Jim Miller, the former No. 1 contender to Frankie Edgar’s UFC lightweight title, will remain just that. A contender who will never fight for the division’s most coveted crown.
After Clay Guida’s rout of Anthony Pettis at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, Dana White gave Jim Miller (20-3, MMA) the green light as the No. 1 contender to Frankie Edgar’s UFC lightweight crown.
Though, there was one condition—that Miller took care of that Ben Henderson business at UFC on Versus 5.
That was the opportunity for Miller to finally fight for the lightweight title, an opportunity that doesn’t rear its beautiful head too often.
Miller should’ve grabbed that opportunity with both hands and everything else, including the kitchen sink.
Miller, once touted as being one of the best lightweights in the division, was at worst expected to sneak a win against Henderson.
That was not to be as he came up short.
That green light has turned to a permanent red, and I don’t see that color changing anytime soon. At this point in his career, I don’t think he’ll even get an amber light.
Coming up short in a crowded division akin to the lightweight assemblage basically means not only is it back to the drawing board, but worse, it’s back to the end of that long queue of expectant and aspiring wannabe UFC lightweight champions.
Suffice to say, Miller would have to go through that batch of 155-pound contenders en route to his ascendancy to the crown.
At present, Miller finds himself in the same situation as another fighter whose potential went up in smoke—Melvin Guillard at UFC 136.
Joe Lauzon, who brought the Guillard hype train to an abrupt halt via rear-naked choke in less than 47 seconds of the opening round of their encounter, could now be Miller’s next opponent.
Or maybe even Guillard could end up in the mix to further derail Miller’s title hopes.
If there was even the slightest chance of a title shot for Miller, a loss to the aforementioned combatants (or any fighter in the lightweight division for that matter) would effectively end his title aspirations for good.
At 28, Miller is still young, and can compete with the upper-echelon lightweights, but that’s about all she wrote.
His defeats, however, to the current UFC lightweight champion, Gray Maynard and former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson, I assume haven’t placed him in good stead with the UFC hierarchy and Mr. White in particular.
Also, with the likelihood of an influx of lightweights to the UFC from other organizations such as Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, Miller’s window of opportunity is closing by the minute.
Miller has a major problem—his penchant for falling short when the stakes are high.
For Miller to even get a sniff at contending for the championship, he needs to change up whatever has been holding him back, and change it up fast.
Be that as it may, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Miller is currently ranked No. 7 by Sherdog, whilst other organizations rank him anywhere between No. 8 or out of the Top 10 picture altogether.
The bottom line is this:
For Miller, the road to glory is going to be a long and treacherous one, and it’s a shame given his talent that that journey will end with Miller’s inability to reach his final destination—a shot at UFC gold.
In the end, Miller’s UFC epitaph could mirror the speech uttered by Marlon Brando’s character Terry Malloy in the iconic movie, “On the Waterfront.”
“…I could-a been a contender… I could-a been somebody…”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com