The battle for the Hudson River at UFC 328 belongs to New Jersey — to the elation of a partisan crowd and the fighter’s teenage son fresh off a successful battle against cancer.
Jim Miller, of Sparta, N.J., picked up a victory by guillotine choke submission at 3:29 of the first round over Astoria, Queens native Jared Gordon on Saturday night at Prudential Center during the prelims in a rare clash of products from the neighboring states.
Miller (39-19, 29 finishes), during postfight remarks in the octagon with his wife and four children in attendance, paid tribute to 14-year-old son Wyatt after the youngster recovered from rhabdomyosarcoma — a rare cancer of the soft tissue — the family discovered last summer.
“My son went through some really difficult times in the last couple of months. He ended up kicking the s–t 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 is Millers have been called a lot of names over the years, but fragile has never been one of them.”
The two veteran lightweights contested the fight largely on the feet during the brief bout — which had been interrupted by an incidental low blow absorbed by Gordon from which the New Yorker took several minutes to recover.
The end played out rapidly, with Gordon shooting for what amounted to an ill-advised takedown.
Miller, never one to pass up a submission attempt, quickly wrapped up Gordon’s neck in a guillotine choke — a move that led to the finish on five previous occasions as a pro.
Make that six now, as Gordon was rolled over from the top position and his tapout produced an eruption from the audibly pro-Jersey crowd in Newark.
Undoubtedly, the Miller clan was among the loudest of them.
“He fought his way through it,” Miller said of his perseverant teen. “Nothing that I’ve ever done in here is as proud as he makes me and his siblings.”
The 42-year-old Miller, who had not competed since last April’s loss via unanimous decision to Chase Hooper, extended his UFC-record bout total to 47 since debuting with the promotion in 2008.
He also extended his record for wins in the UFC to 28.
Miller told The Post in the lead-up to UFC 300 in 2024 — after previously competing at both UFC 100 and 200, becoming the only fighter to do so — that 50 UFC fights was his target before hanging up his gloves.
Gordon (21-9, 10 finishes), 37, had alternated wins and losses over his last four coming into the weekend, having most recently lost to Rafa Garcia last September via third-round TKO.
This marks the first time the New Yorker has lost consecutive fights since 2018.
The last time a New Yorker squared off against a New Jerseyan on a big-time numbered UFC event came at UFC 217 on Nov. 4, 2017, when Randy Brown of Queens picked up a win via unanimous decision over Green Brook, N.J., product Mickey Gall in a welterweight bout.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
