Jim Miller walks into Madison Square Garden on Saturday, November 14, for his 48th UFC bout — the most appearances in company history — against Terrance McKinney on the prelims of UFC 334. Above them, Ciryl Gane defends the undisputed heavyweight title against the undefeated Josh Hokit in the main event, and, in the co-main event, Kayla Harrison defends her women's bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes, returning from retirement.
“I want to be happy with the way I perform, which is winning violently, and that is the goal.”
Miller, 43, is full of confidence. He does not want to survive McKinney — he wants to finish him. "He's a fast starter. For me, I don't want to be the guy to lose a decision to him," Miller said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. "I want to be happy with the way I perform, which is winning violently, and that is the goal."
"I feel like I am going to find an opening and land a good strike and capitalize," Miller said. "The way that I see it, it's going to be a fast-paced fight from the get-go, and an opening will show itself." He expects the aggression to work against McKinney. "He is dangerous; he's younger than me; he's fast; he ties his grappling and striking together well," Miller said. "The harder guys come at me, the easier it is to take advantage."
The fight came together fast. "This was one of the easiest matches Sean could make," Miller said. "It took probably 90 seconds between him sending the offer and me saying Let's do it. That night it was announced on the event." "Terrance is a dangerous, exciting fighter, and I love those fights. I thrive in that. It's a great fight; I have to be on, I have to protect myself. If I can get in on him in some areas, it's about being a complete mixed martial artist."
The numbers explain the respect. Miller is 39-19 in MMA and 28-18 in the UFC, with one no contest. His 28 UFC victories are the most in company history, his 25 UFC lightweight victories are the most in divisional history, and his 20 stoppage victories are second-most behind Charles Oliveira's 21. His 52 submission attempts are the most in company history, and his 14 submission victories are second-most behind Oliveira's 17. Saturday is his 45th lightweight appearance, a divisional record.
McKinney, 32, is 18-9 in MMA and 8-6 in the UFC, and every one of his 18 career victories has come by stoppage — 17 in the first round, including all eight of his UFC wins. His 2:28 average fight time is the shortest among active UFC fighters, and his eight first-round stoppages since 2021 are the most among active fighters. His seven-second knockout of Matt Frevola at UFC 263 is the fastest ever by a debuting fighter and the fourth-fastest in UFC history; Jorge Masvidal holds the record at five seconds.
Miller's last fight showed what he can still do. He submitted Jared Gordon by guillotine choke at 3:29 of the first round at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026, in Newark — his 28th UFC win, in his 47th UFC bout. McKinney's last fight went the other way: King Green stopped him by TKO at 4:59 of the first round at UFC 329 on July 11, 2026, in Las Vegas. McKinney's previous outing was a 24-second TKO of Kyle Nelson on March 28, 2026.
A win, and Miller already knows the fight he wants next. "There is a fight that I would like, and I want to get an opportunity to fight Beneil again. I don't like to look past guys, but a fight I would like is the rematch with Beneil. We are both older guys. I think it is a fun fight and I'm down," Miller said. The first meeting went the other way: Dariush beat Miller by unanimous decision, 29-28, at UFC on Fox 15 on April 18, 2015, in Newark, a short-notice replacement for the injured Paul Felder.
Miller is set to retire after his 50th UFC fight — just two fights after this one. "The 50 is the hard stop," Miller said after UFC 309 in November 2024. He is 2-0 at the Garden, beating Thiago Alves at UFC 205 in 2016 and submitting Damon Jackson by guillotine at 2:44 of the first round at UFC 309 in 2024. He is also the only fighter on UFC 100, 200 and 300: he beat Mac Danzig at UFC 100 in 2009, stopped Takanori Gomi in the first round at UFC 200 in 2016, and lost to Bobby Green at UFC 300 in 2024.
"I'm never fixated on the place," Miller said. "I did want to fight in Newark once more before I was done, so the fight in May checked that off. It's another fight close to home, family gets to be there, and they seem to be a good luck charm for me."
The prelims begin at 7 p.m. ET on Paramount+. Two fights left after this one. Miller wants the first to end violently — and the second to be Dariush.
