Not everyone is going to be an Anderson Silva or Georges St-Pierre, so Din Thomas tells his pupils to carve out a career like Jim Miller.
Miller (32-15) will fight Bobby Green (27-11-1) at UFC 258. Prior to the fight, Thomas caught up with Fightful (in the video above) and explained why Miller's pro career is so desireable.
"I love what Jim Miller has done with his career. When I look at a lot of my fighters, I always say, 'You want a career like Jim Miller,' because he's been around for a long time," Thomas shares. "He's made a career, made a living off of fighting."
"I don't think he was ever in talks of being a world champion. He didn't have the greatest skill set," he continued. "But in terms of being a good fighter, he was a great fighter and he was always going to be in your face and always around."
Miller has competed professionally since November 19, 2005. In that time, the 47-fight veteran has shared the cage with Nate Diaz, Dustin Poirier, Frankie Edgar, Anthony Pettis, Diego Sanchez, Donald Cerrone, Michael Chiesa, Charles Oliveira, Dan Hooker and Gray Maynard. He boasts wins over Clay Guida, Thiago Alves, Joe Lauzon, Takanori Gomi, Melvin Guillard and Duane Ludwig.
In that time he has amassed 18 submission wins. His accolades include most bouts in UFC history (37, tied with Cerrone), most bouts in UFC lightweight history (33), most wins in UFC lightweight history (19), third-most wins in UFC history (21), second-most stoppages in UFC lightweight history (12) and most submission wins in UFC lightweight history (9). He has gathered seven Fight of the Night bonuses, two Performance of the Night bonuses, three Submission of the Night bonuses and a Fight of the Year for his bloody clash with Lauzon in 2012.
UFC 258 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, February 13. The pay-per-view card is headlined by a UFC welterweight title fight between champion Kamaru Usman and top contender Gilbert Burns. Keep up with Fightful.com for all your pre-fight, live, and post-fight coverage.
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