Longtime UFC lightweight veteran Jim Miller has been forced to withdraw from next Saturday’s UFC Vegas 37 due to contracting COVID-19.
Miller made the announcement on his social media that he is out of next weekend’s lightweight bout against Nikolas Motta. According to reports on social media, Motta already has a short-notice replacement opponent lined up for him in Cameron VanCamp, so it appears he will stay on the card next Saturday, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Miller, unfortunately, wasn’t so lucky as he has been forced to withdraw.
“There’s a first time for everything. In the lead-up to my 50th professional fight, having never pulled out of a fight before, I tested positive for ‘rona. So I will not be fighting next weekend, unfortunately. I’ve already talked to (UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby), gonna stay on the grind, take a few days, load up on some vitamins and minerals and medicine and get right back into it and potentially even fight as early as Oct. 2,” Miller said (h/t MMAFighting.com). “I’ll keep you guys posted. I’ve never been the type to really get bent out of shape by things I can’t control, so this is how it always happens, right? You grind for weeks, beating the s*it out of yourself getting ready for a fight and it’s always in the last two weeks that an illness or injury happens and this time it just happened to be corona.”
Miller was most recently seen in the cage losing a unanimous decision to top prospect Joe Solecki in April, so it will be interesting to see who the UFC matches him up with next.
We here at BJPenn.com wish Jim Miller the best in his recovery and hope he gets healthy soon and is able to get back into the Octagon before the year is up.