Scott Holtzman says it’s ‘surreal’ to fight Jim Miller, believes win puts him in ‘elite company’

Scott Holtzman is set for the biggest fight of his career at UFC Rio Rancho when he fights one of the OGs of MMA in Jim Miller.

For Holtzman, this was not an opponent he had asked for, but when the UFC offered him the fight, he immediately accepted.

“It is pretty surreal to be fighting him. Really when I just started training he was already in the UFC beating people up,” Holtzman said to BJPENN.com. “It is arguable that he will be going into the Hall of Fame. To get a crack at him is pretty special. But,I’m not taking a back seat to anybody.”

Although Holtzman is considered the up and comer in this fight, he and Miller are both 36. But he points to the fact that he played college baseball and professional hockey before turning to MMA and having his first pro fight in 2012.

Since then “Hot Sauce” had a ton of success getting to the UFC at 7-0 and has gone 5-3 in the promotion. Against Miller, he is looking to go 6-3 as he knows he has a striking advantage but expects this fight to hit the mat at some point.

“I want to duke it out on the feet. I want to keep the fight where I have the biggest advantage, but I see this fight going everywhere,” he explained. “I think my ground and wrestling is underrated. A lot of people haven’t seen it, but I just feel like this fight will have a little bit of everything. Boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu so I think the fans will be the winners of this one.”

Against Miller, Scott Holtzman knows all the pressure is on him if he wants to be a ranked lightweight by the end of the year. He knows this is a big name for him, but he is the one that puts the pressure on himself.

“There is a lot of pressure, but I always put the most amount of pressure on myself to perform,” he said. “I need to beat him and get up into the top-15 where I belong.”

Should he get his hand raised, Holtzman knows it will be the biggest win of his career. He also expects it to get him a ranked opponent next.

“I think it puts me in elite company. He has fought all the best guys so it puts my name in the conversation,” he concluded. 

Who do you think will win between Scott Holtzman and Jim Miller at UFC Rio Rancho?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/14/2020.