Jim Miller: “I’m hungry, I hate to lose, and I’m in this sport to perform at my best.”
Posted by Joe Rice
At 20-3, UFC lightweight Jim Miller hasn’t tasted defeat too often throughout his career and for good reason. Not only is the New Jersey native an incredibly polished, hard-working competitor but he also happens to despise the thought of coming out of a clash with anything other than a win.
Miller, who takes on Melvin Guillard tomorrow night when the UFC debuts on FX, spoke some about his mindset and the match-up where he expressed his belief that a victory over the heavy-handed Guillard could put him right back in title contention.
“We both are coming off of losses here, but a win over Melvin combined with the seven consecutive wins I had before the loss to (Ben) Henderson should put me right back up there,” said Miller in a conversation with Fightline. “A win here should put me fighting in the big fights, fighting the other top guys in the division. Hopefully I am still close to getting a title shot.”
The 28-year old saw a shot at 155-pound champion Frankie Edgar go to Henderson after losing a hard-fought decision against “Bendo” in August. Likewise, Guillard was on the cusp of contendership before losing to Joe Lauzon a few months back.
“I’m hungry, I hate to lose and I’m in this sport to perform at my best,” explained Miller before talk turned to his opponent. “I have a better grappling game than he does. He is a very dangerous striker, he’s not the most accurate striker in the division, but he’s definitely proven that he hits hard. So I plan on using my strengths in grappling and submissions which seems to be his biggest areas of weakness.”
See whose technique reigns supreme when Miller-Guillard meet in the main event at UFC on FX, a show starting at 9:00 PM EST with other in-ring appearances from a lineup featuring Pat Barry, Kamal Shalorus, Charlie Brenneman, Jorge Rivera, and Duane Ludwig.
PHOTO CREDIT – UFC
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MMATraining Take: With submissions in more than half of his total victories there’s no question Miller possesses the ability to implement his gameplan, especially considering Guillard has been tapped out in eight of his nine losses.
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January 20th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
[...] inaugural UFC event on FX is headlined by top lightweight contenders Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard, both of whom are looking to get back to their winning ways after stumbling in their last bouts. In [...]
January 21st, 2012 at 4:01 pm
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January 22nd, 2012 at 1:21 pm
[...] past Friday night fans saw a new Melvin Guillard take to the Octagon against Jim Miller. While the end result of their headlining bout at UFC on FX 1 may have been all too familiar a [...]
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