Fresh Meat! UFC Names Miller’s New Opponent

UFC newcomer Jesse Butler will face Jim Miller, who is going through his second opponent change in two weeks to compete on this weekend’s UFC on ESPN card.

Jared Gordon is out of his UFC Vegas 74 fight with Jim Miller, and will be replaced by UFC newcomer Jesse Butler.

People were asking a whole lot of questions about Gordon’s participation in this weekend’s UFC on ESPN: Kara-France vs. Albazi event, given “Flash” had basically been knocked out in April when fighting Bobby Green. Their bout ended in a No Contest after an accidental clash of heads sent Gordon senseless to the canvas. Normally a situation like that gets you medically suspended by the Nevada commission, but for some reason that didn’t happen.

Until now.

News broke last night that Gordon would be pulled from the event. While nothing official has been said as to why, we have to imagine someone finally put 2 + 2 together and realized having him compete was a bad idea.

Stepping in on less than 48 hours notice is 12-4 fighter Jesse Butler, who enters the UFC on a five fight win streak. Most recently, Butler has competed for Fury FC where he earned first round submission and KO wins, followed by a decision win in February. Butler also has an extensive amateur record, having gone 12-3 between 2012 and 2015.

We haven’t heard from Miller on the last-minute switch up, but Jared Gordon was already a late replacement for Ludovit Klein. Miller addressed his willingness to accept late replacements with casual ease.

“Business as usual,” Miller said during fight week media day. “That’s three in a row that opponents drop out like two weeks or less for the event. And I think it’s a total of nine times in my career with the UFC, so more like 25 percent. But yeah, business as usual.”

This fight will be Miller’s 42nd UFC bout, which is a record for the promotion. He could also pad his record for most wins in the UFC, which currently sits at 24. The 39-year-old is looking to keep chugging away for a while: his goal is to make it to UFC 300, which should go down sometime in summer 2024. Miller is currently 3-1 over his last four, with his last fight being a decision loss to Alexander Hernandez.