Jim Miller admits he is surprised that Jared Gordon accepted a fight with him at UFC Vegas 74 after being knocked out in April

Jim Miller says he was close to not fighting at UFC Vegas 74.

Miller was originally slated to face L’udovit Klein at Saturday’s event, but the Slovak was forced out of the contest due to an injury. Jim was then offered a couple of different opponents, but nothing came to fruition until Jared Gordon accepted the scrap. Had Gordon not taken it, Miller says he likely would have just delayed the Klein fight.

“Not really. If Jared hadn’t been able to take it, I probably would have waited for Klein because he ended up only wanted to postpone it a month or so,” Miller said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “For me, you never know what is going to happen and I do have that goal for UFC 300 to be my 45th UFC fight so fighting here in June really helps me get ahead of that and try and hit that mark.”

Although Miller is glad Gordon took the fight, he is surprised to see Jared returning so soon. Gordon fought back on April 22 and was knocked out by a head butt against Bobby Green with the fight result eventually being overturned to a No Contest.

Although the fight is a No Contest, Miller knows the damage Gordon took isn’t gone but he says that isn’t his problem that his opponent is returning so soon.

“I mean yes and no. As a fighter, I know you want to get that bad taste out of your mouth so any opportunity you can to get back into winning ways you will take,” Miller said. “But, on the flip side, his coaches and stuff, the fact it ended up being a No Contest doesn’t change what happened in the fight, he did take a pretty good headbutt. That is not my problem. I’m going to go and exploit the fact he probably wasn’t training as hard as he could be.”

With Jim Miller wondering how durable Jared Gordon will be, he is confident he can have success on the feet. He also knows if the fight goes to the mat, he has confidence he can sink in a choke, so no matter where the fight goes, Miller believes he can get a submission.

“I expect he probably will want to stay off the mat with me. I will try and use my striking and make him make a mistake,” Miller said. “In that heat of the moment of him wanting to wrestle, it may set up my opportunity to take him down because I’m confident with my advantages on the ground. It’s however, just let the violence flow.”

If Miller does get the stoppage win at UFC Vegas 74, he isn’t sure who would be next but does hope to return in November.

“Obviously the more I continue to win the more it opens up the doors. At this point, I should be able to fight pretty much everybody, it might not be super planned but I’m also the guy who hopes in on quick notice… Maybe Novemberish, early December, and then March, and then I’m pretty certain they will make UFC 300 in July,” Miller concluded.