At 42 years old, Jim Miller returns to the octagon in a fight scheduled against Jared Gordon at UFC 328 , this Saturday (9), in Newark (USA). After more than a year away, Charles do Bronx 's rival detailed that the period away from competitions was mainly motivated by a family drama: his 14-year-old son's battle against a rare and aggressive cancer.
During his time away, Miller also dealt with a pelvic injury, but prioritized monitoring his son's treatment, who was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, an uncommon and severe type of childhood cancer. With his son's recovery and now cleared by doctors, the fighter has refocused on his career and is already preparing for his return to the world's most famous octagon.
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In an interview with the website 'BJPENN.com', the American opened his heart to detail the difficult time his family went through, highlighting his pride in the strength his son showed throughout the treatment.
“My oldest son, who is 14 years old, had some health problems. He won that battle. We had six very difficult months, the last three months of last year and the first three of this year. I couldn't be happier with the outcome. He is incredible, an amazing young man, he makes me proud every day. He had cancer, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a very rare and aggressive childhood cancer.
He had a tumor located between his nasal sinus and eye socket. Because of its location, it ended up being one of the best possible scenarios. The tumor practically came out during the biopsy, but even so, he needed to undergo two rounds of chemotherapy and one round of radiation therapy,” he revealed.
Miller also explained that the treatment required significant changes to his daily life due to the need to accompany his son to radiotherapy sessions. During this period, the veteran sought to maintain as stable a routine as possible for his family and continued with his training. In fact, for the fighter, physical activity helped him maintain emotional balance.
"The radiation therapy lasted five weeks, every day, at Rutgers, which is about an hour and a half from our house. I was training for a fight when he entered this phase. I'm grateful to be a fighter and to have chosen this path, because it allowed me to be there and help him through this difficult time..."
He's one of four children, so we tried to keep things as normal as possible for the others. It wasn't easy, but everyone came together and it was amazing. For my own sanity, I needed to keep training. I've been in the gym for months now, not exactly in full camp, but training also helps with healing,” the veteran concluded.
Duels between Jim Miller and Charles Oliveira in the UFC
In December 2010, Jim Miller and Charles Oliveira faced off at UFC 124. The American won by submission (knee lock) in the first round.
Years later, in December 2018, the more mature Brazilian evened the head-to-head record by defeating Miller via submission (rear-naked choke) in the first round of UFC Milwaukee.
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