Jim Miller will return to the Octagon at UFC 328 after over a year-long layoff.
During the time off, Miller suffered an injury to his pelvis, which kept him sidelined for a bit. However, the main reason for his layoff was some health issues for his 14-year-old son, as his entire focus went to that, and rightfully so.
“My older son, my 14-year-old son, ended up having some health issues,” Miller said to BJPENN.com on Monday. “He kicked its ass. We had a really tough six months, the last three months of last year and the first three months of this year. I couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out. He’s amazing, he’s an amazing young man, he makes me proud every day.”
Miller revealed his son was diagnosed with cancer, which was tough news to deal with as a parent. After he and his wife got those words, his focus changed from his professional fighting career to helping his son fight against cancer.
“He had cancer, he was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a very aggressive and very rare childhood cancer,” Miller said. “He had a tumor tucked into his sinus and eye socket. Frontally, location-wise, it was probably in the best spot it could be. It popped right out when he did the biopsy. But he still had to go through the two rounds of chemotherapy and a round of radiation.
“The radiation was for five weeks, every day by Rutgers, which is an hour-and-a-half from us. The ability to do that and move my schedule around, cause I was training for a fight when he got into the radiation part. I’m glad I’m a fighter, I’m glad I chose this road, so I could be there for my son and help him through his struggles.”
Jim Miller is hoping for UFC 328 win for his son
Miller admitted that when he first got the diagnosis, he was going to see if the UFC, Dana White, or anybody could help him. But after the doctors assured him they could care for his 14-year-old son, he changed his schedule around to be with his son.
Luckily, his son was able to beat the cancer, but during that time, Miller admitted that training became therapeutic for him and kept his mind off it.
“We met with the doctors, and I was this close to going down every rabbit hole and exploiting every relationship we had,” Miller said. “We spoke to the doctors, and we got the standard care close to us. He’s one of four, so we were trying to keep things as normal as we could for the rest of them. It definitely wasn’t, but they all stepped up, and it was amazing. For my own sanity, I needed to get in there and train, and I’ve been in the gym for months now, not full-on fight camp, but it is healing to choke somebody sometimes.”
Once his son was fully cleared, the focus turned back to fighting, and Miller will return to the Octagon at UFC 328 against Jared Gordon at home in Newark.