In a recent interview with the Three Amigos Podcast, UFC lightweight standout, Jim Miller discussed the possibility of moving to a different weight class and changes he’d like to see in the UFC’s pay structure.
Tomorrow night in Las Vegas, UFC lightweight standout, Jim Miller will take to the Octagon for the 22nd time in his 10-year career. He’s had a bit of a bumpy road over his last few fights and is looking to right the ship when he faces longtime promotion staple, Diego Sanchez. This fight is an important one to both fighters, especially with pink slips going out much more frequently than in years past.
After more than 10 years in the sport, Miller has learned a thing or two about himself, leaving his longtime training home of AMA and branching out on his own with older brother Dan last year to open up their own school, Miller Brothers MMA. Since making the move, he feels that he’s made the most improvement in his striking, and cites the pursuit of perfection in his overall skillset as his constant motivation, even more than financial gain.
As part of that pursuit of perfection, Jim has started walking around closer to his fighting weight, to make his cuts easier, and while the idea of a move up might seem tempting at times, he feels he’s got the weight cutting well in hand. He elaborates further with the Three Amigos Podcast,
“I’ve thought about it. The problem is, I can’t get any taller [laughs]. It would be nice to not have to deal with those feelings of the weight cut and all the little things that it does to you. I’ve thought about it, but I’ve been losing a little bit of weight, walking lighter all the time. I’ll just play it by ear and we’ll see, and unless I can start walking at 160, there’s no way I’ll go down to 145. I did it once, way back in my fourth fight, but I was walking around at about 162, so the cut wasn’t too bad. I’d have to lose a good bit of weight and muscle mass to do that again.”
Featherweight champion, Conor McGregor has rewritten the standards of pay for himself, and while some feel there may be a sort of “trickle-down effect,” Miller believes that the majority of the roster won’t see any real change as a result in the immediate future. Ever pragmatic, he has a suggestion of his own for helping out veteran fighters that have devoted their careers to Zuffa.
“He’s [McGregor] a unique character and it seems like that’s what the UFC is going to be searching for to spend their money on. I don’t think it’s going to help the majority of the roster, at least any time soon. The thing is, the base pay is steadily growing now, and it’s certainly higher than any local promotion.
In my opinion, the biggest thing that could be done, the way to take care of guys and girls in the sport, is hitting a certain limit. Some fighters get jumps in pay very early in their careers. Myself, I’ve just been picking away at it. I get paid pretty decently. I’ve been taken care of, and by more than they’ve been contracted to pay me, which is strictly generosity on their part, and I appreciate it, but it’s been scratching and clawing…and winning 14 times in the UFC. That’s how I’ve gotten to the pay scale that I’m at.
I think that if you get to 8 or 10 fights in the UFC, when you hit that limit, there should be a jump in pay. Here’s a salary. Nothing crazy, but here’s a salary, so you don’t have to worry about having a job outside teaching classes or banging nails, because you’ve proven that you belong. You’ve proven that you’re at this level. It’s a lot harder to stay here than it is to just get the call.
So yeah, once you hit that plateau, and you’ve got 10 fights, either give them a large jump in their show and win money, or like I said, give them a little salary to make things easier. You’re gonna have guys that train better, and training better leads to performing better.”
There were many more topics discussed during the course of this excellent interview, and you can check those out here (Jim’s interview starts at the 1:18:55 mark of the audio), or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Podcast.
Jim Miller vs. Diego Sanchez is the featured prelim bout on the Fight Pass portion of UFC 196.