Contract squared away, Miller took three weeks for traveling, visiting friends, and of course some jiu-jitsu, then it was back to the gym for what has been a long, but productive, training camp.
“I’ve never looked stronger or sharper,” said the 26-year-old, who seems too young in her career – and life – to have it all together like this, but she admits that she’s still a work in progress.
“I think that fighting, in and of itself, is a rollercoaster,” she said. “If anyone says that they’ve got it together all the time, I would say, you are lying. This is an emotional rollercoaster for me. I really want to win, and I want to prove myself. But also, if I was training hard nonstop for six months, your body starts to break down. So, it’s definitely been a learning curve for me to find a healthy middle ground where now I’m heading out there, I’m excited, I am strong, I’m not burnt out, so I had to take some rest days. And learning when to slow down and when to speed it up has been quite the journey. And I don’t think that I have it down yet. However, I think that I’m intelligent enough to know this isn’t just fun. This is my job.”
WATCH: Edwards vs Usman On UFC 286 Countdown
That’s usually a step that takes a few losses on the big stage for a fighter to figure out, so the San Diego native is already ahead of the game, and knowing that this is how she makes her living now, she’s willing to make the sacrifices necessary to not be the one on the production line making up the numbers, but to soon be the one in the executive suite making decisions with a championship belt on the desk.
“I take this very seriously,” Miller said. “Moreover, I want to be the best in the world. When I get that drive and focus, there’s very little I will pay attention to outside of that. I’m so focused on the fight that I’ve missed family events, people going out for dinner, my friends; I don’t care about any of that as much as I care about winning. I think I’ve become kind of a grandma during fight camp because all I want to do is study and I don’t care much to go outside. And I’m really grateful for the opportunity. And I will say I have a chip on my shoulder in the sense that I feel I need to prove myself.”
