone associated with the sport in any form.
Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (9-2) and No. 1 contender and former champ Jamahal Hill (12-1) take top heading in a card in which they are among 12 current or former title holders. The event also includes 11 fighters who have been on the top line of a UFC pay-per-view event, two-time U.S. Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Holly Holm.
Hill said he wasn’t surprised to be in the main event, but was still honored to share top billing in one of the more notable cards in UFC history.
“I just always planned on being in these moments ever since I was a kid,” Hill said. “From the time I was a kid, I always believed whatever I did I was going to be one of the best at it. For a time, it was football. For a time, it was basketball. I knew I would be here in moments like this fighting for championships and I would put myself up there with the greatest names to ever do it.”
Hill, 32, could have been the one wearing the championship…
Read the full article here
