With five wins in a row, What’s next for Jim Miller?
The Main Card of UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares featured a couple of Lightweight fights, originally there were three until Efrian Escudero missed weight and his fight was changed to Catchweight. Among the lightweights fighting was Jim Miller (17-2), who left The Octagon with a Unanimous Decision victory over tough UFC veteran Gleison Tibau.
This fight was basically fifteen minutes of nonstop action contested mostly on the feet. Miller did a great job landing quick strikes and dropped Tibau with a powerful jab in the first round and a strong left in the second round. Tibau put up a good fight on his end, taking Miller down a couple of times and landing some good shots on the ground. However, his resistance just wasn’t enough for Miller’s constant pressure, “punches in bunches” and a strategy of “keep moving, don’t let him stand still and rest”. After fifteen minutes of action, the judges scored the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in Jim Miller’s favor and adding to his win-streak which is now at five in a row.
With a streak like that in hand, what direction does the UFC go next for Miller?
He holds victories over Matt Wiman, Mac Danzig, Duane Ludwig, Bart Palaszewski (former IFL fighter now in the WEC), Mark Bocek and now Gleison Tibau. Half of his wins have come by way of submission, he’s never been knocked out or submitted and his only losses have come at the hands of current UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar and Number One Contender, Gray Maynard.
On paper, it looks like Miller should have already had a shot at the title, but that isn’t the case. Just like Maynard, Miller has sort of flown under the radar and has been overshadowed by some of the other Lightweights in the division. With this latest victory over Tibau, you simply can’t ignore him any longer.
Does he now move next in line for a title shot after Maynard: probably not, but he definitely deserves another big name fight to help him get another step closer. With fellow Lightweight, Cole Miller pulling out another impressive submission victory, a fight between these two would make for some excitement.
There’s no telling what the future will be regarding Jim Miller and his quest for the Lightweight Championship.
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Aspiring chef turned MMA writer after financial issues prevented me from pursuing my first dream. Ever since I started watching MMA, I've read up about it and talk about it all the time and with the encouragement of family and friends I finally decided to actively pursue a career in writing about it.Subscribe
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let me tell you who… Batman! – kurt pelligrino or Antonio McKee but the UFC will probably give him Guida