New Jersey’s own Jim Miller strode to the cage confidently with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” blaring throughout the arena as he had so many times before.
The 42-year-old was born in Sparta, fights out of Whippany, and on Saturday night in Newark, he got his hand raised at the Prudential Center in a featured preliminary bout at UFC 328.
Miller is the UFC’s all-time leader in wins and total appearances and he extended those records with a first-round submission of Jared Gordon in a lightweight contest.
“I’ve drilled it thousands of times, and it happens in my sleep,” Miller said of the guillotine choke he used to tap Gordon.
Miller improved to 28-18 with one no-contest in the UFC, with 20 of those victories coming via stoppage, meaning he is now one knockout or submission win away from tying Charles Oliveira, who currently holds the record with 21 stoppage wins. Miller also ranks second all-time in UFC history in submission wins with 14, behind Oliveira’s record of 17.
It was the fifth guillotine choke win of Miller’s UFC tenure that began in 2008. On Friday, Miller also successfully made weight for the 47th consecutive time in his UFC career, which is another record he holds.
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“My family gets to be here tonight, and to share this moment with them is amazing,” Miller, a father of four, told Joe Rogan during an emotional post-fight interview in the Octagon. “My son went through some really difficult times in the last few months. He ended up kicking the shit out of cancer, and he’s all good today.
“We are cancer-free, and one of the things I told him when he was dealing with it when he first got diagnosed was, ‘Millers have been called a lot of names over the years, but fragile has never been one of them.’ He fought his way through it, and nothing I’ve ever done in (the cage) has made me as proud as he makes me and his siblings.”
Miller has said he knows he’s nearing the end of his fighting career and sees the finish line, but hopes to reach the 50-fight mark in the UFC before hanging up his gloves for good.
Yaroslav Amosov looked phenomenal as he picked up a second-round submission victory over Joel Alvarez in a pivotal matchup in the stacked welterweight division.
The former Bellator MMA welterweight champion made his UFC debut in December with a first-round submission of Neil Magny. The 32-year-old from Ukraine is 30-1 in professional fights and had been widely regarded as the best 170-pound fighter in the sport outside of the UFC before joining the organization late last year.
Amosov said after becoming the first fighter to submit Alvarez that he wants a top-10 opponent next and even suggested potentially the winner of Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley, which was scheduled for the UFC 328 pay-per-view main card later in the night.
Middleweight prospect Ateba Gautier continued his run of destruction with a knockout win over Ozzy Diaz. The 24-year-old from Cameroon has won 10 consecutive fights and is now 5-0 at the UFC level, and is looking for a step up in competition.
Following his win, Gautier said he would love to fight former longtime 185-pound champion Israel Adesanya.
Baisangur Susurkaev, another top young 185-pounder and a teammate of UFC 328 headliner Khamzat Chimaev, improved to 12-0 in the sport with a late finish of Brazil’s Djorden Santos. After more than two full rounds of striking, Susurkaev locked in a rear-naked choke late in the third round. Santos didn’t tap and went to sleep with 49 seconds remaining in the fight.
Russia’s Susurkaev, 25, has been active since earning a UFC contract last August with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series. He made his official UFC debut four days later at UFC 319 and ended his 2025 campaign with a knockout of Eric McConico at UFC 322 in November.
In other preliminary action, Grant Dawson overcame getting dropped by a right hook in the second round and bounced back with a third-round submission victory over fellow lightweight Mateusz Rebecki.
Pat Sabatini won a unanimous decision over William Gomis in a 145-pound contest. Roman Kopylov dropped Marco Tulio late in Round 2 and early in Round 3 to turn the tide and win a decision that snapped a two-fight skid.
Jose Ochoa opened the preliminary card by earning a complete sweep of the scorecards in a thorough drubbing of fellow flyweight Clayton Carpenter. Peru’s Ochoa, 25, is 2-2 in the UFC. He also has a TKO win over Cody Durden and decision losses to Lone’er Kavanagh and Asu Almabayev.
During his post-fight interview, Ochoa proposed to his girlfriend via the camera, and during his post-fight media availability, Ochoa told reporters his girlfriend accepted his proposal.