I read a very nice article on UFC.com from Thomas Gerbasi about New Jersey's Jim Miller. Here it is: Jim Miller -- The Quiet One by Thomas Gerbasi Beware of the quiet ones. It was one of my father’s greatest lessons, and probably one passed on by many fathers throughout the years. When you’re in a situation where a fight might break out, always go for the loudmouth first, the one telling anyone who wants to listen how he’s the baddest, the strongest, the toughest. The quiet one? Leave him for last or leave him alone altogether. He’s the dangerous one. Meet Jim Miller. 13-1 as a pro, the lightweight up and comer doesn’t make a lot of noise. In fact, if you were in the same van with him coming back from his “Fight of The Night” win over Matt Wiman last December, you may have thought he was the one of the losing end of the equation that evening in North Carolina. But that’s just his style – he’s not morose, not nasty, not arrogant. He just likes to fight, and as far as the rest of the stuff that comes along with being a UFC fighter goes, he’s like former light heavyweight king Chuck Liddell – he wouldn’t shed a tear if all he had to do was train and show up on fight night with gloves in hand. “Yeah, that’s more my style,” he laughs. “I’m not really in it for the fame.” Sorry Jim, but you may not have much of a choice in the matter, especially with the wins he’s already compiled in the Octagon over Wiman and David Baron, as well as outside of the UFC victories over Chris Liguori (twice) and Bart Palaszewski. If he beats Gray Maynard this Saturday night at UFC 96, Miller’s life outside the Octagon will get even more complicated in terms of media obligations, autographs, and all that other fun stuff. But despite his low-key demeanor, he is enjoying the ride he’s been on for the last five months. “It’s surreal,” he said. “Every now and then I say ‘wow, I fight in the UFC.’ It’s like playing football in the NFL, there’s no higher that you can get in the sport, so every now and then it puts a smile on my face.” In the end though, all that matters to the 25-year old from Whippany, New Jersey is the fight, and since last September, he and his brother, middleweight Dan, have combined for five UFC bouts, rapidly building a reputation as the type of fighters you can call on a moment’s notice for a bout and get a ‘yes’ within seconds. “Both Dan and I fight because we love it,” said the younger Miller. “It’s fun, it’s a great sport, and if we could do it more often, we would. Having to wait three months or six months for a fight is torture, so if an opportunity comes up, there’s not that much thinking about it. Screw it, just go in there and give it everything you got.” And if you think that the Miller boys just show up and hope for the best, consider that in those five fights, they’re 5-0 with three submissions. They’re the real deal, and since they’re always in the gym, getting ready for a fight on short notice is no problem. “There’s a lot of pressure that you don’t really have to deal with when that comes down because you really don’t have that much to lose,” said Miller when asked about taking fights on short notice. “But I’m not as comfortable fighting on short notice as I am with a longer training camp. I’ve fought enough times to where I really don’t get nervous leading up to the fight anymore, so going in with a better training camp, I’m more confident.” He’s had a full training camp for Saturday’s bout with Maynard, and since he wrapped up camp with Dan a few weeks back for his brother’s submission win over Jake Rosholt on February 17th, he’s firing on all cylinders as he finishes off his own preparations. With that out of the way, all he has to do is put together a game plan for the unbeaten Maynard, who flipped the script a bit in his October win over Rich Clementi as he toned down his aggressive attack for a less reckless, more tactical gameplan against the veteran. “It doesn’t matter which Gray shows up,” said Miller. “If he comes after me, great. The more you’re on offense, the more open you are for attacks, so that doesn’t bother me. If he wants to play a slower game, I can do that as well. My whole thing is that I’m going to be trying to push the pace; I’m gonna try to make him fight my fight, instead of letting him dictate it. If I can keep that pace high and wear him down and have him on the defensive the whole time, that’s my goal.” And more victories mean more big fights, which has been the plan all along for Miller, who doesn’t care as much about photo shoots and magazine covers as he does winning. So consider this a warning to future opponents – the less you see or hear Jim Miller, the more he’s planning your demise in the Octagon. “I definitely think I’m ready for the competition,” he said. “There are a lot of tough guys out there in the division, and I don’t know where I would place myself, ranking-wise, but I think I can go out there and make it a fight with anybody. It’s not gonna be their easiest night, I can guarantee that.”

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