Miller hoping to keep riding this win streak

If you know Miller or have followed his career for any length of time, it’s the expected answer, because the blue collar battler from Jersey has never been one to be interested in the trappings of fame. That’s why he’s one of the most respected veterans in the game among fans and his peers. And if anything, his ride in the UFC over the last eight-plus years has been made sweeter because he’s done it all by being true to himself.

“It’s cool to have gotten to this point where I’m getting these opportunities by doing things my way, by just going out and fighting and not playing the game that some people play,” he said. “It works well for them, but it might not be them. I’ve always been me. It’s never been trying to look a certain way, trying to act a certain way. I’ve never been that type that was going to change myself in order to get other people to like me. Whether that was back in high school, trying to get a date for the prom, or fighting in the UFC. It’s not who I am and I’m not going to change who I am. So doing it the way I’ve done it and getting these opportunities to meet people and get to do some cool stuff, it’s pretty neat. I’m definitely thankful to be in this situation and I’m having fun.”

“Fun” wasn’t the word Miller would use to describe the first few months of 2016. Entering the year, he was coming off a stretch in which he went just 1-3 in his previous four fights, and by March, a loss to Diego Sanchez made it 1-4. In fact, things had gotten so bad that he was planning to take one more fight against Takanori Gomi at UFC 200 in July and then call it quits in the Octagon.

Turns out that he wasn’t breaking down physically after years of training and fighting. Instead, he had contracted Lyme